Allegiant Air

[smsles]

Please tell me your overall experiences with Allegiant Air. I never heard of them until today. They have pretty good deals from Eugene to LA. We are trying to keep our costs down.

 

[sonnyjane]

My friend flies them all the time from Bellingham, WA to San Diego to visit me. I've seen fares as low as $9.00 each way! It is NO frills and if I recall correctly when I looked into flying them, they make up for it in charging lots of fees. From their site:

"Base prices do not include PFC, segment tax or September 11th security fee of up to $10.70 per segment. A segment is one take-off and one landing. A convenience fee of $14.99 per passenger will apply when booked on allegiantair.com. A convenience fee of $14.99 per passenger, plus $14.99 per segment, will apply when purchased through Allegiant Air call center. Purchases made at any Allegiant Air Airport Ticket Office will not incur a convenience or call center fee. When purchased at time of booking, a checked bag fee of up to $34.99 per bag, per segment will apply for the first two(2) checked bags."

That said, it's still much cheaper than most airlines if you nab a great base rate.

 

[brookies_mommy]

My friend flies them all the time from Bellingham, WA to San Diego to visit me. Once a month they have fares as low as $19 each way! Once they had a sale and it was $9 each way! It is NO frills and if I recall correctly when I looked into flying them, they make up for it in charging lots of fees. From their site:

"Base prices do not include PFC, segment tax or September 11th security fee of up to $10.70 per segment. A segment is one take-off and one landing. A convenience fee of $14.99 per passenger will apply when booked on allegiantair.com. A convenience fee of $14.99 per passenger, plus $14.99 per segment, will apply when purchased through Allegiant Air call center. Purchases made at any Allegiant Air Airport Ticket Office will not incur a convenience or call center fee. When purchased at time of booking, a checked bag fee of up to $34.99 per bag, per segment will apply for the first two(2) checked bags."

That said, it's still much cheaper than most airlines.

It does sound cheaper depending on how many bags/people you have. But DD and I always have a lot of baggage lol

 

[DnA2010]

From the other one:
I used Allegiant for booking a Vegas trip- didn't pay for any "extras" like seat selection etc. Had no issues- plane on time, food and drinks available for purchase...no issues at check in- basic plane but fine.

We are leaving next wed ( ) on Allegiant out of Bellingham returning Sat am- we got a flight and hotel (Castle Inn- holding my breath that it will be o.k as it seems to be a shunned hotel on dis- I didn't know this and will report back) for $180 per person taxes in!

We are also only travelling with carry-ons- DH and I did this last year and found we could do fine with just a carry on for 3 days.

There are both positive and negative experiences on here, I am hoping for a positive one!

 

[ironpig70]

No experience just an FYI that the days that it flys out of Euegen and the days it flys out of Medford are different. This may help with planning.

 

[sonnyjane]

No experience just an FYI that the days that it flys out of Euegen and the days it flys out of Medford are different. This may help with planning.

Yeah, that's the rub - their schedule is weird. For example, they only make that flight from Bellingham to San Diego on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, and it's not every single T/Th/Sun either. Just check their online fares and it will tell you what days are available.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I have used them 3 times since offering service here in the Tri-Cities. Usually use DC-9's not my favorite plane. A good no frills airline.

Jack

 

[HydroGuy]

My perception after using them once is they buy old, discarded airplanes from other first line companies and nurse them along. There were a slew of things broken on the airplane - including the pilot intercom system that never did work that day. Being a mechanical engineer, it sufficiently unnerved me such that I decided to never fly with them again.

 

[cirquelovers]

My brother uses them to fly to Vegas for vacation at least once a year and they like it a lot. His wife is handicapped and they have never had any issues. He says it's a cheap way to take a nice vacation.

I didn't know they flew to LA now though!! Hmmm I'm going to have to check that out, thanks!

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We use Allegiant all the time out of Pasco, WA. There are many tricks to a good fare. First, I check fares daily. Sometimes I notice fares change many times through the course of the day.

Next, watch details carefully when booking online. They offer priority seating, which only means you board first. Really unnecessary, imho. Also you have the option to purchase a seat assignment. Seats on the front of the plane cost 13.99 per leg. The seats in the back at 10.99. We only buy seats when we are going with our children. We are a large group and I don't want the stress of worrying about sitting together. Smaller parties do not need to buy seats. I rarely see anyone having to sit apart, but it does happen.

They also add a trip flex plan to the ticket. You can opt out by unchecking the box and updating your total.

First priority boards, then people with seat assignments. You must be there when they call for seat assignments, if you are late you will lose your seat. They then let everyone else board and find an empty seat. I know that planes at Pasco are open both in the front and in the tail for fast boarding. Keep that in mind if you want to save money on seats.

Lastly, be aware there is a convenience fee for online booking. Go to the ticket counter if you don't want to pay the $14.99 extra.

We really like Allegiant and have found some very good bargains. We have been able to go to DL now 4 times this school year, thanks to Allegiant.

 

[Anj]

We've had good experiences with them for our short flights from Bellingham, WA to Palm Springs.

 

[Dobie]

We have had excellent results with Allegiant. The planes have been comfortable and I have not noticed anything broken. The staff are professional, efficient, and courteous. Flying out of Tri Cities can be very expensive and it is nice to have a budget alternative.

 

[smsles]

Thanks for all the replies. I think we might give them a try insterad of driving.

Sue

 

[djk]

I will be flying with Allegiant for the first time for a trip to DL in April. I am hoping for the best.

Question for those of you who have used Allegiant in the past: What percentage of passengers pay to pre-select a seat compared to those who opt for "open seating." I am trying to keep the costs down, but don't want to end up in a situation where my husband and I won't be sitting with our children (3 and 6). Advice?

 

[Halloweenqueen]

I would say less than a quarter of the passengers prepay for their seats. Allegiant just started this open seating system after Thanksgiving of last year. I've traveled 3 round trips since then. Each time the process was a little different.

When they announce they are ready to board they give the first 5-10 minutes for priority boarding. I usually see less than ten people take advantage of priority. Then it seems they give 10-15 minutes for people who paid for a seat assignment to board. There is no calling of certain rows.

The last two flights out of my home airport the attendant asked for families with children to board first. This did not happen on the return. I think it might be up to the attendant.

Most passengers are traveling with at least one other person, so many people are concerned with being split up. This creates sort of a mob to board. Just make sure you are near the gate during the announcements so you can hear and board promptly. You should have no problem sitting together. Just make getting to your seats the priority. You can then look for space to store your carry-ons.

Every flight I've been on has run out of above carry on space. They start not allowing carryons towards the end of boarding. They usually ask for people to check bags without charge during check in to try to eliminate a delay.

I have seen families split up. They are usually the ones who are late to board. I have also seen families who believe they have bought a seat and wait to board to find their seats have been filled by open seat passengers. The seat assignment that is purchased clearly states that they have to be at the gate and board when called. I've seen some issues with this because people are mad they paid for something and don't feel this was communicated by the staff. They never have moved an open seat person if a seat assignment person boards late. So once you have a seat, it's yours. Just remember to stay put and have someone there to hold if you need to find a spot for a carry on.

It wouldn't hurt to talk to the gate attendant before boarding and ask for him/her to ask family first boarding. Especially if you have a stroller.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[djk]

Thank you, Halloween queen. I see on your earlier post that you fly out of Pasco. That's where we'll be flying from, too. It's good to hear that your experiences with Allegiant have been positive enough to re-book. Thanks!

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We are flying out on April 3rd to LAX and DL for our anniversary trip!

Have fun. Glad to help. I'm sure you will have no problems out of Pasco!

 

[MacLora]

Both times I booked with them in the last 2 years, they ended up changing the dates of the flights. They own the planes so they can do whatever they want, and fortunately they gave us an option to cancel if the new dates didn't suit us, so we cancelled, but it was really disheartening to cancel our plans.

 

[djk]

MacLora - Were the cancellations due to weather or something else?

 

[TheColtonsMom]

My sisters kids have been flying backm & forth on allegiant from Montana to Arizona for a few years now and they have never had problems. Just be aware of the "extras" but lately most airlines have added charges for baggage and all kinds of other things so Alegiant is not all that different anymore.