myleguy
Jan 14, 03, 6:50 am
I decided last minute to do a quick trip to Atlanta for New Year's and, of course didn't want to pay a short notice fare. I was surprised (as was the res agent) when I was able to book a reward seat on Frontier for the a.m. departure to Atlanta on 12/31 and the p.m. return on 1/1, exactly the flights I wanted. This was my first Early Returns award redemption, so I was glad to get good flights and no last-minute "expedite" (i.e "times are tough and we need every last penny we can get") fee that is now the norm with other airlines. DEN-ATL: this was on the Airbus, which was about a year old and still looked fresh. Load factor was @ 95% and looked like a number of Delta pax had been sent over for unknown reasons. This plane was equipped with direct TV and free headsets were distributed and the programming began while still at the gate. 12/31 was reportedly the last day for free service. Seat pitch was typical coach. After take-off, a full-can beverage service was begun, followed by the snack. The snack was a wrap (chicken or beef) with a bag of Sun Chips. The chicken wrap was delicious, with afilling of Thai spiced chicken and vegetables in a whole wheat tortilla. There were extra bags of chips offered from a basket. The snack was immediately followed by a second beverage service. The flight was on time and the in-cabin service was cheerful and attentive (as is the norm with F9. ATL-DEN: this flight was also on the Airbus, but the TV monitors had not been installed. This flight also left on-time and had @ 75% LF.The catering was not as good on this flight. The snack consisted of a small tray packed with the sort of things you might grab for a quick bite from a display near the check out counter of a convenience store. It included a pack of peperroni slices, some soft white spreadable cheese, a soft roll, raisins, some cheesy crunchy things, and a packaged brownie. Everything tasted OK and it was reasonably filling, but the wrap was so much better. Nutritionally, it was a bit of a disaster, but I ate it all anyway. Once again, there were two beverage services bracketing the meal and you can always get a beverage without irritating the flight attendants at any time on F9. IMPRESSIONS: once direct TV is fully installed, I really think F9 will have a competitive product for long-haul flying. Compared to Delta's grossly downscaled in-flight service between DEN and ATL, F9 offers a very good product on this route.