This is my first trip report, so please be kind  
I generally fly various domestic routes three out of four weeks for work, almost always on AA or MQ. Since AA/MQ offer a consistent product and experience that's been well documented here, I've never felt the need to write a trip report. I recently had the opportunity to take advantage of Seaport's EAS subsidized service from DAL to HOT, for a business trip to Hot Springs Village, the largest gated community in the country. I hope you will find this to be a valuable supplement to falstaff's excellent MCI-SLN trip report, which helped me decide to use SeaPort, instead of the ho-hum DFW-LIT MQ service I would have normally flown.

On May 7, 2012, I arrived at DAL and parked in Garage B, as it was closer to "Terminal One" where SeaPort operates from. One of SeaPort's benefits is that it is a "TSA free" airline; however, due to Wright Amendment restrictions, SeaPort must operate from one of the airport's standard gates, no hard stand operations permitted. Due to the construction at DAL, the WN gates are now separated from the UA/DL/K5 gates, hence the two "terminals". Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Terminal One entrance is the old Braniff area.

Cedar Springs Rd. signage - No mention of poor SeaPort


Parking garage walkway (still no SeaPort)


I believe this was taken by the parking garage elevator


Just outside terminal entrance - there's SeaPort!








I arrived at the shared DL/K5 ticket counter for check in, and had to ring a bell for an agent to come out to assist me; the wait was reasonable and acceptable. The (Pinnacle, I believe) agent asked me which bags I would like to check (I had one bag plus my laptop bag) and I told him I'd like to check my suitcase and carry my laptop bag with me. He then asked me to put both bags on the scale one at a time, even the carry on, and then he asked me my approximate weight. It was apparent the operation was manual, as there was no interaction with the computer system by the agent. He then filled out a hand written boarding pass and sent me on my way.

Shared DL/K5 ticket counter


This is the wall to the left of the kiosk in the pic above




I then headed up the escalator to the dedicated Terminal One security area. The path to the Terminal One gates is fairly new, as passengers used to enter the main entrance near WN, and then walk though a very very long series of hallways to get to the now Terminal One gates. I really prefer this new setup; however, it is a temporary setup until the new terminal is built (at least I'm assuming this is the case, someone correct me if I'm wrong).




Posters in the hallway on the way to gate area










I arrived at Gate 32, which I've flown out of before, as SeaPort subleases the gate from AA. The gate even still has the "AA" carpet. What is new to this gate since I've flown out of here on AA; however, (besides the signage) is the glass partition outside the door. When we arrived here back from HOT, we were locked in the glass enclosure and were let out an emergency exit three people at a time. I believe this was due to the fact that we did not clear TSA security in HOT and needed to be segregated from the sterile environment.
Anyway, back to this flight - the gate agent (again, I believe it was Pinnacle) came over about five minutes prior to departure and gave us some information, such as that only one person could go up the plane's steps at a time, and that once on board we could sit anywhere. We then proceeded to board.





Here's our aircraft! Pilatus PC12 9-seater



Legend Terminal



AA Carpet



My boarding pass. Nobody ever asked for this except for TSA, so I have a feeling the only point to this was to get through security, as in HOT they didn't issue me a boarding pass at all, and there's no TSA at HOT.



Once on board, I took seat "1A". The seats aren't actually numbered, but you know what seat I'm talking about. The captain gave us a brief safety demonstration, and told us that carry on bags could not be placed on the floor, as that's where the oxygen is. Luckily there were only five PAX on board, so I was able to strap my laptop bag in the seat next to me (the captain actually did this for me). He also said that if anyone had to use the barf bag (I'm sure he called it the air sickness bag or something) to please take it with them to discard after the flight  . After a couple of minutes we were on our way!



























Decent view of the future DAL terminal








Bachman Lake




Dallas Galleria


PSU


Landing in HOT












The flight was fairly uneventful. The flight was mostly smooth, except for take-off and landing. The flight was continuing on to HRO, and I was actually the only one getting off in HOT; however, when we landed, the captain said they would be refueling and so everyone had to deplane.


Of course, mine was the only checked bag offloaded


I retrieved my bag, and headed over to the Hertz ticket counter. I barely mentioned my name and the agent just handed me the car keys and said the car was parked at the curb out front. I didn't have to sign anything and she didn't check my ID. Awesome. I hopped in my car and headed up to Hot Springs Village, where I was working for the week.

I arrived in HOT on Monday, and stayed in Hot Springs Village for three nights. On Thursday, is was time to head back to Dallas, so I made the drive back to HOT, parked the car at the curb   and headed in. The rental car return was just as easy as the pick up.

I then headed to the SeaPort counter, and the agent there started my check in process, asking for my ID, etc. I believe he was actually using a computer though, unlike at DAL. In the middle of the process he had to excuse himself to meet an arriving flight.
So, while he did that, I headed over to the food court (vending machine) and got a soda. When he returned we completed the check-in process, including weighing my bags and documenting my weight. No boarding pass was ever issued. There were two flights on the ground, my DAL flight, and a flight to MEM that left about 20 min before mine.
There was no need for me to fret over the fact there's no "Trusted Traveler" at HOT, as there's no TSA at all, no metal detector or X-ray in sight... Awesome.
About 5 minutes prior to departure, we boarded and were on our way. The load factor for this flight was 6/9.





Plane to MEM. My plane's just on the other side, but you can't really see it, just the shadow of the tail on the ground





Now that the MEM flight has departed, we can see the plane for the DAL flight







Stored RJ's at HOT



I decided to sit in the back for this flight, so I could take in the whole cabin experience



Legroom shot


Checked luggage, right behind my seat


Our arrival at DAL was fairly uneventful. We arrived into the glass area I mentioned earlier and had to go through the emergency exit three at a time. We then walked through a winding back hallway and ended up going out a door that led us into the hallway just on the land side of security. I wonder why they don't board through that door, then we could bypass TSA at DAL too. Anyone know why?

This was a wonderful experience that I hope to have again. I hope you enjoyed my trip report. Let me know what questions or corrections you have!