Allegiant Air v. AirTran

[momhmmx2]

Which would you choose and Why?

I have never flown either of these..I usually fly SWA or Delta. So any and all opinions/suggestions welcome

Thanks!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Well I have not flown with Alligent but we have used Airtran several times. We like Airtran and we had no issues. Have you checked you flights with SW? They are having a sale which ends June 24 and it could save you some money. Especially if you couple the sale price with the $25 SW coupon. I managed to book a trip to Baltimore and saved 50% off of the original price!

Oh one other thing with Airtran you will have to pay luggage fees starting with your first piece of checked luggage and with SW you won't.

 

[TaraPA]

I've flown both. Both have many, many extra fees for everything - so be sure to include that in your fare when comparing. I had a $19.99 fare on Allegiant that ended up being somwhere in the $40-range after taxes & online booking fees. A $59 fare on Airtran ends up around $70 - and I didn't have any seat assignment, priority boarding or luggage fees on either (I opt out of all the fees, knowing the risks I take in doing so).

They are both budget airlines & you get what you pay for. GREAT fares - even with the fees - but if you want to compare them to a major carrier like USAirways, Continental or Delta, they're not quite the same.

This board has tons of complaints of changed flight times for Airtran. We've never had a flight time change with either airline.

In my personal experience, the service & staff with Allegiant rated about a 2 on a scale of 1-10. I'd give the Airtran staff an 8. Bottom line the fares (from our area anyway) cannot be beat, so we suck it up & fly with them!

 

[madge]

I agree with what Tara posted. We've flown both, and would fly either one again. If price was the same (after all the fees and such, LOL) I'd pick Airtran, though.

 

[relspeak]

We have flown Airtran once and it was just fine. Have flown Allegiant twice and our daughter and son-in-law just flew them end of May. Allegiant to Sanford left on time and arrived early. No doubt they have the worst staff. Our April trip was fine but on our daughters trip they were so rude and obnoxious she thought her husband would get arrested for telling them off. Of course we left from Duluth MN, the scum bucket city of the north. We always have bad/rude/incompetent staff from TSA, Delta/Northwest and Allegiant in Duluth, although TSA seems better lately. We flew to Las Vegas 18 months ago and they refused to let us have any type of carry on bag. Said the plane was full and could not even put a bag under the seat in front of us, knowing it was small and would easily fit. But the crazy thing is we are going to try Allegiant again to the podcast cruise, but from Appleton WI. We are only 75 miles from Duluth, 250 miles from Appleton but mostly go the 210miles to Mpls MN to save money and aggrevation. The parking is much cheaper at the Allegiant airports and security lines are shorter.

 

[Jen0504]

Well, we have flown Allegiant before, and had no problems. We chose Airtran for our trip to Disney in September, because they were actually cheaper than Allegiant. We are in the Des Moines IA area, and both fly directly non stop to MCO airport. I believe though that one of the perks w/flying Airtran is that they are part of the check in package w/Disney. Meaning, that you don't have to get your luggage at the airport if you are staying at a Disney resort.... they will deliver it to your room. Allegiant (last I knew) were not part of this program.

 

[duffy]

I love Allegiant. Never a problem with rude staff, smaller airports = easier to find your gate, I have free parking at the Hagerstown airport, and as for those fees? I love that Allegiant cuts all those extra services, and then offers cheaper fares. Those airlines that have "free" drinks, luggage, etc., make up for them with higher fares. I'll take the lower fares, thank you, and if I choose to also have a drink, I have no problem buying one, or not, and keeping my money.

 

[ashleyasiegel]

I haven't flown Air Tran in years and that was out of Flint. I have flown Allegiant twice in the past year out of Grand Rapids once to Orlando-Sanford and once to Las Vegas. We had no trouble at all with Allegiant. Service was great. They do have all of the extra fees so make sure you pay attention when booking if you do not want priority boarding/seat assignments. Their seat assignments are higher than Air Tran.

I am debating between the two for our trip in September and leaning towards Allegiant because of their trip flex option. It is $15 extra but it lets you have unlimited name changes/flight changes should we need to change something.

I don't think that you can go wrong with either one and just think you don't have to drive to Detroit to get a low fare now! Since Allegiant flies to MCO now just pick whatever one is the cheapest!

Hope that helps!

 

[lacy1101]

I agree with what Tara posted. We've flown both, and would fly either one again. If price was the same (after all the fees and such, LOL) I'd pick Airtran, though.

Where did you fly out of with Airtran?