Another Allegiant question

[maxiesmom]

Is it best to buy tickets thru Allegiant Air as soon as they go on sale? Do the prices typically start out low, and then go up as the seats sell? Or do they bounce all over the place, like most airlines? I just saw that Allegiant opened up their booking window thru July, so I'm wondering if I should buy now. TIA!

 

[Cinderella Mom]

Hi! We flew to Disney in December 2007 with Allegiant Air. We were undecided about whether to drive or fly since we live not too far from Florida. We are from Alabama. I kept watching their website and fares were cheaper when I first checked on them. We decided to fly one week before we left for Orlando, so we ended up paying a little more for our tickets. I think we paid $89.00 pp one way and $49.00 pp the other. Had we booked them a few months earlier we could have flown for $39.00pp. Every little bit helps. I suggest booking ahead if you are sure that you are flying. We enjoyed flying Allegient.
P.S. They charge $10.00 per bag (at least they did in '07) Just thought I pass that along. We did not know and were not charged when we left, but on the flight from Orlando home, we were charged. Still a great deal on airfare in comparison to other airlines, just was unexpected.
Hope this helps!

 

[blessedby3]

Now it is $15 per checked bag each way
It is still a good deal when they have their $49-$69 flights, but I hate paying for checked bags. We try and ony check 2 and carry on the rest

 

[maxiesmom]

Thanks for the heads-up on the checked bag fees. I didn't realize.

 

[Ella's Mom]

I'd definitely book now if you know for sure when you want to travel. The fares generally go up. Occasionally, fares will come back down close to the travel date. I assume they are trying to fill up the flights.

In addition to the checked bag fee, they also charge a fee to choose your seats. If you don't pay the fee to pre-select your seats, Allegiant will assign your seats. They will try to put your family together. We've never paid to select our seats because we have two small children. I know they have to put the kids with one of us.

 

[dzneelvr]

I never procrastinate once Allegient's June flights open up because we sure don't want to have to use Ohare in Chicago ever again! I jumped on our June dates this morning and at $89, that's as cheap as they're going to get. We also scored the first row of the airplane (both flights), which is more leg room plus first off each way. It may not fill up quite as fast due to the economy, but there have been years the 4 of us had scattered seats. Our checked bag was $30; total pp averaged $250.

 

[crashbb]

In addition to the checked bag fee, they also charge a fee to choose your seats. If you don't pay the fee to pre-select your seats, Allegiant will assign your seats. They will try to put your family together. We've never paid to select our seats because we have two small children. I know they have to put the kids with one of us.

Actually, they don't. If there are no seats together at the 24hr mark (when the airline places those who haven't paid), they aren't going to move people who have paid. Also, unless you have paid a "child fare" (which is very rare these days), the airline has no idea that you have children, so the system randomly places people - yes, it tries to place people on the same reservation together/near each other, but it cannot always do so, and your grouping doesn't have priority over any other grouping (since the system doesn't see children as different from adults).

I have no issue with not paying and/or not sitting near your children, but don't count on always being seated with your children if you aren't willing to pay for it. Most of the time, it will likely work out, but it might not.

 

[angeleigh]

I have been watching the fares for Allegiant since they started flying out of our local airport. The flights have gone down closer to travel dates. If I was flexable I could book $29 fares each way. I actually may do it for a long weekend as I have family in Orlando.

 

[maxiesmom]

What is with the prefered seats and prefered boarding? Are certain seats considered prefered just because they are closer to the front? And is prefered boarding just boarding the plane first? That doesn't seem worth an extra $15.

I was just looking at the prices again, but this time I went thru it a bit further. With all the costs it ends up being over $250 a person. So for now, I am going to wait and keep checking rates. It would be nice to fly out of my home airport on Allegiant, but my last 2 trips have been out of an airport a little over an hour and a half away, at less than $160 a person. Including taxes.

Thanks for all the info everyone! It is much apprecieated.

 

[stephgles]

I flew them a couple of times when they would fly to FLL - I have purchased their tickets and see the price drop a few times but I have also seen their prices go up. It is it and miss with them in my opinion.