allegiant air anyone use?

[brandylouwho]

I am just wondering if anyone has flown Allegiant Air (into Sanford). They just started flying out of my hometown airport non stop to Orlando this fall and some of the prices are awesome (I would have saved about $400 + a night at a park n fly + a hour and a half drive to MKE+ a layover in ATL had I choosen them over Delta for our upcoming trip).

Anyway, I am looking for opinions on them--as I will be headed back to Disney next summer with a group of 8, thinking maybe we should give them a try if the price is right.

 

[DESTTVL]

Our hometown also has Allegiant flights to Sanford. Since we are in the travel business my thoughts on this are:

1. They are a charter company operating scheduled air flights. This means they do not have a back up plane sitting on the tarmack if a mechanical problem occurs. They will have to transport another aircraft to your location in order to complete your route.
2. The flight times are sometimes not attractive. I like to arrive at Disney first thing in the morning and leave as late as possible. Usually not an option with Allegiant.
3. Watch the fares, they will increase the closer it gets to departure however if they don't sell at the higher fares they will decrease drastically. This happened Thanksgiving weekend for the Christmas season.
4. The cost of getting to/from Sanford to Disney is expensive. Rental cars do cost more from this airport and Magical Express does not service this airport. The typical cost is $140 each direction for a van transfer. Allegiant used to offer transfers however DO NOT take advantage of these.

This being said, my family is flying from Milwaukee on Air Tran and returning on Allegiant in order to get the better flight times and better fares!

Hope to see you there over the Christmas holidays!

 

[sdteacher]

I have flown on Allegiant to Las Vegas and it was a wonderful flight. We are flying on Allegiant this coming January to Orlando Sanford. It was simply the cost savings that make the decision for us. I am a little worried about not having a backup plane incase of problems, but we saved a little over 400 for each person (1600 is a lot of money!) Hopefully everything works out

 

[n2mm]

They also started flying out in our area. I did look into them. Here are the things that I didn't like. It cost $11 each way to choose your seat, $15 each way per bag. If you get to the plane and they have to gatecheck it because of it's size, it cost $35. You need to arrange for your transportation from Sanford. (At MCO it's free if you use DME). Our flight would've gotten in after 10:00 and National would be closed then, so we would've had to find a rental car company that is open and hope we could get a decent rate. Other than that, their prices were good, but after adding in all of the extras, we stuck with Southwest and Jetblue out of Dulles instead.

 

[disneydiz]

We have flown into Sanford on Allegiant a couple times. They were wonderful! They left on time and arrived early. Because they operate out of smaller airports, it it easier/quicker to check-in. Sanford is a great airport -- the rental car area is right by baggage. We normally rent a car and I can usually get a decent price (much cheaper than a town car service). You do not have to reserve your seats ahead -- a lot of people do not pay the seat premiums. The drive to Disney is no problem and takes about 50-60 mins. The majority of other carriers charge for bags, seats, etc. so I do not find their prices out of line. I booked Easter Week for $250 pp, and all the other carriers are in the $400 pp range.

 

[Allison]

We have used Allegiant several times to fly to Disney and would not hesitate to do so again.

We like having a direct flight and Allegiant is our only option for that.

We have never had any problems using Allegiant and enjoy using them.

 

[Honeymooners1021]

I have used them to fly to Vegas and it was great no issues. If rates get lower we will use them in February! I check the flights every day!!!

I agree their fees are kind of misleading but if we can get to FL for $181 will pay them!

 

[brandylouwho]

Thanks for the opinions. It does sound like they are worth a look, if we consider all the fees.

 

[mzlee]

I've used Allegiant to Las Vegas and Sanford. I like the direct flights but there is usually one flight per day so departure options are very limited. Also although prices may be reasonable, by the time you add all the fees it may not be much difference than other airlines. Overall I enjoyed the flights.

 

[treeface]

I've flown Allegiant to MCO and most recently to Tampa/St. Pete, no problems either time. I have always prepurchased my seat (I just want to know before I get there) and the last time I traveled I didn't have any checked bags. We considered them for our trip next week, but when we were checking prices this summer, they were more than I wanted to spend (not outrageous, just above my drive/fly threshold). The pros are the non-stop flight and on time departures, early arrivals. We had no problem rentin a car at Sanford and it was an easy drive. I would definitely use them again if it fit my schedule and price (although if I'm going on my own, it's my first choice).