Alegiant Air Question

[TinaElmerRh]

We are going to Disney in August. The closest airport we have is Scranton, but the prices are out of our range. We decided we will be flying out of Allentown. The cheapest flights are on Allegiant. To avoid landing close to 11 at night we will be flying the night before and staying near the airport. Prices right now are around 100.00 to fly down and 60.00 to fly back. Our flight back leaves Disney at 7:40 in the morning, which I'm not happy with, but 60.00 per ticket versus 169.00 doesn't leave me much choice. I'm asking your opinion; Should I book flights now or wait and see if prices or schedules get any better? I looked at prices for May and some flights are running around 40.00 per flight.

 

[skiingfast]

How much are you spending on the hotel so you can leave at 7:40am? Maybe if you leave one night earlier you can save a night in the hotel.

 

[Disneyhappy]

Roundtrip for $160 is actually a pretty good price (assuming you do not have to check luggge which increases the amount). Airtran runs specials from time to time out of Allentown but weekend travel tends to be on the higher end. I am flying my niece's family to join us in MCO in July and paid $200 rountrip with Airtran from a Thursday to a Monday which I think is a decent deal out of Allentown, and Philadelphia for that matter (my airport). Unfortunately, the lower airfares to MCO and TPA seem to be a thing of the past due to gas prices and the economy. I fly to Florida about 5 times per year and I now count myself lucky if I can get fares under $200 if I am not using frequent flyer miles/awards. I grew up in the Allentown area so my family often flies Allegiant. They have not run into any issues flying them. The only concern is that they often have limited flights and if something happens with your flight, you are often stuck not being able to get on another flight until the next day or two. Don't forget about the possibility of splitting your flights between two airlines if the flights are less expensive. My family often will fly Allegiant one leg and Airtran or Delta for another leg. Good luck with your decision!

 

[TinaElmerRh]

How much are you spending on the hotel so you can leave at 7:40am? Maybe if you leave one night earlier you can save a night in the hotel.

We are staying at Shades of Green so we are only paying 133.00 per night. There are 5 of us that I am paying for flights. So it will pay for us to stay the extra night.

 

[TinaElmerRh]

Roundtrip for $160 is actually a pretty good price (assuming you do not have to check luggge which increases the amount). Airtran runs specials from time to time out of Allentown but weekend travel tends to be on the higher end. I am flying my niece's family to join us in MCO in July and paid $200 rountrip with Airtran from a Thursday to a Monday which I think is a decent deal out of Allentown, and Philadelphia for that matter (my airport). Unfortunately, the lower airfares to MCO and TPA seem to be a thing of the past due to gas prices and the economy. I fly to Florida about 5 times per year and I now count myself lucky if I can get fares under $200 if I am not using frequent flyer miles/awards. I grew up in the Allentown area so my family often flies Allegiant. They have not run into any issues flying them. The only concern is that they often have limited flights and if something happens with your flight, you are often stuck not being able to get on another flight until the next day or two. Don't forget about the possibility of splitting your flights between two airlines if the flights are less expensive. My family often will fly Allegiant one leg and Airtran or Delta for another leg. Good luck with your decision!

There is 5 of us that I have to pay for flights. We will have to pay for luggage. Probably 1 per person. I was thinking of booking the flight coming home now and waiting to see if their schedule changes for our first flight. With everyones work schedules we will be in trouble if they change our flights too much. Also, we have relatives meeting us there that are driving, so day changes wouldn't be a good thing. 200.00 is the cheapest that I have ever paid to fly but since I am paying for 5 this time I'm trying to go with the cheapest that I could find.

 

[TaraPA]

I think you have time to keep watching. I watched both Allegiant & Airtran from ABE like a hawk for our Feb. trip. It went the lowest 3 weeks prior - I got Allegiant for $39.99 down (it had gone down to $19.99 twice in the month prior to departure but I didn't catch it in time to book it). I booked Airtran coming home at $59 - it had been bouncing from $59-$198 for that leg for months, so I just set a price in my mind that when it dropped to, I was booking. I had the price of $89 in my head & magically the day it went to $69, til I got online & booked, there was a $59 deal! I just booked Airtran one-way for October when I saw it hit $59 as well. I usually don't book that far out but I haven't seen Airtran go lower than $59 from ABE in a long time, so I snagged it. It seems like Airtran is a good deal from ABE at $59-$69 one way. I've seen lots of Allegiant flights between $19.99 - $49.99 from ABE - BUT they change them a few times a day sometimes, you really have to be on the ball & check constantly. A lot of the flight times stink, I totally agree, but hey, it's non-stop & you get what you pay for.

You said there are 5 of you - when on the Airtran or Allegiant site - just enter "1" for number of passengers - if you enter all 5 & there are up to 4 cheaper seats left, they will make you pay the higher price for all 5. If you check the price for 1 passenger & come up with a lower fare, start booking the tickets individually. This happened to us once, if I put in 3 passengers I got $98 per person, when I put in 1 passenger I got $69. So I booked 1 ticket at $69, then the other 2 at $98.

 

[TinaElmerRh]

I think you have time to keep watching. I watched both Allegiant & Airtran from ABE like a hawk for our Feb. trip. It went the lowest 3 weeks prior - I got Allegiant for $39.99 down (it had gone down to $19.99 twice in the month prior to departure but I didn't catch it in time to book it). I booked Airtran coming home at $59 - it had been bouncing from $59-$198 for that leg for months, so I just set a price in my mind that when it dropped to, I was booking. I had the price of $89 in my head & magically the day it went to $69, til I got online & booked, there was a $59 deal! I just booked Airtran one-way for October when I saw it hit $59 as well. I usually don't book that far out but I haven't seen Airtran go lower than $59 from ABE in a long time, so I snagged it. It seems like Airtran is a good deal from ABE at $59-$69 one way. I've seen lots of Allegiant flights between $19.99 - $49.99 from ABE - BUT they change them a few times a day sometimes, you really have to be on the ball & check constantly. A lot of the flight times stink, I totally agree, but hey, it's non-stop & you get what you pay for.

You said there are 5 of you - when on the Airtran or Allegiant site - just enter "1" for number of passengers - if you enter all 5 & there are up to 4 cheaper seats left, they will make you pay the higher price for all 5. If you check the price for 1 passenger & come up with a lower fare, start booking the tickets individually. This happened to us once, if I put in 3 passengers I got $98 per person, when I put in 1 passenger I got $69. So I booked 1 ticket at $69, then the other 2 at $98.

Thank you for the information. I didn't know about the booking 1 ticket thing. I am going to keep watching and try booking 1.

 

[cannmom]

We fly Allegiant out of Roanoke VA. You really just have to watch for their lowest prices. I have seen 19.00$ flights. Usually I just have a price I'm willing to pay and when it gets to that price I book.

Their limited flight schedule can be a problem. We flew with them this past December and our flight coming home was diverted to another airport due to our airport closing because of weather. We spent the night at that airport and were able to fly into our home airport the next day. We were afraid they would just take us back to Florida.. I must say they were great about doing what they could to help everyone and keeping us up to date on what was going on. We did have to pay for our own hotel for the night we stayed. They did arrange for a special rate. You could stay all night at the airport, but we did not want to do that. I felt they did what they could to make it right for everyone, because I guess they could have just flown us back to Florida.

 

[leeseem]

Is anyone else still watching August fares out of Allentown? It seems after the last increase, they haven't budged. They didn't increase their window yet, so maybe when they extend it they'll adjust rates again (hopefully lower!) Playing this waiting game makes me nervous!

 

[TinaElmerRh]

Is anyone else still watching August fares out of Allentown? It seems after the last increase, they haven't budged. They didn't increase their window yet, so maybe when they extend it they'll adjust rates again (hopefully lower!) Playing this waiting game makes me nervous!

I still with ya. When are you going? We are Aug 7 - 14. May fly in on the 6th because I don't like the times on the 7th.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Is anyone else still watching August fares out of Allentown? It seems after the last increase, they haven't budged. They didn't increase their window yet, so maybe when they extend it they'll adjust rates again (hopefully lower!) Playing this waiting game makes me nervous!

I'm in the same boat and getting nervous. We're heading down on 8/14 - planning on using Allegiant non-stop down. Our return flight is already booked with AirTran but we need to actually get down there in order to come home!

Tara - I've noted your 3 weeks before trip price. It'll keep me sane (I hope) and prevent me from booking now - at $128 + fees!!!

 

[leeseem]

I still with ya. When are you going? We are Aug 7 - 14. May fly in on the 6th because I don't like the times on the 7th.

We are planning Aug 15 thru Aug 21. Weeks ago the fares were lower and now they've stayed high. The only good thing is I keep checking if more seats have been sold, and that has stayed the same. Some people say try Tuesday night after midnight to book? Tried that...no such luck (yet)! I have hope the fares will come down since the flights aren't even close to being full! Let's hope!

 

[leeseem]

I'm in the same boat and getting nervous. We're heading down on 8/14 - planning on using Allegiant non-stop down. Our return flight is already booked with AirTran but we need to actually get down there in order to come home!

Tara - I've noted your 3 weeks before trip price. It'll keep me sane (I hope) and prevent me from booking now - at $128 + fees!!!

my daily ritual...check Allegiant...check AirTran...check Southwest... (really don't want to drive to Philly, plus their fares haven't been low since they came out!) Oh well, we'll just keep waiting!

 

[It'sWDW4me]

my daily ritual...check Allegiant...check AirTran...check Southwest... (really don't want to drive to Philly, plus their fares haven't been low since they came out!) Oh well, we'll just keep waiting!

Yeah, I drove to Philly once - in 2006. But I live right behind LVIA. Literally right behind. I can wave to the pilots as they fly over my backyard!

Since I'm just so darned close - 4 miles or so driving but probably 1 1/2 to 2 miles as the crow flys from my front door (all I would need to do is hop a few fences and I could walk right on up the runway ) - I just can't see going to Philly and wasting 2 hrs driving each way plus paying for parking while we're gone. Actually, we're trying to figure out how to get 10 people to the LVIA airport and not pay for parking for even one car there. Yes, we're cheap.

 

[TinaElmerRh]

Yeah, I drove to Philly once - in 2006. But I live right behind LVIA. Literally right behind. I can wave to the pilots as they fly over my backyard!

Since I'm just so darned close - 4 miles or so driving but probably 1 1/2 to 2 miles as the crow flys from my front door (all I would need to do is hop a few fences and I could walk right on up the runway ) - I just can't see going to Philly and wasting 2 hrs driving each way plus paying for parking while we're gone. Actually, we're trying to figure out how to get 10 people to the LVIA airport and not pay for parking for even one car there. Yes, we're cheap.

My mother-in-law and uncle live on Aster Road, so very close also. We will have one of them drive us to the airport. We are cheap also and don't want to pay for parking. Allentown is a 1 and 1/2 hr drive for us, so Philly is out of the question as far as we are concerned.

 

[PA Princess]

Is anyone else still watching August fares out of Allentown? It seems after the last increase, they haven't budged. They didn't increase their window yet, so maybe when they extend it they'll adjust rates again (hopefully lower!) Playing this waiting game makes me nervous!

I have just started watching fares for August. Dh and I have booked an anniversary cruise out of PC for ourselves, and now I need to book reasonable airfare.

I am actually surprised at high the fares seem...almost all are around $200 round trip per person. We make the trip to Orlando frequently (at least yearly) and we last flew in December (Christmas week) and we paid less.

Our usual carrier is Southwest out of Philly. I think it would be nice to try ABE because we are close (30 minutes), but I want a good price!

 

[pamjb]

Yeah, I drove to Philly once - in 2006. But I live right behind LVIA. Literally right behind. I can wave to the pilots as they fly over my backyard!

Since I'm just so darned close - 4 miles or so driving but probably 1 1/2 to 2 miles as the crow flys from my front door (all I would need to do is hop a few fences and I could walk right on up the runway ) - I just can't see going to Philly and wasting 2 hrs driving each way plus paying for parking while we're gone. Actually, we're trying to figure out how to get 10 people to the LVIA airport and not pay for parking for even one car there. Yes, we're cheap.

Mary,

You could always shuttle your travel companions to the airport and then hop the fences. How fast can you run?
I don't mind the drive to PHL. I can do it in under 90 minutes. I can't take the eye-rolling if I ask my outlaws to pick us up at the airport, so I would have to pay to park anyway. Unless I could park at your house?

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Mary,

You could always shuttle your travel companions to the airport and then hop the fences. How fast can you run?
I don't mind the drive to PHL. I can do it in under 90 minutes. I can't take the eye-rolling if I ask my outlaws to pick us up at the airport, so I would have to pay to park anyway. Unless I could park at your house?

Actually, the shuttling everyone to the airport, then taking our cars back to my house, and then either getting a taxi or a kind-hearted neighbor (we have an 11:00 am flight so it's not too ungodly early ) to shuttle just the drivers on back to the airport is kinda where I'm leaning at the moment. Then, when we get home, the drivers take a cab/friendly neighbor back to my house to pick the cars back up while everyone else in our party heads towards baggage claim. Kind of a pain but at $81 per car to economy park at the airport, we may just do this.

Hmmmm, I wonder if Catty would have an issue if I started a short-term parking business out of my house? I don't think they'd mind the street parked up and down solid, do you? (this is especially funny because Catty fines people for not shoveling the sidewalk within 24 hours of a snowfall and for grass that gets a shade too high.)

 

[comom500]

My nearest airport is Scranton too !! I purchased Airtran from Allentown for $59.00 each way. Did this in March. I'm going Aug 12-24.

 

[labdogs42]

Actually, the shuttling everyone to the airport, then taking our cars back to my house, and then either getting a taxi or a kind-hearted neighbor (we have an 11:00 am flight so it's not too ungodly early ) to shuttle just the drivers on back to the airport is kinda where I'm leaning at the moment. Then, when we get home, the drivers take a cab/friendly neighbor back to my house to pick the cars back up while everyone else in our party heads towards baggage claim. Kind of a pain but at $81 per car to economy park at the airport, we may just do this.

Hmmmm, I wonder if Catty would have an issue if I started a short-term parking business out of my house? I don't think they'd mind the street parked up and down solid, do you? (this is especially funny because Catty fines people for not shoveling the sidewalk within 24 hours of a snowfall and for grass that gets a shade too high.)

LOL. I was just thinking that maybe I should start a car service for cheap DIS-ers run out of my house! I live in North Whitehall and we have my mom drop us off and pick us up when we travel from ABE. She lives within walking distance of my house, so it works. I, too, hate to pay for parking!

As for the August prices, I think it is a crapshoot. I have given up trying to outmaneuver Allegiant and their constanly changing fares. They aren't very helpful for people planning months in advance. I actually lucked out and realized that they have $39.99 fares each way for the end of May and early June, so we may take a quick jaunt down to Disney because of that. If I had tried to plan that trip 6 months ago, I bet the prices weren't that low. But, there is no guarantee that the prices will be low the week you actually want to go to Disney.

I say, pick a price in your head that is reasonable to you and if you see that price, book it. If you want for the fabulous fare, you might get totally screwed. I think anything $79 and under each way is a great deal. When I see those numbers, I book it! Make sure to check AirTran, too. They have more flights per day than Allegiant and good prices, too!