Bellingham, WA to Long Beach, Ca AIR SPECIAL!!!!

[sahbushka]

Allegiant air just introduced a new flight from Bellingham to Long Beach starting July 1, 2010! If you book by midnight tonight (May 19) you can get a rate of 9.99 each way plus tax for some of the flights through end of january, 2011! Other flights are as low as 49.99! I got flights round trip for $136.37 round trip including taxes per person for Dec 26 through Jan 2!!!! They fly 3 days a week!

Good Luck!

SarahMay

 

[FlameGirl]

Wow...I will have to check that out. That would be worth it...even if we have to drive up from Seattle to fly out. Thanks!

 

[blackjackdelta]

They also just started a route from the Tri-Cities to Lax at a intro rate of $59.

Jack

 

[haydeecm]

Thanks, will definitely look into this. Never been to the Bellingham airport. Does anyone know what the parking situation is like up there? I assume shuttleexpress is out.

 

[sahbushka]

Thanks, will definitely look into this. Never been to the Bellingham airport. Does anyone know what the parking situation is like up there? I assume shuttleexpress is out.

Parking is pretty good...it is right at the airport and the price isn't too bad from what I remember. There are shuttles from certain areas...where are you coming from?

 

[chrissiecutie]

Ok folks...I went to allegiant air and "pretended" to book a flight just to see how good of a deal this was.

Well first off, you know that they didn't have any seats avail at the $9.99 rate. The next best deal was $49.99. So, ok...that's not too bad so I proceeded.

I was charged for picking my seat (however I didn't see any way to skip this feature online), charged for the actual seat, prices ranges from $10.99-$14.99, one bag was $40 per person and then add the other misc taxes and fees that they didn't even tell me what they were for.

I picked the cheapest options avail and tried to choose alternative dates around when my next vacation in Nov is planned. The total price for my family of 3 to fly was around $550.

Granted, this is a little cheaper then Alaska Airlines (our preferred airlines) but much less convienent. Alaska occasionally has some great deals and it usually costs my family around $750, plus I'm not earning mileage.

So IMO, while it sounds too good to be true, I think it may be. Bummer too! I was really hoping to score some good airfare for our next trip!!

 

[sahbushka]

I just checked again and yes, most of the 9.99 are gone, though some are still available close to the end of the year. In order to not be charged for the seat you click change and then click remove. There are a bunch of taxes but they should only equal about 30-35 per person. If you make sure to unclick the no charge for changes button that takes part of the price off. Each person is allowed one carry on at no fee so you can change the 40 fee to 0 by selecting "No Bags". I don't know what you mean about less convenient but I suppose it would depend on where you live because if I take Alaska out of Bellingham I have to change planes in Seattle where as if I take this flight I don't have to change at all. Let me know if you have any additional questions. I did book this and got a price of 136 per person including all taxes with the 49.99 fare each way.

SarahMay

I was able to pretend book Nov 11 back the 18th for $409 for a family of 3.

 

[FlameGirl]

Ok folks...I went to allegiant air and "pretended" to book a flight just to see how good of a deal this was.

Well first off, you know that they didn't have any seats avail at the $9.99 rate. The next best deal was $49.99. So, ok...that's not too bad so I proceeded.

I was charged for picking my seat (however I didn't see any way to skip this feature online), charged for the actual seat, prices ranges from $10.99-$14.99, one bag was $40 per person and then add the other misc taxes and fees that they didn't even tell me what they were for.

I picked the cheapest options avail and tried to choose alternative dates around when my next vacation in Nov is planned. The total price for my family of 3 to fly was around $550.

Granted, this is a little cheaper then Alaska Airlines (our preferred airlines) but much less convienent. Alaska occasionally has some great deals and it usually costs my family around $750, plus I'm not earning mileage.

So IMO, while it sounds too good to be true, I think it may be. Bummer too! I was really hoping to score some good airfare for our next trip!!

I just booked my family of three, and paid $409 out the door. You can remove the seats that they choose for you (click "remove"...it's the little blue box) and we selected zero bags...we always pack light enough to carry on our bags.

I also went to Alaska Air and it would have been about $800 for the three of us to fly, and while I'm not getting the mileage either, this was too great of a deal to pass up.

Can I just mention that until about an hour ago, we were planning on DRIVING from Seattle? We were also going to take our dog with us. Wow. Whole new plan! Thanks sahbushka!

 

[chrissiecutie]

I just checked again and yes, most of the 9.99 are gone, though some are still available close to the end of the year. In order to not be charged for the seat you click change and then click remove. There are a bunch of taxes but they should only equal about 30-35 per person. If you make sure to unclick the no charge for changes button that takes part of the price off. Each person is allowed one carry on at no fee so you can change the 40 fee to 0 by selecting "No Bags". I don't know what you mean about less convenient but I suppose it would depend on where you live because if I take Alaska out of Bellingham I have to change planes in Seattle where as if I take this flight I don't have to change at all. Let me know if you have any additional questions. I did book this and got a price of 136 per person including all taxes with the 49.99 fare each way.

SarahMay

I was able to pretend book Nov 11 back the 18th for $409 for a family of 3.

Hmmm...I tried unclicking next to the priority seating charge and each time it added it back on once I got to the final price page- for both departing AND returning flights, that's an extra $60! Sadly, I will have bags since I'm going for 10 days total.

How do you avoid for being charged for the actual seat?? There's a fee for both priority seating and the actual seat- so 2 charges for one seat each way. That's over $120 for a family of 3!

As far as convienence...I live closer to SeaTac to drive plus I wouldn't have to visit my mother-in-law who lives in Bellingham. For me, that's worth spending a couple hundred extra bucks!

 

[sahbushka]

I just booked my family of three, and paid $409 out the door. You can remove the seats that they choose for you (click "remove"...it's the little blue box) and we selected zero bags...we always pack light enough to carry on our bags.

I also went to Alaska Air and it would have been about $800 for the three of us to fly, and while I'm not getting the mileage either, this was too great of a deal to pass up.

Can I just mention that until about an hour ago, we were planning on DRIVING from Seattle? We were also going to take our dog with us. Wow. Whole new plan! Thanks sahbushka!

Yeah!!!! I am so glad I was able to help! When I saw the article in the paper I was just shocked! I had to pass on the info to all you great people on the DIS! Have a great trip!

SarahMay

 

[sahbushka]

Hmmm...I tried unclicking next to the priority seating charge and each time it added it back on once I got to the final price page- for both departing AND returning flights, that's an extra $60! Sadly, I will have bags since I'm going for 10 days total.

How do you avoid for being charged for the actual seat?? There's a fee for both priority seating and the actual seat- so 2 charges for one seat each way. That's over $120 for a family of 3!

As far as convienence...I live closer to SeaTac to drive plus I wouldn't have to visit my mother-in-law who lives in Bellingham. For me, that's worth spending a couple hundred extra bucks!

LOL! Can't blame you for that. As for the seats...there is a button next to each seat assignment that says change....if you click on this once it changes to remove...if you click on it again it will remove the assignment and not charge you. You need to do that for each persons seat each direction. Good luck which ever way you decide to go!

SarahMay

 

[chrissiecutie]

Ok, so you have to unclick the buttons next to "priority seating" for each person per flight. Then you have to click "change", then "remove" for each per person per flight. Got it!

However, at the end, I'm still be charged $47.94 for something called a "trip flex". What is this and how do I get rid of it??

 

[FlameGirl]

At the end of the process there is a checkbox to the left of the grand total - if you uncheck it, you are waiving your option for free changes to your flight. That is the tripflex.

 

[haydeecm]

Looks like the $9.99 is only charged for one seat, the rest of the seats in your party get charged $49.99. I assume then we should the adults separately so we get the $9.99. I guess the kids need to come in the same ressie, so gotta pay higher there

Also, not sure i understand about charging for priority seating. Does that mean if you dont pay you dont have a seat until you check in? DO you get to pick seats at check-in at least?

I am a little nervous about them only flying certain days, I guess if you miss the flight, get bumped or canceled, then you have a few days to wait until the next one.

Im in Seattle, are most people doing a park-and-fly lot? Any good ones up there? or is parking right at the airport best?

I am trying to decide whether to pull the trigger.

 

[sahbushka]

Looks like the $9.99 is only charged for one seat, the rest of the seats in your party get charged $49.99. I assume then we should the adults separately so we get the $9.99. I guess the kids need to come in the same ressie, so gotta pay higher there

Also, not sure i understand about charging for priority seating. Does that mean if you dont pay you dont have a seat until you check in? DO you get to pick seats at check-in at least?

I am a little nervous about them only flying certain days, I guess if you miss the flight, get bumped or canceled, then you have a few days to wait until the next one.

Im in Seattle, are most people doing a park-and-fly lot? Any good ones up there? or is parking right at the airport best?

I am trying to decide whether to pull the trigger.

Parking is right at the airport, they only fly certain days so you HAVE to be on time! If they cancel then they will get another plane there as soon as possible. You would not get seat assignments till you checked in but I have never been seperated from my party. As far as the price, there are only a certain number of seats at the 9.99 rate so if there is only 1 left on that day than you would get that one and the rest would be at the higher rate. If they had 2 left at that rate then you would get those 2 and then the rest would be the higher rate.

Good luck,
SarahMay

 

[ZeusNike]

We have flown Allegiant out of Bellingham a few times - nice, small airport, lots of parking with a shuttle to get you to the terminal (I think it was under $10 per day recently). They assigned seats at the gate for those who did not have assigned seats. If you fly carry-on and don't pay for priority boarding it is very difficult to store your bag near your seat.....did not see any aother reason to pay it. Thanks for the tip....booked our family of 3 for December!

 

[aristocat65]

I think this is exciting news only because it might (hopefully) spur competition from Alaska Airlines to have a non stop from Bellingham to LA area. Alaska is also our preferred airline and we either pay a lot more from YVR to LAX or drive to SEA to get a non stop to Long Beach. I wish there were more options from Bellingham.

 

[sahbushka]

I think this is exciting news only because it might (hopefully) spur competition from Alaska Airlines to have a non stop from Bellingham to LA area. Alaska is also our preferred airline and we either pay a lot more from YVR to LAX or drive to SEA to get a non stop to Long Beach. I wish there were more options from Bellingham.

I have to say with the arrival of Allegiant the non stops have at least become a possibility...they keep adding more! It is so nice not to have to change planes in Seattle, especially with kids. A non stop only adds about 15-20 minutes to the overall flight time where as if you have to stop and change planes in Seattle you are looking at almost 2 hours with the landing, debarking, layover and embarking of the new plane! I would love it if Alaska would do non stops as well! I prefer them when I can travel them but will pick an non stop anyday!

ZeusNike - glad it worked out for you!

I am glad I got my tickets when I did. If I tried to buy the same dates today (Dec 26 out with Jan 2 return) - I would be paying an additional 240 per person! I just saved $960 for my family! $1440 if you count my whole group! Thanks Allegient!

SarahMay

 

[FlameGirl]

if you have to stop and change planes in Seattle you are looking at almost 2 hours with the landing, debarking, layover and embarking of the new plane!

I have to ask...why would you not just drive to Seattle and fly out of there?

 

[sahbushka]

I have to ask...why would you not just drive to Seattle and fly out of there?

Sometimes price and stress...The price of gas and parking in seattle for my duration sometimes costs more than the difference in price out of Bellingham. Plus there is the stress of driving down to seattle and worrying about accidents and traffic, etc.