Allegiant Air Question

[Azrael]

I am considering taking a short trip to visit Disney World in May using this airline. It is only $150 round trip per person. Here are my questions:

1. Is this a regular size plane? Boing 747? I'm scared to fly, and I need a regular size plane.
2. Does Magical Express pick you up from the other Orlando airport? Sanford I believe? If not, how much would it cost to get transportation to and from a Disney hotel?

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

We have flown Allegiant many times and have been satisfied with it. ME does not pick up at Sanford. We always, and I mean always, rent a car even if we fly into MCO, so that isn't a problem for us. The planes we have been on are pretty big. Rows of 3 on one side and 2 on the other. I don't know if they are 747s or what.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Here is a link about their planes from the website:

https://www.allegiantair.com/airline-aircraft-airports

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Remember that there are several other fees like bags, choosing your seat, boarding first, etc. You don't have to pay for them all. We obviously pay for the bags, but not always the other extra fees.

 

[MIChessGuy]

While considering Allegiant's flight to SFB from Toledo, I noticed that they use a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 for that route. Now I am certainly no aeronautics guy; however, my understanding is that the MD-80 is an old model that isn't used very much any more. Even Spirit, the cheapskate king of the skies, uses Airbus for most (all?) of its routes. It may very well be that "old" airplanes that are properly maintained are perfectly fine, and it certainly appears to be a normal-looking jet aircraft when you see one. I just personally wasn't happy about it. But my view might be much different if I wasn't in a major air market with Southwest and (ugh) Spirit readily available.

 

[ZellyB]

We've always been on an MD-80. It's not a small commuter jet at all, but also not as big as a 747. They've always appeared to me to be well-maintained and we've had no problems. As a PP said, just be sure you know about the extra fees. I never pay for anything except my bags though and we do just fine. We've generally been very fortunate in that the flights have been on time and well-run. We like that they are basically a charter flight, so always non-stop to your destination. That's impossible for us to get through any other carrier. As mentioned, though, you do fly into Sanford and we have always rented a car, so that might negate any savings you would get.

 

[DebbieB]

American flies a lot of MD80's. They replaced DC 9's. I would not be concerned about them.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I am considering taking a short trip to visit Disney World in May using this airline. It is only $150 round trip per person. Here are my questions:

1. Is this a regular size plane? Boing 747? I'm scared to fly, and I need a regular size plane.
2. Does Magical Express pick you up from the other Orlando airport? Sanford I believe? If not, how much would it cost to get transportation to and from a Disney hotel?

1. I don't think ANYONE flies a 747 into to Orlando. That's not a "regular' size it's a HUGE plane. If that's what you need you are going to be out of luck.

And airplane age tells you nothing. That's just the date it was built. But the FAA regulations are such that after x years it's basically a new plane. They even xray the body to make sure it doesn't need replacing and do that if needed. So you won't have much "original from the day it rolled out of the factory on a plane that's 10 years old for example

2. No Disney does not provide a free transport from Sanford and car service from there is not cheap. Make sure that won't eat up all your savings. I wouldn't use Sanford unless I was renting a car.

 

[Monykalyn]

We got our air from allegiance this year- be aware of extra fees (including a convenience fee for buying over internet!) but it still was cheaper than other airlines. We always rent a car too (we bundled our car rental thru allegiant and got a great rate). All told (car, air tix w/fees) was cheaper than just air through other airlines

 

[Alesia]

I am considering taking a short trip to visit Disney World in May using this airline. It is only $150 round trip per person. Here are my questions:

1. Is this a regular size plane? Boing 747? I'm scared to fly, and I need a regular size plane.
2. Does Magical Express pick you up from the other Orlando airport? Sanford I believe? If not, how much would it cost to get transportation to and from a Disney hotel?

1. The size of the plan is probably dependent on the airport you're flying out of. I can tell you with certainty that it will not be a 747, which is an enormous plane. They only fly into very large airports.

2. Nope. A taxi or a town car will cost around $200 round trip. Renting a car should be cheaper.

In addition to all of the extra fees that others have mentioned, you need to think about the flight schedule. They fly out of our local airport, but only twice a week, so a flight gets cancelled, those people have to wait another 3 or 4 days for the next flight.

 

[DebbieB]

Delta also flies MD-80s, that was the one that skidded off the runway today at LGA.

 

[richmo]

Be very careful with add-on fees with Allegiant. They even charge for buying tickets online (or on the phone)..only way to avoid that is to buy at the airport. And they're very good at making those hours very limited.

As others have mentioned, there is NO Magic Express to or from Sanford. It's also farther away from WDW than MCO, so a taxi ride would be more expensive. Of course, you could rent a car, but be sure to compare rates vs. renting from MCO. They're often higher.

If you have choices, factor in transportation to WDW, rental car expenses, etc. before purchasing your tickets. It may not be worth the difference.

 

[C&G'sMama]

What everyone else has said. We drive when we go but my in-laws flew allegiant from Concord NC last month when we went. We picked them up and dropped them off. They loved it. The airports they fly out of tend to be smaller on each end. That was nice because my FIL uses a wheelchair and there wasn't as far for them to go. Sanford is a small but not tiny airport. The planes looked "normal" sized to me. I can't speak to renting a car but I can say it takes about 45 mins to to get to WDW via car from there. I highly recommend using the toll road. The tolls were I think $9 each way which I think is kind of high for that distance BUT you avoid I-4 and it's fast. Have fund