Allegiant airlines-thoughts?

[maxiesmom]

I know that a few years back flying Allegiant was questionable. There was worries about safety and old aircraft. I'm wondering what everyone's thoughts are on them now. Better? Would you fly them based only on safety, and not worrying about delays?

 

[EACarlson]

If I wasn't concerned about delays and cancellations I'd have no problems flying them. My wife flew them last year when I had a work conference in Denver and she joined me. She had to make sure that her personal item fit their dimensions but otherwise was fine. I don't know that I would choose them over a major airlines as I usually need a carry-on and a checked bag, which can negate any or all of the price advantage.

 

[Bmill]

I know that a few years back flying Allegiant was questionable. There was worries about safety and old aircraft. I'm wondering what everyone's thoughts are on them now. Better? Would you fly them based only on safety, and not worrying about delays?

Use them everytime my wife and I fly to Disney. It’s just a much cheaper and easier route for us. Extremely basic amenities but never had any issues with them

 

[Karalee402]

I don't think we've ever flown Allegiant and not had a delay of some sort - some pretty significant. However, the low price generally outweighs that risk for our family of five, and I've never felt unsafe flying with them.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Safety wasn't our concern. Delays and cancellations were. We had several delays over the years, and then we had an aircraft that had to be pulled for maintenance just before our flight. They're such a small airline in small airports, they had no way to get us another plane and our flight was just cancelled. We've not been back, and don't intend to return to one of their flights unless it's a desperate situation.

 

[Brian Noble]

Would you fly them based only on safety, and not worrying about delays?

I have no qualms specifically about safety. And if you are genuinely not worried about delays, then I am sure they are fine.

But with Allegiant "delays" are not always measured in hours. They are sometimes measured in days, because Allegiant will not write you over to another airline. If they cancel your flight, you have to find another open seat on one of their other existing flights, or you don't go.

Will that happen? Probably not, but I'm not willing to bet my vacation on it.

 

[jimmymc]

Allegiant and other budget airlines are great with one major caveat. If your flight is cancelled or delayed to the next day, they won't put you on another airline. You'll have to wait for the next Allegiant flight, which could be days away, or just accept a refund, which usually isn't nearly enough to buy a last-minute one-way ticket. I've had this happen once with Spirit and got lucky that United had a direct flight later in the day for a low price.

No safety concerns with any of them.

 

[BrianL]

Yeah, I don't really think safety is much of a concern. Just because they are a budget airline doesn't mean they aren't safe. I more have an issue with their limited schedule - if something goes wrong you could be stuck. I also don't like that they fly into Sanderson from here, so that's near Orlando, but pretty far from WDW. I'll pay the extra to go to MCO.

 

[Genie+]

It’s too much gamble for vacations where other money’s tied up in rigid plans. If it’s a more flexible trip then maybe I’d consider, like flying to visit family when needing to change dates wouldn’t have nearly as many headaches (hotels, events, dvc points, car rentals, etc).

 

[nascargirl]

We fly allegiant all the time out of Allentown. They are the only ones that go non-stop from there. I don't want to jinx ourselves but I think we only had 2 issues with delays and thankfully it didn't have anything to do mechanical wise. I do wish they would improve the schedule but since last May they also fly into MCO so we have 2 options

 

[NYCgrrl]

I worry about delays, safety and costs, not necessarily in that order.
Alligant is not really on my radar.

 

[DVC-Don]

Quote from Channel 6 News out of Albany, NY. February 17, 2025:

"Albany, NY — On Monday, passengers on an Allegiant flight out of Albany International Airport bound for Punta Gorda, Florida spent more than 6 hours on the tarmac due to weather related delays and staffing issues."

Flight was eventually cancelled.

 

[PrincesCJM]

I live in southern Maine. Allegiant does not operate out of PWM but does from Portsmouth NH. But they don't have flights every day and usually only have one a day. I haven't dared to use them because of that. But I've had many friends who have used them with no issues.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I call Aligiant the "ala carte" airline because you pay for absolutely everything ON TOP OF the advertised price. I noticed they recently at least packaged all of these extra fees into a single number to make it a tad easier to compare to the other real airlines. Spoiler alert; you barely save any money once you include those fees.

DW calls Aligiant the "Leisure" airline because it is almost never on time. If you are on vacation and your schedule is flexible, OK, but if you really need to be somewhere anywhere close to the scheduled time, don't count on it. As others have noted, they don't fly to every location every day, so if your flight gets cancelled it will be days, not hours, until they can get you there.

Buyer beware....

 

[JulieBeeRN]

I'm so tempted bc it's the only non-stop flight from DSM, but too worried about delays and cancellations.

 

[ShaneDJ]

Just flew Allegiant today.

It was adequate…and on time.

 

[greeneyedchick]

Allegient is my preferred airline, partly because it's only 20 minutes from my house....but also because it's a much nicer experience than dealing with the crowds and security at Orlando international. Their prices are competitive and their crews have always been pleasant. The planes are clean and new. Most of them don't have much legroom (unless you pay for seats that do) and they don't have screens and stuff. But they are fine for most flights. My most recent flight was from Chatanooga and it was on Allegiant's brand new fleet of planes. I think we were the first flight. It had more leg room and overhead space. It also had USB outlets for each seat.

 

[greeneyedchick]

I call Aligiant the "ala carte" airline because you pay for absolutely everything ON TOP OF the advertised price. I noticed they recently at least packaged all of these extra fees into a single number to make it a tad easier to compare to the other real airlines. Spoiler alert; you barely save any money once you include those fees.

DW calls Aligiant the "Leisure" airline because it is almost never on time. If you are on vacation and your schedule is flexible, OK, but if you really need to be somewhere anywhere close to the scheduled time, don't count on it. As others have noted, they don't fly to every location every day, so if your flight gets cancelled it will be days, not hours, until they can get you there.

Buyer beware....

That is true that they don't fly every day, so if there's a cancellation, that would be a problem. That being said, I have flown them several times and have never had a cancellation and have rarely had any delays. Now Frontier....I can't say the same.

I will say that I'm surprised people feel like they are priced the same as major airlines....I do pay for luggage but I don't usually pay to pick seats or anything. I usually find them to be several hundred cheaper per ticket, even with paying for luggage.

 

[dvczerfs]

We fly allegiant all the time out of Allentown. They are the only ones that go non-stop from there. I don't want to jinx ourselves but I think we only had 2 issues with delays and thankfully it didn't have anything to do mechanical wise. I do wish they would improve the schedule but since last May they also fly into MCO so we have 2 options

My wife flys out of Sanford into Allentown and back ten to 15 times a year for the last four years. (Knock on wood) never had a delay due to mechanical issues. Weather is what will cause most of their delays and weather coming into and out of central Florida in the summer will create havoc for all airlines. We live closer to MCO than we do Sanford but the time you spend fighting for even a illegal parking spot, hiking through the terminal, going through security, I can drive down the road to Sanford, park, go through security and be two drinks in before I would even get to the parking lot elevator at MCO.
Baggage claim, if any is another time saver.
We are local though and have family in the Lehigh Valley so that is a big time saver. The earlier flight you get in either direction is best, the later the flight the more chances of delays.

 

[dvczerfs]

We fly allegiant all the time out of Allentown. They are the only ones that go non-stop from there. I don't want to jinx ourselves but I think we only had 2 issues with delays and thankfully it didn't have anything to do mechanical wise. I do wish they would improve the schedule but since last May they also fly into MCO so we have 2 options

My wife flys out of Sanford into Allentown and back ten to 15 times a year for the last four years. (Knock on wood) never had a delay due to mechanical issues. Weather is what will cause most of their delays and weather coming into and out of central Florida in the summer will create havoc for all airlines. We live closer to MCO than we do Sanford but the time you spend fighting for even a illegal parking spot, hiking through the terminal, going through security, I can drive down the road to Sanford, park, go through security and be two drinks in before I would even get to the parking lot elevator at MCO.
Baggage claim, if any is another time saver.
We are local though and have family in the Lehigh Valley so that is a big time saver. The earlier flight you get in either direction is best, the later the flight the more chances of delays.

Allegient is my preferred airline, partly because it's only 20 minutes from my house....but also because it's a much nicer experience than dealing with the crowds and security at Orlando international. Their prices are competitive and their crews have always been pleasant. The planes are clean and new. Most of them don't have much legroom (unless you pay for seats that do) and they don't have screens and stuff. But they are fine for most flights. My most recent flight was from Chatanooga and it was on Allegiant's brand new fleet of planes. I think we were the first flight. It had more leg room and overhead space. It also had USB outlets for each seat.

We call them the Greyhound of the sky. lol. It’s good for the two hour flight. Always had a good experience with them. I think they even retired all their A319. In the last year or so, most of them have been new A320.