Is Viva Aerobus a Good Airline? My Fight Review
Viva Aerobus Review - Villahermosa to Cancun
During my December 2021 trip to Mexico, I wanted to visit the town of Villahermosa. Flights from Minneapolis to Villahermosa were fairly expensive, so I chose to fly into Cancun and book a separate ticket to Villahermosa. For my return flight, I chose to book a ticket on Viva Aerobus from Villahermosa to Cancun. When researching Viva Aerobus online, I did not see many Viva Aerobus reviews, so I decided to create my own review of my experience with Viva Aerobus.
There were only two direct options to travel from Villahermosa to Cancun. I had already flown the first option on my flight to Villahermosa, which was on Aeromar. This return flight gave me the perfect opportunity to review one of Mexico’s low-cost carriers.
The original quoted price of my ticket was just $89. Since Viva Aerobus is a low-cost carrier, there were additional charges for a carry-on and checked bag, as well as a seat selection.
Viva Aerobus offers four classes of tickets. Below is the breakdown of the perks that come with each ticket class.
Zero Class
- 1 Personal Item
- Web Check-In 4 hours before flight
Light Class ($19 Extra)
- 1 Personal Item
- Web Check-In 8 hours before flight
- 22 Pound Carry-on
- 3 Free Itinerary Changes
Extra Class ($27 Extra)
- 1 Personal Item
- Web Check-In 10 days before flight
- 22 Pound Carry-on
- 3 Free Itinerary Changes
- Checked Baggage up to 33 pounds
- Seat Selection for a fee
- Priority Check-in for a fee
Smart Class ($39 Extra)
- 1 Personal Item
- Web Check-In 10 days before flight
- 22 Pound Carry-on
- Unlimited Itinerary Changes
- Checked Baggage up to 55 pounds
- Seat Selection (Regular Seats Only)
- Priority Check-in
- Viva Play (In-flight Entertainment)
I chose to upgrade my fare to their “smart class.” This upgrade added $39 to the cost of my flight. When I chose my seat, I decided to pay an additional $15 to get an exit-row seat. Viva Aerobus has only 29 inches of legroom in its standard seats, and since I am 6 foot 5, I would have barely been able to get into the seat.
The total price of my flight ended up being around $143, which was almost double the originally quoted fare.
A Review of Viva Aerobus - Villahermosa to Cancun - Table of Contents
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Check In for My Flight on Viva Aerobus at Villahermosa International Airport
I had already checked in online, but I still had to drop my bag when I arrived at Villahermosa Airport. With my Smart Class fare, I was able to go right to the VIP check-in area. The agent quickly scanned my boarding pass and tagged my bag. The entire check-in process lasted less than five minutes.
There were limited options to eat at Villahermosa Airport. The only open restaurant was Subway, which is located before the security checkpoint. Due to COVID-19 and international shortages of certain foods, Subway had a very limited menu. I ended up eating an Italian BMT.
Next to the Subway was a small store called Fresh to Fly. This store had drinks, prepackaged sandwiches, and snacks such as chips and candy.
Viva Aerobus Boarding Order
Instead of sitting at the gate, I walked around the airport, observing the destinations of the other flights. Almost all of the planes at Villahermosa Airport were headed to Mexico City. When I got to the gate, a long line of passengers already lined up to board. Apparently, the Viva Aerobus boarding order is a free-for-all as they don’t board by zone.
Thankfully for me, I was able to preboard when they called for VIP Priority Access. This early boarding was due to the Smart-Class fare that I had purchased came with VIP Priority Access. The boarding order for Viva Aerobus appeared to be VIP Priority Access first and then everyone else. I ended up being the first person on the plane.
Viva Aerobus Seats
The Viva Aerobus seats are leather and fairly comfortable as long as you aren’t in one of the seats with 29 inches of legroom. I had upgraded to the exit row for an additional $15 and had the entire row to myself. The Viva Aerobus flight attendants did allow people to move to the empty exit row seats after takeoff. To keep my fellow passengers from invading my empty row, I was sure to take up all three seats.
One perk of the exit row seats on Viva Aerobus is that the tray tables are attached to the back of the seat in front. Some airlines (especially in the United States) have tray tables in the armrests instead of on the seatback, which means it is impossible to lie across the seats.
My Viva Aerobus exit row seat had at least 38 inches of legroom. The typical seat on Viva Aerobus only has 29 inches of legroom. Trust me, the extra 9 inches makes a huge difference, and I highly recommend paying the extra fee if you are tall like me.
Arriving at Cancun International Airport
As my flight on Viva Aerobus from Villahermosa to Cancun came into land, we flew over Cancun’s Hotel Zone, as well as the airport, before completing a full 360-degree turn to begin our landing approach. I was able to capture the below photo of Cancun’s Hotel Zone out the window using my iPhone.
Is Viva Aerobus a Good Airline?
I was very impressed with Viva Aerobus and feel that Viva Aerobus is a good airline. The check-in process, seats, customer service, and flight attendants exceeded my expectations. I was seriously expecting Viva Aerobus to be the Spirit Airlines of Mexico. My only complaint was the disorganization of the boarding process, which I avoided with my VIP Priority Access.
As disorganized as the boarding process was on my Viva Aerobus flight from Villahermosa to Cancun, the disembarking process was the complete opposite. The flight attendants asked us to deplane by row, instructing us to remain in our row until the row ahead of us was walking towards the exit.
Every single person obeyed the request, and the deplaning process was one of the quickest I’d ever been a part of. I’ve flown on hundreds of flights and have never seen a plane of people obey the requests of the flight attendants so faithfully. I do not believe these requests would have ever been obeyed by passengers in the United States.
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