Allegiant Air Savings

[Alli1988]

Hello.. wondering if anyone has knowledge/experience with Allegiant Air - specifically buying tickets at the counter to save the Carrier Usage Charge.

I've been reading online and hoping I can make the following come true... please let me know if you have insight:

Buy tickets for a September trip now out of an Allegiant airport (not the one we are flying out of, we live 20 minutes from one airport, but the airport 1 hour away has cheaper fares) ticket counter AND pay in advance for the bags. I'm hoping to save the $72 carrier usage charge, while still getting the same fare listed online. If we can't purchase bags at the same time and have to add them day of, it's going to eat up some of the $72 savings, although probably still worth it.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Have you read reviews? They usually don’t fly every day and if flight cancelled it might be days before you get to fly out (they don’t have agreement with other legacy airlines). The can run late ( my sons flight delayed 6 hours because they had no oxygen to fill a tank and had to drive to Cincinnati from Indianapolis and fill tank).

Seats small and uncomfortable. You are nickel and dimed for everything. If you have kids pay for seats or you can be separated.

Won’t go into safety issues——

 

[Klayfish]

I would 100% disagree with the prior post. I've used Allegiant many times...I used to live fairly close to Lehigh Valley Aiport which is one they served. I had nothing but good experiences with them every time. Seats were fine, no comfort issues. Yes, everything is a la cart, but that's normal with low cost airlines. Even the big airlines make you pay for seats now, except for Southwest...which as I mentioned in another airline post is an abomination.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

I would 100% disagree with the prior post. I've used Allegiant many times...I used to live fairly close to Lehigh Valley Aiport which is one they served. I had nothing but good experiences with them every time. Seats were fine, no comfort issues. Yes, everything is a la cart, but that's normal with low cost airlines. Even the big airlines make you pay for seats now, except for Southwest...which as I mentioned in another airline post is an abomination.

We can disagree but main thing with Allegaint is they don’t fly daily from many places and if flight cancelled you are stuck.

We flew once as a family from FWA to Phoenix. My husband sat by a gentleman who flew Allegiant often. Once they changed aircraft (he and wife flying). Went from 3/3 configuration to 3/2- so everyone in that seat (say A) on entire plane was stranded for days.

With my son the plane landed to go from Indianapolis to Phoenix- the oxygen tank needed refilling and the airline had none. It was late so no place in Indianapolis open so they had to drive to Cincinnati.

Anyway just posted our experiences and if OP just searched Allegiant on disboards many similar experiences.

Just need to decide if you are willing to lose days of vacation. Sure all airlines cancel (but most have several options to get you there sooner than several days). Every airline does charge for things.

 

[Alli1988]

Have you read reviews? They usually don’t fly every day and if flight cancelled it might be days before you get to fly out (they don’t have agreement with other legacy airlines). The can run late ( my sons flight delayed 6 hours because they had no oxygen to fill a tank and had to drive to Cincinnati from Indianapolis and fill tank).

Seats small and uncomfortable. You are nickel and dimed for everything. If you have kids pay for seats or you can be separated.

Won’t go into safety issues——

Seems like you have no allegiant experience and can not answer my question. I’ve flown allegiant below and already have our exact flight picked. FYI the flights are the days we want, we aren’t taking kids, we don’t care about seats. The airport parking here is free versus another airport 14/day and it’s 20 minutes from my house instead of 3.5 hours. You can literally be parking an hour before take off and make it in time. The hotel and park tickets can be rescheduled/used other days for free, and if we were to end up Not going we will just work those days as normal and reschedule. We are literally out nothing more than packing and driving 20 minutes to the airport. I’d take the risk to save 100s.

If you can get us (2) round trip for under 230, please let me know how.

 

[Alli1988]

If something happened and our return was messed up, we will catch something else, stay an extra day and get another airline, drive a car, etc. our return flights will literally be $67... for both of us.. not like we are out a ton. I stayed in Florida 4 extra days for Irma... more vacation time.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would not chance it. A same day ticket on another airline could be hundreds of dollars for the flight. But it sounds like you answered your own question

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Seems like you have no allegiant experience and can not answer my question. I’ve flown allegiant below and already have our exact flight picked. FYI the flights are the days we want, we aren’t taking kids, we don’t care about seats. The airport parking here is free versus another airport 14/day and it’s 20 minutes from my house instead of 3.5 hours. You can literally be parking an hour before take off and make it in time. The hotel and park tickets can be rescheduled/used other days for free, and if we were to end up Not going we will just work those days as normal and reschedule. We are literally out nothing more than packing and driving 20 minutes to the airport. I’d take the risk to save 100s.

If you can get us (2) round trip for under 230, please let me know how.

I’m not going to search for your flights. Yes I’ve flown Allegiant once, my son twice. My flight was uneventful but had small seats and uncomfortable. No delays for me.

I posted my sons experience. So if you read my post I do have Allegiant experience

I hope you have a nice uneventful flight.

 

[Alli1988]

My point was you don’t have the experience or knowledge to answer my question, you just jumped on the bandwagon to bad mouth allegiant.

 

[Klayfish]

We can disagree but main thing with Allegaint is they don’t fly daily from many places and if flight cancelled you are stuck.

We flew once as a family from FWA to Phoenix. My husband sat by a gentleman who flew Allegiant often. Once they changed aircraft (he and wife flying). Went from 3/3 configuration to 3/2- so everyone in that seat (say A) on entire plane was stranded for days.

With my son the plane landed to go from Indianapolis to Phoenix- the oxygen tank needed refilling and the airline had none. It was late so no place in Indianapolis open so they had to drive to Cincinnati.

Anyway just posted our experiences and if OP just searched Allegiant on disboards many similar experiences.

Just need to decide if you are willing to lose days of vacation. Sure all airlines cancel (but most have several options to get you there sooner than several days). Every airline does charge for things.

Correct, they don't have a lot of daily flights, and yes I agree it's a bit more of a "risk" if your flight gets cancelled for some reason. However, in all my flying experience it's rather rare to have a flight cancelled completely. Yes, it happens, but not often.

Wasn't there, but somehow I'm guessing there's a whole lot more to the story that this gentleman you mentioned told you. Being stranded for days because they changed plane configuration? Seems highly questionable from all my experience. As for the incident your son seemed to experience, don't know anything about it. However, I'm hoping you don't think Allegiant is alone in having issues. That could have been a complete one-off type situation and your son just happened to be unlucky. I fly relatively often and have experienced issues with big carriers too. In fact, I have experienced endless and non-stop issues with Southwest...the very same airline that if you search disboards many people seem to rave wonderful things about. I've had 14 hour delays with them, 4 hour delays, etc... Just flew them a bit more than a week ago and thanks to their awesomeness we got home at 4am. No airline is perfect. There are definitely some inherent "risks" to a smaller airline, but I have found those risks to be quite low and prefer the small carriers (Allegiant, JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier) over SW, Delta, American, etc...

 

[Darcy03231]

I have no first hand experience with Allegiant, but when my flight on another airline was canceled while I was at the airport and I needed to rebook with another carrier, the ticket agent told me I was better off to buy the ticket on-line as the gate prices were higher than the on-line prices.

Since the airport is near your home I would try it. You have nothing to lose other than some time if it doesn't work.

 

[disneyyes]

I have purchased tickets at the Allegiant counter (at Lehigh Valley airport in PA) many times, and purchasing at the counter saves that carrier fee of $13.00 per one-way segment per person. Seems like it should cost LESS to purchase online, not MORE, but that's how it works! So, for my husband and me round trip the counter purchase saves us $52.00. Check the airline website for the hours of the counter because they are usually only available for the hour following a flight. Also, my husband served in the military for 3 years, and for anyone who has done so they have a military program that allows 3 free checked bags and 1 free carry-on. Just wanted to mention that in case you qualify because it is a nice benefit.

The flights are in and out of Sanford Airport, which is about a 50-55 minute drive to and from Disney; the drive from Orlando International Airport to and from Disney property is about 25-30 minutes, so it's not all that much farther. So, no Magical Express, but the car rental process at Sanford is pretty convenient and easy. It's also a small airport that is easy to navigate.

I do not find Allegiant's seats any less comfortable than any other airline's coach seats. We are tall and usually purchase exit row seats, or aisle seats across from each other, and they're also fine.

True about having fewer flights than the big airlines; but we like the convenience and price. I've had delays and cancellations on nearly all the major airlines. Once Southwest cancelled our flights due to storms, on a Thursday, and the earliest they could rebook us on a flight was Saturday morning... but, for me, another 2 days in Disney wasn't so bad at all!

We almost always fly Allegiant when visiting Disneyworld because DH wants nothing to do with Newark or Philadelphia airports.

 

[seasheller]

Allegiant may be a money saver, but I wouldn't chance flying with them after all the stories I've heard.

 

[zobow02]

Have you ever thought about trying frontier? they fly to MCO and they are sometimes cheaper than allegiant

 

[DnA2010]

I've flow on allegiant a few times- they are a handy carrier on the west coast as they fly out of Bellingham which is about a 3.5 hour drive for me, closer and often a lot cheaper than Vancouver for me. I think I've done Vegas 3-4 times, Phoenix once, San Fran once, and LA once or twice on them and haven't had any issues. Not fancy, but does the trick for a short haul for us.

 

[Alli1988]

Thank you! The info about the ticket counter is what I needed. Idk the last time you flew but I think the charge/savings might be even more now. My husband is at the airport often for his job. So there’s no cost for us to do this. As far as sfb instead of Mco , we know from experience and the price of Uber still makes here flights hundreds cheaper. To fly into Mco for us a 15/day parking airport is required, so that alone is the offset.

Do you know by chance if k can buy the tickets at any allegiant counter or does it need to be my outbound airport. We are right between two, one being closer but the other being cheaper for our actual flights. I’d like to purchase at the closer one, but hen actually fly from the other.

 

[Alli1988]

Have you ever thought about trying frontier? they fly to MCO and they are sometimes cheaper than allegiant

I have checked frontier... and am checking again because it’s been in the running... flight times are slightly later which means not getting to hotel until 12am instead of 930pm... and return flight is a matter of missing putting my kids to bed that night. The time alone wouldn’t sway me...

The sfb to universal versus Mco to universal is $13 difference according to Uber... so roughly $26 round trip, more for allegiant...

Allegiant fares are $61outbound $51 inbound... with taxes, etc. out the door (if I buy in person) should be $172 max plus a carry on each for another $80 bags (20/leg/bag) is $252. Add Uber for total of $330.

Frontier flights are $59 both ways. Out the door with two bags $381. This is no seat selections and no bundle package or whatever. I might save here buying at counter too... but it’s an hour drive versus allegiant is 20min and my husband doesn’t go there for work. $433 with Uber.

I’m gonna have husband swing by allegiant counter this week and see what happens. They have out bounds daily at our airport so I’ll update soon.

 

[Alli1988]

Update!! I visited the airport.

The flights dropped in price, I knew in advance because I checked online before driving in.

$61 outbound
$38 inbound

We are going to check 1 shared bag for $30. Buying at counter saves roughly $30/person.

You have to buy 1 hour after a flight departs, so I’m going to swing by tomorrow.

It’s going to cost less than $200 round trip for both is us.

 

[Aurora79]

Awesome, OP! I have flown Allegiant and recently watched some new review videos about them, and it looks like they have improved on the issues of the past. I prefer Allegiant over Spirit and Frontier as far as comfort and service, that’s for sure. Have a great trip!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Update!! I visited the airport.

The flights dropped in price, I knew in advance because I checked online before driving in.

$61 outbound
$38 inbound

We are going to check 1 shared bag for $30. Buying at counter saves roughly $30/person.

You have to buy 1 hour after a flight departs, so I’m going to swing by tomorrow.

It’s going to cost less than $200 round trip for both is us.

I'm looking at an allegiant flight for an upcoming trip, non disney related. So you can look at the online price and subtract $30 from it and thats the total fare? My flights are only $33 each way to begin with, so that doesn't seem right. I think with frontier it is $19 less to buy at the counter.