Allegiant out of plattsburgh

[SwanVT2]

I have coworkers who have used allegiant to fly non stop out of Plattsburgh to Orlando. They say it is fine but the reviews online are frightening!!!! It's between jet blue out of Burlington or save a bundle and get direct with allegiant. We will be flying with dd 2 for the first time so I'm nervous. Any suggestions/advice/reviews?

 

[manning]

My aunt has been using them from South Bend IN to Tampa/St pete from the time they started flying the route. A number of years and is happy with it.

I think they operate MD-80s

 

[Hawk]

Hi SwanVT2:

I have flown Allegiant and JB several times. The good about Allegiant is that it is one-way into Sanford, which is a bit north of MCO. The bad is that it is notorious for being late. Plattsburgh is a very small airport and a delay leaves little to do, although BTV is not much larger. BTV offers a larger waiting area, restaurant and a place to sit and relax in rocking chairs to watch the airplanes take off. In addition, if the flight is delayed more than 1 hour you are very close to quite a bit to do. That is not to say that JB is the most timely. I have delays there as well, but when comparing both - JB has the better record with me.

I usually have to come home for a couple of days during a three week vacation and I usually use Allegiant because the rates are better, but I book the family on JB - both ways. Also, more room on JB and the TV's keep the kids busy.

They both have good and bad points. I have always stated that unless I can save more than $100.00, I stick with BTV and Jet Blue.

Tim/Hawk.

PS - is Swan - Swanton? I am St. Albans.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

Flying into Sanford just grew on me last week. Last Fall we flew Allegiant, no frills and it cost to stow in the overhead bin. What bothered me at first was flying out of smaller airports. What sold me after last week, is flying the smaller airports.
I absolutely will avoid MCO security lines and getting to a gate a mile away at all cost. Last year we flew five of us and luggage for about $750. Rented a minivan which we usually rent a car.

I really considered taking the train from PHL to Orl instead of paying Spring breaks fees or dealing with MCO. I was a sweated mess when I got there. The flight attendant asked me if I was I'll. if I had a moment o think during he trek I likely would have ducked into a restroom and freshened up. Ugh he probably thought swine flu!
Now I will watch the Allegiant flights to Sanford for future trips. My back up, will be Amtrak.

 

[n2mm]

I have coworkers who have used allegiant to fly non stop out of Plattsburgh to Orlando. They say it is fine but the reviews online are frightening!!!! It's between jet blue out of Burlington or save a bundle and get direct with allegiant. We will be flying with dd 2 for the first time so I'm nervous. Any suggestions/advice/reviews?

Remember that Allegiant flys into Sanford not MCO, so you have to find your own transportation to WDW (assuming that is your destination). It can be costly. Jetblue flys into MCO where you can take advantage of magical express service to WDW. We have allegiant out of Hagerstown, MD, but after checking the cost, it wasn't worth it to us. (only 2 flights a week, fee for seat assignment, fee for checked luggage, fee for carryon luggage, fee for boarding earlier than others, ......) However, if we flew them parking would be free. Our flight out of Hagerstown, MD doesn't get into Sanford until after 10PM, and some rental car locations would be closed, limiting our choices. So we continue to hike to DC to fly Jetblue.

 

[rewok]

Hawk pretty much underlined the major concerns I have with flying out of Plattsburgh, but here are some more points:

- First, you have to add up all the fees on Allegiant (checked luggage, carryon-on, seat reservation, booking fee), to compare to other airlines our of Burlington (JetBlue=almost fee less, United,Delta=checked luggage fee) to compare price
- If you’re going to Orlando: positive=direct flight, negative=Sanford airport with no free shuttle, longer taxi ride into the WDW area or need a car rental
- Negative= only 2 flights per week, so if a flight is totally cancelled for real bad weather, the next one is in 3 days (happened to my friends, they were going to Florida for 5 days, they just cancelled the whole trip). This is a bigger concern when flying in winter.

All in, I personally prefer to fly out of Burlington, even if the price is sometimes cheaper out of Plattsburgh (if I’m not flying out of Montreal). I favour JetBlue on flights inside the US, so this might tint my perspective. My friends just did a quick week-end in Vegas from Plattsburgh with Allegiant (direct 4-5h flights), and were happy with the deal. They had minimal luggage (3 nights only), were flying without kids, … For my own Vegas trip next month, I’m taking JetBlue with a stop in NY, which means a 8-9h trip, but the schedule choice was 20x better (2-3 flights everyday), and I value the In Flight entertainment a lot.

 

[SwanVT2]

I am now sold on Jet blue. We will not have transportation and will be staying at Disney so MCO is the way to go. We are going in June, so weather is not an issue.
Plus I do like the Burlington airport and we won't have to pay to park as friends can drop us off.

 

[Belle'sFan]

If you come to Burlington the night before departure there are several hotels with free shuttle to the airport. They allow you to leave your car at the hotel for free. So, if you are going for say a week, the cost of one hotel night is about the cost you would have had to pay just to park. Takes away some of the stress of driving there on time. especially in winter.

 

[Maliki2]

Used to be a diehard JetBlue fan out of BTV but their prices have scared me beyond what I want to pay. I've been flying United and saved a lot of money in the past two years. JetBlue used to be the deal breaker unfortunately they have grown way to big for their own good and they are now one of the most expensive carriers. That's unfortunate.

 

[SwanVT2]

Used to be a diehard JetBlue fan out of BTV but their prices have scared me beyond what I want to pay. I've been flying United and saved a lot of money in the past two years. JetBlue used to be the deal breaker unfortunately they have grown way to big for their own good and they are now one of the most expensive carriers. That's unfortunate.

Oh so united has better deals? That is great to know. How is their service? Do they have tv?

 

[Maliki2]

Oh so united has better deals? That is great to know. How is their service? Do they have tv?

United or Delta usually. By a lot. We switched from Blue to United a few years ago. I saved $600 on airfare alone this year for three of us by flying United.

There are no TVs but I went out and bought a cheap $90 tablet for my son and that keeps him more than happy and he has been using it for a few years so the cost savings are great. I had one year where United was a nightmare but all the flights since then have been perfect. Even the nightmare one I emailed the CEO about our experience and they gave us free flights for our following trip. That's customer service!

 

[Belle'sFan]

I agree Jet Blue has become one of the most expensive! We were able to get good fares with them in March by flying out on a Tuesday and back on a Wednesday - $250 RT from Burlington.

 

[SwanVT2]

Well that is when we are flying out/returning-Wednesday-tuesday and it is for late June. Judging by the flight costs for released June flights today JetBlue should have decent fares for us. Good to know about the other airlines for other dates as well!