Hi I’m Alex, I have been around airplanes and airports since I was carried around in my mother’s arms. I am a Certified Pilot and Certified Aircraft Dispatcher with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Being at major airports and international air travel is nothing new to me or the family. In this post, I will take you on a journey with each airline. 

AeroMexico

AeroMexico is one of the Mexican carriers and one of the best airlines in Mexico. Last year we used them for many domestic flights and I have listed them below:

• La Paz (MMLP) — Mexico City (MMMX) — Leon (MMLO)
• Mexico City (MMMX) — La Paz (MMLP) 
• La Paz (MMLP) — Tijuana (MMTJ) and Cross Border Xpress CBX

After doing initial research we found that they are part of the SkyTeam alliance, a joint venture between Delta Airlines and Aeromexico. We use AeroMexico to build credit card points and we can use points/air miles to buy tickets with the loyalty program. Knowing that they are part of the SkyTeam alliance I knew that their safety record would be outstanding.

Delta Air Lines owns a large part of the airline, so they are overseeing and helping them stay as safe as possible for you and your family. Delta and Aeromexico’s reputations are on the line and they are mexico’s largest airline. 

AeroMexico has a large and intensive network. The network of flights include 41 domestic routes and 36 international flights. They have many direct flights to beautiful beaches and a final destination you will fall in love with. Some of the destinations on our to do list are Puerto Escondido, Playa Del Carmen and Central America. They can help you achieve your international travel bucket list with the 36 available international routes.    

Our Experience with AeroMexico

Our first trip with them we booked the business class seats, the worry of a checked bag weight limit was nullified with that ticket purchase. It made our trip less stressful because they have online check-in and provided the best deal. Upon arriving at the Mexico City airport we found the AeroMexico lounge and hung out for the duration of our layover time. 

The lounge has lots of places to sit and relax. They offer snacks, coffee, water, beer, tea and sodas among other things. The lounge has charging outlets for your phone or tablet. They also have an ATM if you need some cash. 

Inflight with them is an experience like any other major airline in the world. The flight attendants are well dressed and well mannered. Most, if not all of the flight crew speak fluent English and of course Spanish. On our flights we have received the best customer service available.

We have gotten breakfast with Aeromexico that included fresh fruit, cereal and yogurt on a longer flight. We enjoyed breakfast with an in-flight movie, headphones were provided for this flight. In business class there was almost enough room for me (6 foot, 3 inches tall) to lay completely flat. 

Final Thoughts on Flying with AeroMexico

I love flying Aeromexico for the hospitality, the lounge access and the ability to travel to 36 international destinations. Among all the major airlines we have flown, Aeromexico has better service. The only negative I found is they use Mexico City’s airport as the hub in the hub and spoke model. This relates to a Mexico City airport layover which is not a bad thing, it just adds time to your travel day.   

Calafia Airlines

Calafia reminds me of two airlines in the United States, Great Lakes Airlines and SkyWest Airlines. The airline reminds me of these because they are small airlines servicing smaller airports in the country. The other main reason is because they provide air service to remote towns and villages. 

After sailing all the way up the Sea Of Cortez we had plans of house sitting for a friend in La Paz and Calafia made this trip much easier leaving directly from Puerto Penasco. 

Our city pair was Puerto Penasco (MMPE) — La Paz (MMLP). We had to make stops in Tijuana (MMTJ) and Loreto (MMLT) since our final destination was La Paz. As we have traveled to remote areas like Cedros Island and Ciudad Constitucion you may witness office locations in places like this. 

Calafia is a regional option with its headquarters located in Cabo San Lucas. The airline has been operating since 1993. The best thing about Calafia is the connections between Cabo, La Paz, Loreto and Tijuana. They offer Flights to Baja California locations without having to connect through an airport on the mainland side of Mexico. 

They are a small regional airline with 12 destinations and 5 airplanes. Since we embarked on our trip during July/August 2023 the airline has ceased operation. As industry personnel understand that operating an airline is very problematic, costly and thin margins this did not surprise me. 

Our Experience with Calafia Airlines

I learned they stopped operation 3 months after we took our flight from Puerto Penasco. The entire plane was full and business looked to be booming. The exit of this airline is complicated and they only had one aircraft remaining in service at the end of the third quarter of 2023. Hopefully we can see a comeback in the near future. 

We may have been on the last airplane during that flight. The plane did look old and tad tired. The pilots looked professional, acted professional along with the cabin crew. I would fly with them again if they started operation again.

Final Thoughts on Flying with Calafia

Calafia has succumbed to the top airlines in the country. They did have a special niche in the market with offereing flights to La Paz Mexico. The airline offered flights to popular destinations including Cabo San Lucas and La Paz. They were connecting Baja in a way that has never been done before with air travel. We love Baja and not being able to fly efortlessly to goeorgus remote locations like Cedros Island makes us sad. 

VivaAerobus

Viva Aerobus reminds me of Southwest Airlines and Frontier airlines in the United States, both of which are budget airlines. All of their planes are Boeing 737’s. They are doing the same business model as their United States counterparts. Viva Aerobus is not reinventing the wheel, they are filling in gaps that other carriers are not catering too. They are adding cheap domestic flights to the market as low-cost airlines do.       

Addy and I decided to crew for friends on their sailboat to cross the Pacific Ocean. We didn’t have a whole bunch of gear or clothes to go with us so we decided to go with a budget airline leaving La Paz. 

Bellow I have listed our flight route:

• La Paz (MMLP)—Guadalajara (MMGL) — Puerto Vallarta (MMPR) 

Our Experience with VivaAerobus

In La Paz they open the main counter just one hour before take off time (TOT). I don’t know why they do this but it happens this way. The check-in process was for our one bag with our clothes and life jackets and then proceeded to the security checkpoint. 

We moved through security quickly with our minimal items, passports and plane tickets in our hands. Our flight time would be one hour and forty five minutes. We would get a one hour layover in Guadalajara. Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta is around 50 minutes. 

Viva Aerobus is known to offer some low prices and is known to offer cheap flights. Our flights for the both of us were a ticket price under 300 dollars. It is the best option if you are just trying to get somewhere. We did buy the extra baggage weight on the website because if purchased at the check-in counter the price is doubled.

The flight was executed as scheduled with no delays or issues. The inflight experience was like a budget airline from the USA. If you wanted a drink, snack or beer you had to pay for it. Our flights were short so we did not feel like we needed to pay for that service.  

Final Thoughts on flying with Viva Aerobus

Viva aerobus is not my number one pick but is not last on the list either. The airline offers good service, short flights and some of the cheapest flights. I did not feel that they were doing anything unsafe and the planes we were on looked pretty new. If you want to see the info of the Boeing 737 that you are boarding just look for the serial number data plate on the doorway while you enter. They are offering a great way to see the country for your budget traveler. They are also connecting the major cities in Mexico which is a good thing. 

Volaris Airlines

This is the one airline we do not have personal experience with. We have seen their planes and their operation at work with all the flights we have taken in the past. They are considered a Mexican low-cost airline. Recently they have partnered with Frontier airlines from the United States after leaving their codeshare agreement with Southwest Airlines during 2013.

Our Experience With Volaris Airlines

We have been interested in using Volaris because the plane tickets are cheap and very eye-catching. On the surface everything looks really appealing but after digging deeper there is a story to be told.

After reviewing their cost breakdown it did not make sense for us as a family of 4 to use their service for only a few dollars more a ticket with AeroMexico. On average if the base cost for Volaris was 150 dollars, the same ticket with Aeromexico would be about 20 dollars more. Some flights cost more money than Aeromexico, like this La Paz to Mexico City flight shown below. 

On a couple flights we have noticed the clientele of Volaris Airlines. The people are usually wearing one or two backpacks. This is the type of airline to get more money from you for carrying your bags because when you buy a ticket it is only for the seat space. 

The best value option is a personal item and one carry one bag. The carry on bag has to meet the dimensions and can not weigh more than 44 pounds. The best value option does not state anything about a checked bag. If you want to check a bag you must go to the next tier of pricing. For this reason we went with Aeromexico to have a worry free trip. 

Another key feature that most people may not talk about is the language barrier and how stressful it can be trying to translate if you are trying to understand the situation at the check in counter. Also, forget about arguing the airline’s rules and policy if you do not know the language like a native speaker. 

Final Thoughts on Flying with Volaris Airlines

For our family of 4 we have never found Volaris to be a viable option. It may be for you if you are trying to save the 20 dollars and are being frugal with your money. It was not worth the hassle of being inconvenienced for us to worry about the minimal markup in cost to fly with Volaris at this time. If we do fly with them I will be updating this post, so be on the lookout.