Frontier is awesome.

I arrived in Cali two days ago. The flight was eventful in the sense that it was one of the first times I've flown since 9/11 that everything went completely and utterly smoothly:

- Security was actually a breeze. Did not see ethnic minorities pulled aside for additional inspection. Did not get additionally inspected myself. Did not get my carry-ons searched. Did not set off the metal detector with my belt (or my ankle (??) as happened shortly after 9/11) and was not told to remove additional items of clothing like socks.

- Both my flights were on time. Both my flights arrived half an hour early.

- My baggage arrived intact and on time.


I flew Frontier, and if judging from this one flight, I recommend them highly as a budget airline. We actually got the tix because it was the cheapest, but this trip was by far the most pleasant budget flying experience I've had since pretty much 9/11:

- The seats were actually roomy (for economy) and semi-comfortable. They had bendy adjustable headrests that you could mold into a head-pillow. Apparently they only use new planes--the inside was actually sanitary and clean. Last time I flew, the plane was dirty and ragged on the inside.

- Super-friendly, helpful, and pleasant captains and crew. They gave you a choice between normal-sized bags of Sunchips or Dorritos (I think) rather than the usual .2 ounce bags of pretzels. When we landed the captain pretty much gave us a happy pep-talk about what to do with our time now that we came in half an hour early.

- In-flight entertainment-- 24-channel live DirectTV on a clear, quality LCD screen in front of your seat for only 5 bucks. Choice of 4 or 5 recent-release movies for 8 bucks. Easy payment by built-in credit card swipe on seat in front of you. And they practically threw free headphones at you.

For comparison, last time I flew they had grainy, drop-down screens every few rows. Unless you brought your own headphones, you had to buy a pair for 5 bucks. This bought you the right to the audio of the acclaimed film, "Codename: The Cleaner", starring Cedric the Entertainer as a crime-fighting janitor.


Oh yeah, and I brought a milk-crate full of houseplants as my carry-on. Rob wanted me to take those because all except one of the plants he had transplanted into a GUFF container for the roadtrip to Cali last month either killed each other on the way here or fell off his porch. It turns out you CAN take houseplants on a plane (they count as "Perishables"), although I was really worried about it. The first employee I talked to at the airport told me that I would probably have to check them in because plants have dirt, and dirt can be used as a weapon ("throwing them in people's eyes"... ???) but nobody else took it as a big deal at all. Most people were just surprised that I brought plants. It turns out it actually was more convenient because a milk-crate is easier to manage than a heavy suitcase on a plane.