Allegiant Air

[mom2rm]

Has anyone flown Allegiant Air? I'm looking to fly them from Niagara Falls, NY to MCO. The flights are a great price but I'm a bit nervous as I've never heard of them. Any feedback would be great!

 

[greenclan67]

We are flying with them as well in March from Niagara Falls, Ny into Sanford/orlando, I am wondering how far ahead we need to be at the airport. The flight doesn't seem full on eithier end. I would be interested to hear reviews as well!

 

[mom2rm]

Has anyone flown Allegiant Air? I'm looking to fly them from Niagara Falls, NY to MCO. The flights are a great price but I'm a bit nervous as I've never heard of them. Any feedback would be great!

Sorry-not flying into MCO but Sanford, Orlando. How far is this airport to Disney? Has anyone flown into sanford?

 

[mom2rm]

We are flying with them as well in March from Niagara Falls, Ny into Sanford/orlando, I am wondering how far ahead we need to be at the airport. The flight doesn't seem full on eithier end. I would be interested to hear reviews as well!

How much did they charge you for bags? Did you book online?

 

[greenclan67]

Yes I booked online when I booked my flights, and still trying to decide if I am going to add another! I know when I booked it was $19.99 per bag, per lag. So it was like $39.98 for both ways! I know if you pay at the airport it is $35 per bag, per flight! I would book online! NOW, that being said, I did see they raised the bag prices to $25 per flight, so it would be $50 for 1 bag both ways!
What day are you flying, we are flying the 10th and home on the 23rd!

 

[BensDaddy]

Hi guys,

My family and I have flown Allegiant twice -- once to Sanford and once to LA. It was a wonderful experience. Friendly people and very inexpensive and convenient service.

I was an airline pilot for many years (now I fly business jets for a corporation). I have friends and former colleagues who now fly for Allegiant and are very happy there. The pay is not as good as their former employers (we were all major airline pilots who were furloughed post-9/11) but Allegiant does very few overnights... which means they are home every night in their own bed. Nothing makes a pilot happier! Believe me!

As far as the equipment, the MD80s they have are old, but well cared for. (airplanes never really get "old" due to rigorous inspection and maintenance cycles) Their 757s are the same although the seat pitch is a little less on the 757s.

I think you'll be very pleased with Allegiant. I know my family was and we will continue to use them as long as they serve our little Arkansas town !

 

[KelnRon]

We usually fly Spirit b/c they are cheaper but there have been a few times we have flown Allegiant in the last few years! We LOVED them! Two years ago we flew on my dd 3rd birthday and we let them know it was her birthday and we were heading to Disney to celebrate. They sang for her, gave her a disney gift pack. They did a 50/50 raffle (fun!) and let her pick the winning ticket! Best customer service we have experienced flying! They did some silly games and gave out some Disney themed prizes. Before we knew it we were there! Super awesome flight!

 

[klmrph]

Don't forget to factor in the extra cost to get to WDW because you are flying into Sanford. You will need to rent a car most likely. We flew them once and it was a great experience. It was a few years ago and we flew from Fort Wayne, IN to Sanford for around $79 round trip and didn't check bags, but I am sure the bag policy has changed since then. Do they charge for carry on too?

 

[Soon2B4]

Don't forget to factor in the extra cost to get to WDW because you are flying into Sanford. You will need to rent a car most likely. We flew them once and it was a great experience. It was a few years ago and we flew from Fort Wayne, IN to Sanford for around $79 round trip and didn't check bags, but I am sure the bag policy has changed since then. Do they charge for carry on too?

No charge for carryons. You can save money if you book at the airport too. The fee is something like $15pp to book online.

 

[TaraPA]

We've used Allegiant a few times out of ABE. No complaints. We never had good customer service (actually poor once) but hey I paid $19.99 per leg once so no worries! Just don't expect the bells & whistles & you'll be fine, and pleasantly surprised if you get them!

It was nice to see the compliments on here from a pilot. That is very reassuring.

Sanford is about an hour from Disney. A little less, but I always figure in an hour with baggage claim & traffic.

 

[jujube]

We flew Allegiant once. By the time we paid to choose our seats and for our luggage, the price was about the same as Southwest. The staff is not very nice at all. I don't know about now but at that time Allegiant flew to Sanford.
Does Disney offer ME from Sanford?

 

[DebbieB]

We flew Allegiant once. By the time we paid to choose our seats and for our luggage, the price was about the same as Southwest. The staff is not very nice at all. I don't know about now but at that time Allegiant flew to Sanford.
Does Disney offer ME from Sanford?

No ME to Sanford. You need to factor in transportation costs to/from Sanford.

One thing to keep in mind is Allegiant is not a major airline. If something goes wrong, they can't put you on another airline and most likely cannot reroute. They don't have daily service, the next flight might be days away. There have been posts where they changed their schedule and moved the passengers to a different DAY. You need to weigh those possibilities vs saving money.

 

[greenclan67]

I actually looked about how many days they are flying, and they fly on eithier side of the day I am coming or going! But I figure Buffalo really isn't that far away, if I really had to get there. I am hoping and praying that all goes well. I couldn't beat the price this year of $69 each way!

 

[lisalis]

We have always flown with Allegiant Air to Florida because they are the only airline that offers a direct flight from where we live. I do not want to deal with delays and missing connecting flights on vacation. When we went for 11 days, we paid for 1 suitcase; but last year I took my DS4 for 7 days and we each took just a carry on and backpack. You do have to pay for specific seat assignments, but we've never done that. Because we have a young child, they let us board after all the paid assignments and we've always been able to sit together. My DH and I went by ourselves once and we found seats together. We've never had unfriendly service with them. You also pay for any drinks or snacks they provide. This is not a big deal for us, as I just pack our own supply of snacks & we fill our water bottles after we get past security. Because there are 5 of us, we just need a basic safe flight for as low cost as possible.

Where we live they turn their flights around pretty fast. A half an hour before your flight leaves, the plane comes in with the flight from Florida. They come off and you board about 5 minutes later. We have left late a few times because of this tight schedule, but for us it is worth it since we have no other direct flight options.

Allegiant Air is not for everyone, but for this time and place in our lives it is the best option.

 

[BensDaddy]

Rumor has it that Allegiant will announce an order for Airbus 319/320s within the next two weeks. The reason is better range and much less fuel consumption than the MD80s they use today. This is good and bad. On the one hand, they will be leasing these airplanes instead of buying them outright as they had in the past.

On the other hand it is a much more modern, more comfortable, airplane with the very latest in safety equipment. It also has better range which may open new route opportunities for Allegiant.

I think it's net good-news.

 

[DebbieB]

No charge for carryons. You can save money if you book at the airport too. The fee is something like $15pp to book online.

This is an older thread. Just an update - Allegiant is now charging for carryons.

http://www.allegiantair.com/aaFeesForOurServices.php

 

[ghtx]

This is an older thread. Just an update - Allegiant is now charging for carryons.

http://www.allegiantair.com/aaFeesForOurServices.php

Yikes! Make sure you prepay for the carry-ons, or you get hosed! I guess that's how discount airlines make money though (now that they can't hide taxes and fees on their price quotes online )

Still saving loads of money using Allegiant and flying into Sanford. One thing that no one's pointed out is that the Sanford airport, though farther from WDW, is so much smaller than MCO and therefore more convenient. E.g. you don't have to take a shuttle from the gate to the terminal, and you can just walk right over to your rental car. I like it.

 

[BensDaddy]

I like using Sanford as well. Very convenient. I also liked using Allegiant to fly into LAX and visit Disneyland. Greyhound runs a "Disney Magical Express" out there that is reasonably priced and serve most of the hotels in Anaheim.

 

[DebbieB]

I like using Sanford as well. Very convenient. I also liked using Allegiant to fly into LAX and visit Disneyland. Greyhound runs a "Disney Magical Express" out there that is reasonably priced and serve most of the hotels in Anaheim.

Actually it's Gray Line.

http://graylineanaheim.com/shuttles.shtml

 

[BensDaddy]

Actually it's Gray Line.

http://graylineanaheim.com/shuttles.shtml

Yes, thank you. Knew it was Grey-something!