happychic

Anyone flew with Boutique Air? Can you share your experience? I'm particularly interested in the LAX-OAK flight with a transfer in Merced.


https://www.boutiqueair.com/p/schedule

wifiguru

I just was looking up a similar flight.

LAX > MCE > OAK.

Looks like they fly 8 seater prop planes. They are in LAX terminal 3.

They also fly LAX > LAS, which is awesome. I'm thinking about booking with them in mid Jan... not sure, though. There is very little information on this airline around.

Thunderroad

I'm also interested, for flying OAK-MCE-LAX, at the end of this month.

I always take Yelp reviews with a big grain of salt, but these seem to be the only reviews out there:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/boutique-air-san-francisco

Bottom line seems to be that if all goes well it's a fun and inexpensive option, but a few reviews flag big delays and hassles if any repairs are needed. I guess I'd also be concerned about flying in late January when the weather might be lousy and small planes might be more likely to be delayed than big ones. Other times of year I might well give it a try.

pugsley21

I am curious too. I was just looking at flights to and from Denver to AIA (Alliance, NE) The are the only carrier that services Alliance.

qfrodo

You can drive to Alliance in about 5 to 6 hours depending how fast you want to go. Used to drive between Denver and Scottsbluff in about 4 hours and Alliance is another hour more.

PABE

I just flew 4B 303 and 4B 391 on LAX-MCE-OAK with a 2hr connection in Merced.

I'll try to get some photos up soon. Plane was tiny, but comfortable and was very quiet.

backdoc

They are cheap and efficient. HOWEVER, they don't participate in TSA-Pre.

I spent 52 minutes last Friday in line at Terminal 3 for security.

Make sure to look at the connection time in Merced, I met a woman at the "terminal" in Merced who was on a 6 hour layover coming from LAX going to Oakland.

I haven't had them cancel a flight on me yet which was common with Great Lakes Airlines that used to fly LAX-Merced.

Steve

happychic

Just to update everyone: my husband ended up flying with them them on the LAX-MCE-OAK itinerary. The flight took a long time due to the two hour transfer at Merced, but otherwise he was happy with the Boutique Air. He said he probably wouldn't fly with them again, simply because it was a long flight for what would take an hour had he flown direct.

sokolov

That's the beauty of it. You get slow, low flying planes = great flightseeing. And in the end, you even get to where you need to go. :-)

backdoc

I flew them last week and will be flying them again June 28th. It is the fastest way to get near Modesto.

I would suggest not taking the early morning flight out of LAX for Merced then Oakland. The TSA lines are HUGE that time of the morning at LAX. Last month I was in the security line for 52 minutes, they don't participate in TSA-Precheck. I have TSA-Pre and Global Entry but it doesn't matter because it doesn't show on Boutique Air's boarding passes.

Youngmiler

I flew them back in May. They use Pilatus PC-12s for their routes. Our flight was delayed for 2.5hrs while they re-positioned another plane because of a mechanical issue with the cabin AC. Small plane, no TSA-Pre Check, and minimum options if flight is delayed.

weezl

A potential way around the pre-chk issue is to book a separate refundable (or award if you are UA 1K) flt to your final dest (or anywhere) and use the BP from that to get through. Would you be let in with a UA BP in T3 at LAX? If so, and if you are good to go with the 4B trip, you can cancel the refundable one. Otherwise you have a back-up (expensive) flight if you absolutely positively need to get there.

backdoc

I don't fly them any longer as my father who lives in Central California passed in late September so I no longer need to fly up there. I could have purchased a ticket on JetBlue as I have Mosaic status with them, but I didn't want to bother. I'm not a 1K on United but I used the Virgin America lounge with my Priority Pass membership when I'd fly out from there every few weeks.

Steve

jpk678

RUN! This airline is awful. I had a 5:20 flight that was delayed four times. The flight disappeared from the Departures board and there were no personal at the gate to answer questions or update passengers. They have no email or text system to update flight status so we were completely in the dark as to when the flight was going to leave. By the time they cancelled the flight AT MIDNIGHT, there were no other flights out we could be put on instead. How about the next day? Nope, booked solid. I tried calling customer service several times and it went to voicemail, let that sink in. It was one o'clock in the morning, eight hours passed my scheduled departure that I was told i had to find my own way home, over one thousand miles away. I lost two days time with my family back home and had to completely rebook the other legs of my trip costing hundreds of dollars. They promised up $150 in alternate travel reimbursement and when I tried to claim it I was basically told to stick it somewhere. Don't be fooled by the low prices, this airline will cost you. Self X-Post from another site.

TravelinSperry

Thanks. I was just considering flying these guys out of Denver. They have a 30 min connection and the connecting flight is the only one of the day. I wasn't even considering them for the price - they have the best flight time option. But you made me realize if they are late - I miss the connection and then I have no options to get out. I'll call them though... perhaps it's the same plane (then I'd do it).