At long last, it was time to fly home (and end this lengthy travelogue). Well, at least, it was time to fly to Tijuana and then walk across the border. The final airline of my adventure was Volaris, one of the big three in the country. After flying the airline, I can say that this certainly feels the most like a low-cost operator. It also has the best de-boarding process of any airline anywhere.
- Introduction to Cranky’s Mexican Adventure
- Cross Border Express is Great, But It Can Be Tricky
- Viva Kicks the Trip Off the Right Way
- Mexicana is Weird, But the E2 is a Delight
- The Spectacular But Distant AIFA Airport
- Mexico City is More Than Worth the Visit
- Aeromexico Does It Right in the Air but Not on the Ground
- Señor Air Has the Best Name and an Experience to Match
- Los Cabos and La Paz Couldn’t Be More Different
- TAR Was a Wild Ride
- Volaris, the Purest ULCC
After getting off the TAR flight, I again was told I had to leave security to make a connection, so I did. Mazatlán is one of those places that has seen some decline in tourism from its headiest day thanks to narco-related concerns. But it was fairly busy on this day.
It took about five minutes to get through security this time, probably the longest wait I’ve had outside of Mexico City.
On the other side, they hadn’t posted a gate. They apparently don’t post gates here until 50 minutes before departure. I did, however, see a lounge and it accepted Priority Pass, so I went over there and found a comfy chair where I could work. The lounge had drinks with some light snacks but that was it. I didn’t really care. I just wanted a nice seat.
When the gate posted, the lounge attendant came through and told everyone. I slowly made my way to the gate, not realizing that the reason it posts as early as it does is because there is one heck of a walk. You have to go to one of two concourses, but the walkway goes on forever before you ever see a gate.
On this concourse, there’s one gate with a jet bridge, and everyone else has to walk downstairs to a holding area for ground boarding. My flight was downstairs.
The boarding area was packed, and they had posted signs for boarding groups one and two. I was in five. Now, I can’t think of a better way to describe Volaris’s boarding than being both simultaneously organized and chaotic. Once groups one and two were moving, they put up signs for three and four a little further back.
And then later, groups five and six went up. The thing was, they were boarding both lines at the same time, which I found very confusing since you’d think it would go in number order. Instead, everyone just had to merge as they walked out.
They were boarding both front and back stairs, but that just led to insanity with people pushing forward from the back of the aircraft and backwards from the front. At some point, an agent came and asked people where they were sitting to try and direct people in the right direction. I was told to stay in the front.
As I waited, I noticed this US-registered airplane could have used a paint job. It also had an errant white engine cowling. But hey, it would do the trick.
Volaris 3191
January 22, 2026
From Mazatlán
➤ Scheduled Departure: 151p
➤ Actual Departure: 147p
➤ From Gate: 8
➤ Wheels Up: 201p
➤ From Runway: 27
To Tijuana
➤ Wheels Down: 259p
➤ On Runway: 27
➤ Scheduled Arrival: 319p
➤ Actual Arrival: 304p
➤ At Gate: 20
Aircraft
➤ Type: Airbus A320-233
➤ Delivered: November 6, 2014
➤ Registered: N525VL, msn 6332
➤ Livery: Standard White
Flight
➤ Cabin: Coach in Seat 14A
➤ Load: 90% Full
➤ Flight Time: 1h58m
On the aircraft, I was surprised to see some pretty comfy-looking seats as I approached my row.
As we pushed back, I saw that the interior matched the exterior. This airplane could use some love.
This was a full flight, and for the first time on this trip, I had someone in the middle next to me. That was a pretty good run.
I noticed that Volaris felt more like a ULCC than any other airline I’d flown. There was advertising on the seatback, advertising on the overhead bins, and they had removed the net from the seatback pocket, presumably to make it so you couldn’t leave trash onboard.
We got up into the sky pretty quickly, and the seatbelt sign was off very fast. I was surprised it stayed off until the descent despite some bumps along the way.
Annoyingly, there were a lot of high clouds. So, we climbed up and sat in an on-again-off-again thin layer that was above a solid layer. Why was this annoying? Because I couldn’t see anything. Volaris has an IFE option that costs MXN 20 (about $1), but I didn’t really want to bother. There was no wifi. Instead, I just turned on some music and stared out the window at a whole lot of white.
The flight attendants came through and did a service along with multiple trash pickups. The crews looked to be working hard, though I didn’t buy anything myself.
At the top of the Sea of Cortés, I could see little bits of shimmering water lead into brown as the clouds thinned. But then, they thickened right back up as a system was swirling off the Pacific coast. We came in for a landing from the east and slowly made our way through multiple layers of clouds before touching down early.
Every single one of my flights on this trip was on-time, which is some kind of miracle.
Getting off the plane was pretty interesting. The flight attendants walked a couple rows from the back and front, and as they passed the row they opened the bins. The people between them and the doors got up and left in an orderly manner. Everyone else stayed seated. I wish everyone would do this, because it was ideal. You know what… here’s a video to show you.
We were dumped off in one of the ground-boarding gates, 20, so I made my way upstairs to find that unlike the smaller airports, Tijuana is built for connections and you don’t have to leave the secure area. I had about 500 pesos left, so I tried to buy food and a few other things before I found my way out.
In baggage claim, there is a sign for CBX. You go up the escalators and then you have to scan your CBX ticket, your passport, and your boarding pass. I do not recommend electronic boarding passes if you’re doing this, because I had to find mine and the thing timed out too quickly.
Once I got through, then it was time to walk across the bridge. Finally, I was back home. Sort of.
Of course I had to go through immigration, and I apparently broke the camera sensor. It first gave me an X and then it just said System Error, so I had to talk to an agent. Maybe it was this scruffy beard that had been growing for the last few weeks.
I had bought a ticket through CBX on the 4:30pm Limousine Bus which went to Santa Ana, and I could take an Uber home from there. But when I walked up to the counter, the woman there said no, I would have to take the 5:30pm bus. It was 4pm at this point. I was not happy, but she got her supervisor who spoke better English to tell me that some business had bought the seats on the 4:30pm bus so I was bumped. Not that I had another choice.
Or did I?
Next door was an Omex Bus which was apparently heading up to LA with a stop in Fullerton. This was no different for me, so I asked when their next bus was leaving. The friendly agent said 5 minutes. Giddyup. I bought a ticket for $35, $5 less than the Limousine Bus.
I asked the Limousine Bus people for a refund, and they said no. That’s ridiculous, but I didn’t have time to fight. I resolved to take that up another day, and after emailing CBX, they did refund me.
The Omex Bus was a delight. It had plenty of legroom, a footrest, and in-seat video. The video, however, was all in Spanish. Even English movies were dubbed. Oh, and it also had wifi. I was happy.
My grand adventure had come to an end.
