Yeah I think it's great they're out of Dulles. I hear some really good things about Independence but haven't flown it yet. I"m such a woman of habit...and I'm so used to using orbitz for searches for all of my trips..I just like it because it searches so many different airlines for me, plus I can book hotel and rental car if I need to as well. I need to go check out flyi.com though -- my mom says it has greatttttt deals.

I had a friend who just flew Independence and loved it. She recommended however, to bring luggage with you b/c she waited FOREVER at Dulles for her luggage!

I know what you mean mrwunrfl. Spirit Airlines competes with Northwest on a few routes out of Detroit and as a result fares on those routes are lower, but invariably I always choose NWA for the miles and multiple flight options. (12 nonstops a day to LaGuardia for example as opposed to 2 or 3 on Spirit.)

Exactly. So far, it is not in my economic interest to fly Independence Airlines. However, I did not toss out the $25 coupon.

Baligirl, you might want to try using SideStep. It finds fares Independence Airlines, for the majors, and for most of the low cost carriers including jetBlue, Frontier, America West, Midwest, Spirit, ATA, Airtran (which I thought was same as ATA). The only one I didn't see was Southwest.

Using Internet Explorer, when I go to travelocity or united.com and enter the basic info (From, To, dates) and start the search, a separate frame appears in the browser that offers a SideStep comparison search. It uses the basic info that I entered on the other website , so I don't have to enter it again. Sidestep is linked to orbitz and flyi and other sites where tix can be purchased, but I just use it for price comparison and then book elsewhere (like travelocity). Lots of sites are offering air, hotel, car packages including united.com and continental.com.

My outbound United flight on Friday night to L.A. was delayed but they told us why. They had us all get off of the plane because a tornado was spotted 3 to 5 miles away. I spent 45 min or so in United's Red Carpet Club (and watched the storm go over the airport and a funnel cloud develop after it passed). Then we boarded our 777 and waited for our turn to depart. We waited for two hours. Good thing that I had chosen to use an almost-free upgrade to business class (four free upgrade certs plus 1 cert costing $50).

On the return flight from LAX, I was waiting in the security check line when the lady announced that if you had xxxx in the bottom right corner of your boarding pass that you should raise your hand. I got my boarding pass at united.com, not at the airport, so I was pretty sure I didn't have the xxxx. Those folks went through a detailed security check, apparently. The TSA lady walked down the line checking boarding passes anyway and when she got to me she pointed at it and asked me to follow her. I did not know what was up. She took me out of line and sent me in the direction of a second TSA lady. She pointed at the "Premier Executive" printed on my boarding pass and pulled back the rope sourounding the security check area in front of the front of the line and told me to chose one of the four checkpoints to go through!

During the flight the pilot mentioned that this was United's 78th year flying. It is quite possible that the pilot and copilot each had flown with United for 15 of those years. Independence Airlines has been flying for maybe 78 <i>days</i> using pilots with 15 <i>weeks</i> of experience.

Still, if flyi gives me a ticket price $25 lower than others and accepts the $25 discount, then I might give them a chance.

Just a point about the probable experience of Independence pilots. If it was formerly a commuter arm of United, why wouldn't at least some of the pilots have been flying for quite a while?

You are absolutely right. My comment on the ariline and the pilots was not exactly fair since Independence Airlines was United Express (Atlantic Coast Airlines?).

Something interesting I saw today: Driving by LAX, I saw one of Independence Air's new Airbus 319s on a south runway apron, parked next to a Boeing Business Jet. Independence Air isn't flying to the West coast yet, is it?

Hey rjw!

No, Independence Air is not as of yet flying to CA. I believe, the last I heard, they are planning on starting service sometime early next year, utilizing the Airbuses. I think you might not be able to fly out of LGB . . . from what I remember, they're only planning LA-area service from LAX.

I'm taking them to my beloved Ohio for Thanksgiving . . . am holding my breath that there aren't any strikes (I've heard rumblings that it might happen), and that I find a l/t space @ Dulles after schlepping all the way from Baltimore!

LT: Thanks for the info. I kinda knew they couldn't fly out of LGB (I think they're almost out of &quot;slots&quot; thanks to local noise regs), so LAX service seemed most likely (hey, why not SNA?). It was just an odd sight-- like the Saudi Arabian Airlines L-1011 sitting on that same apron this morning (actually, since yesterday). Hope your trip to Ohio goes smoothly and strike-free!!