Vista Aviation Inc

Very rude. Asked a few questions, and was completely ignored. Do not recommend! Go to Van Nuys airport instead! Vista is not a fun place

Very poor customer service and renting rules that truly discourage average pilots from flying.
This weekend I had my second terrible customer service experience with Vista. I have flown with them 6 – 7 times, having migrated over after getting my Private Pilot license through Glendale Community College (which also flies out fo Whitman Airport).
After a stunning flight to Santa Ynez/​Solvang, my friends and I got back an hour early and turned in our keys. The lady at the desk (Marissa) asked how long I had been up, and I said 2 hours. She immediately went to a posturing tone and said «well, you know you’ll be charged for 3.» When I appeared somewhat surprised and disheartened (who would’nt be after being told they’re getting charged $ 150 for flying they didn’t get to do?), she got defensive and accusatory. Had the lady respectfully said that was the policy, I’d have probably just accepted it and moved on. However the woman got straight up argumentative, informing me I should have known and more or less making a scene.
Now, this is the first time I had flown with Vista in a year. In the past, including my last few flights, they didn’t charge me for overages like that (their minimum is 2 hours for the weekdays, 3 during the day) — hence why I did’nt even know they existed. Despite not having flown in a year, and despite the mulitple staffers I spoke to failing to mention it — I suppose the blame there is mine. I’ll accept that. But this woman singlehandedly ruined what was otherwise an amazing day, and hopefully by writing this someone else doesn’t go through the same experience.
One of the friends I had flown in with is getting his license and I had told him to check out Vista Aviation. Almost entirely because of his experience with this lady, he’s not even considering Vista after he gets his license, and I cannot blame him.
On a side note — the 3 hour weekend minimum is at best an annoyance and at worst a blatant money, as almost every interesting flight from Whiteman in a 172 is under an hour each way (Big Bear, Catalina, and Santa Ynez among many others), which means on a weekend — where most people are going to do their flying, since we have jobs — the majority of your ideal destination spots are too ‘close’. Especially for customers who reserve planes in advance and who have been flying with them a while, it’d be nice if they’d make an exception to that minimum once in a while (which they did last year, but tell that to Marissa…)