Air Choice One

I absolutely recommend against flying Air Choice One if there is any time sensitivity or critical need to be anywhere. You’re better off driving. Based on other reviews, it seems that Air Choice One is the first to cancel their flights whenever weather strikes rather than just delay. I was scheduled to fly from Chicago to Burlington. The flight was cancelled due to weather which was somewhat understandable due to thunderstorms. It’s the handling after the cancellation that’s extremely disappointing.
A little backstory… We decided to take the train from Burlington to San Francisco and then fly back from SFO to Burlington. On the way home, there were thunderstorms that delayed our inbound flight to ORD. I contacted Air Choice One informing them of the delay and they told me I would likely miss the flight as I had to check in at the gate 30 minutes before departure. Even if the flight was delayed, they might close check-​in and we wouldn’t be allowed to board. No way to check in online or check in over the phone so we could rush to the gate to make the flight. 30 minute hard rule. Red flag #1 here. It didn’t matter in the end because upon arrival, I had a voicemail saying the Air Choice One flight was cancelled.
I was told that I would be able to either fly in the morning or travel vouchers good for 6 months. This was written on a piece of paper and I was told I would receive an email. 2 weeks later and I’ve gotten nothing.
I couldn’t wait overnight for the next flight. The nearest airport with Air Choice One service is 1.5 hours away so the vouchers would be absolutely useless if we ever get them. We only needed Air Choice One to get back to our car which was parked at the train station in Burlington.
For an airline that has limited operations and cancels on a regular basis due to weather, this is unacceptable. I checked the contracts of carriage of other airlines, and all the major airlines will refund to your original form of payment in the event of a cancellation, no matter the cause. Even Spirit and Frontier (low cost, no frills airlines, equally bad reviews) will refund in the event of a cancellation.
To summarize
1. Poor customer service. No flexibility for check-​in even though they don’t have contracts with any other airlines or any online check-​in capability.
2. Poor cancellation handling and refund policy.

Delays, maintenance, weather, it is always something with this company. Lost bags, unsafe Pilots and aircraft. Never again, i will always drive The FAA needs to investigate these guys

Here’s my updated review on Air Choice One: I’ve given this airline a couple more chances just for convenience factors, big mistake. It seems that the airline has gotten worse. Between my significant other and myself, we fly between Mason City and Chicago at least twice a month. 90% of the time, the plane is delayed significantly or cancelled completely. When asked why, you’re given all different answers. When I found out the TRUE reason as to why this continues to happen, it is because the airline itself is completely understaffed of pilots, so therefore the passengers must wait. This is ridiculous!!! I have missed connecting flights a multitude of times, as well as being late to work & other events, and Air Choice One does nothing to help. No voucher, no refund, no sympathy, nothing. EXTREMELY UNRELIABLE. Really people, don’t risk it. It’s not worth the money, time, or your sanity.

Flew from STL to ORD, couldn’t have asked for better service! Staff gave my wife a sleeper pillow when they noticed she was napping while waiting for the flight. The interior of the plane is like flying first class on other airlines.
Flight was delayed by 20 minutes, but we didn’t mind at all. Friendly pilots and ground staff. Well done!

I have been flying this airline several times a month since it started service in my area November 2014. Staff and pilots are extremely courteous and professional and the small planes are very comfortable and are suitable for kids and adults. I have had only a couple of weather or service related delays in the last year, and they have always communicated with us so we know what to expect. If I could change one thing, I think they should be able to be reached 24 hours per day or a realtime website presence to allow better confirmation before heading to the airport. If you have an early flight or call right when they open, there seems to be a slight lack of available information. I am extremely pleased to have them as an option, their prices are more than fair. They serve a great need in an otherwise very underserved Midwest.

I flied for the first and last time this past weekend with Air Choice One. Flying from Mason CIty, Iowa to Chicago and back, One hour before our arrival to the airport and I receive a call from Isabel tellng me our flight has been cancelled for mainenence (not mechanical but mainenance). They gave me 2 options one of which was a refund — that option will not get us back to Mason City that night or option 2 was the next flight. .. . 18 hours later. I was traveling with my mom and we both had work requirements to get home to the following morning that that was not an option. Air Choice did not offer to help us find a rental car, bus, taxi — nothing to get home. They acted like it was not their issue and I needed to deal with it.
No Air Choice — this was 100% your issues. If your plane is not working then you need to have a reasonable back up plan in place — not leave your passengers stranded in a strange city for who knows how long. The more I talk to people on this the more horror stories I am hearing. To make it worse, rentals calls close on sundays. The airport rental said they closed in 7 minutes and I had 7 minutes to get there for a transit time that takes 45 minutes with traffic. But in talking with people, they say maintenence and its for your safety but what they really mean is our flight is no were near full and you are not worth making the trip back. We were desperate to get home so we resorted to hick hiking to get home. The worst experience ever — never again will i fly Air Choice On. Thank you Air Choice One for taking my fun filled 40^th birthday weekend and turn it into crappy on it the last day — Karma! We may not be worth your time but Air Choice One — you are only worth your words and your words are lies. .. . Karma will catch up to you and expose your lies and stunts your pulling and when that happens I will be throwing a party!!!

Update: I spoke to Eric and cancelled one of two of my booked flights. A few weeks later I received a call confirming that I would be on that flight. Eric obviously didn’t do his job and he didn’t comply with my request to cancel the flight. To top it off I used a voucher and was told that the voucher would be void and could not be used for any other flight. This airline is the worst and most dishonest I have ever seen. The customer service people obviously aren’t trained and the company runs on a hope and a prayer. DO NOT FLY THEM OR YOU WILL BE STRANDED AND MISTREATED

I cannot stress enough how unreliable this service is. If you have no immediate plans and have a flexible schedule this airline is fine. The pilots are fantastic and fun… the ground crews seem competent. Having utilized this service for five flight now, every flight was delayed one or more hours. One was weather-​related, so I can deal with that. What I can’t excuse is technical problems with desk workers absent while passengers wait anxiously at a gate for an hour before finally calling customer service and having the operators track anyone down at an international airport. I cannot excuse being stranded in the middle of Iowa between destinations with no available flights for two days and needing to make separate ground travel arrangements at incredible cost to myself. I cannot excuse the utter lack of accommodation in this situation. Vouchers are worthless.
Five stars if you don’t mind riding the clouded airways of scheduling uncertainty with two great pilots. Zero stars for hours wasted and making dual-​mode transportation plans.

I was not only impressed with, I was touched by the incredibly thoughtful care and consideration the pilots and staff of Air Choice One showed to my elderly father who traveled through Chicago on his way to and back from Florida. I was worried about my father managing through the O’Hare and making his connections. I flew with him back from Florida to make sure he had an easy connection and the saw the staff and pilots treat him as if he were their own family with respect, patience and kindness. As someone who flies in the US and internationally for business very regularly, I haven’t seen consideration like I witnesses with Air Choice One on any other airline. The airline industry has lowered all of our expectations to such low level that I think travelers expect the worst. How refreshing to see an airline deliver such personal service.

I cannot say enough good things about this airline! Nonstop service from StL to Fort Dodge, IA, for $ 54 each way! Flights were on time, staff was friendly and professional. Lovely leather seats in the planes. We hit some stormy weather and the pilots did a great job keeping the ride smooth.
The agent in Fort Dodge went out of her way to assist us when we realized that because of a «special» our fare should have been only $ 25. She made sure we were compensated and satisfied.
Very few flight options to northern Iowa, this is a huge time and money saver. Keep up the great work.

DO NOT take this airline. We were in central Illinois for my mother’s funeral and decided to try Air Choice to Chicago to catch our flight back home and give us more time with family. When we arrived at the airport, the girl said «oh your flight is cancelled» but had no other solutions for us. She told us we could get a refund or she offered me a voucher for our next flight. We told her we wanted a refund but found out she did not take care of it. She told us the next day flights were all full (so a voucher wouldn’t do) and she walked away. We finally found a rent-​a-​car company in town (the airport had no cars for rent) that rented us a car to try and make it to Chicago by our next flight time. If you do fly AC1 make sure you purchase a «refundable» ticket. When we called customer service, they told us we bought a non-​refundable ticket so there was nothing they could do. At the end of the day, we learned these valuable lessons about Air Choice One.
#1 — unreliable
#2 — zero customer service
#3 — not connected with any major airline so if the flight gets cancelled, you are on your own to get to your destination.

Very very disappointed. The flight from St. Louis to Chicago was cancelled due to bad weather in Chicago and I was offered a free voucher for future trip but not refund even though it was not my fault. This will not work too long. I understand NON-​REFUNDABLE means cannot be refunded. But if you are stranded half way in Decatur into Chicago, how does non-​refundable part kick in. Not happy that the weather is considered an ACT OF GOD and therefore non-​refundable. Please be careful in using this airline. Be prepared to not get a refund. In addition, I was charged for return from Decatur to St Louis which I had to call thrice to get a refund and still have not. Will be careful in future to fly only in good weather and keep fingers crossed that they dont cancel flight and blame it on ACT OF GOD and hence non-​refundable.
After 7 days, I did get a free voucher to fly within 6 months. But still not happy that a refund was not given when they decided to cancel the flight. I guess something is better than nothing…

Terrible. Used them twice both times from Chicago to Burlington, both times over an hour delay. The staff never know what’s going on or why. I understand it’s a cheap flight but still not worth it. Last reason for over an hour delay was «fog from the morning» when checking the weather report there was no fog and no other airlines were delayed. I would not recommend using this company unless you have a lot of time to waste.

Great price. Good service. Keep it up. This is definitely a small airline, very small, but don’t be thrown off by that as they have great planes, experienced pilots, comfy leather seats, and the ride was very smooth. Much better than driving to some of the locations from their hub in St Louis.