Thoughts? I know people that love them, and people that say they would never fly them due to safety worries.
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Allegiant Airlines?
- Thread starter daisyduckie
- Start date
Nick Pappagiorgio
Well-Known Member
I've flown them a couple times with mixed results. Will be flying with them in a few weeks.
They fly out of generally smaller airports, which is a huge plus for me. Less time driving to the Airport. They also fly into Orlando-Sanford which I think is a Pro (unless you use Magical Express). Sanford is further away but security and lines are so much more minimal that I would leave the resort at exactly the same time as I would MCO. SFB is a lot less stressful than MCO. Fares are normally decent even after accounting for fees. But they have fees on everything. Checked, unchecked bags, seat assignment (vs random) beverages. If you don't print your ticket at home there is a fee to print it at the airport. We always stuff our personal items (free) and share suitcases if we can. They also are not the most reliable airline in the world. I have been delayed several times. I would only fly them on a day where you don't have any fastpasses or ADRs that you are not willing to miss. But overall the deals are good enough and I like the small airports enough to keep going back.
They fly out of generally smaller airports, which is a huge plus for me. Less time driving to the Airport. They also fly into Orlando-Sanford which I think is a Pro (unless you use Magical Express). Sanford is further away but security and lines are so much more minimal that I would leave the resort at exactly the same time as I would MCO. SFB is a lot less stressful than MCO. Fares are normally decent even after accounting for fees. But they have fees on everything. Checked, unchecked bags, seat assignment (vs random) beverages. If you don't print your ticket at home there is a fee to print it at the airport. We always stuff our personal items (free) and share suitcases if we can. They also are not the most reliable airline in the world. I have been delayed several times. I would only fly them on a day where you don't have any fastpasses or ADRs that you are not willing to miss. But overall the deals are good enough and I like the small airports enough to keep going back.
MickeyMomV
Well-Known Member
We have flown with them a couple of times but to be honest by the time they are done nickel and diming you is it cheaper to fly Southwest.
If you're considering flying Allegiant into SFB, you might as well also look at flights into TPA, since it's only another 10-15 minutes away from the parks - on a freeway (yay, no tolls!), and you get additional flight times and much better carriers to pick from.
That is an accurate description. TPA is a like a smaller and easier to manage version of MCO. And if you drive like me, you'll hit the Disney property line in less than an hour.
yensid67
Well-Known Member
Does it really matter what the airport loos like!? You're not staying there! When we flew on Allegiant to Sanford, I did not think it looked bad at all. It is a smaller sized International Airport nothing large like MCO, but it served my needs. We flew in around 10pm and rented our car and left the airport within an hour after landing!
Daisy, depending on where you live, have you ever considered taking the Train!? We are taking Amtrak in May 2018, roundtrip only cost us $500. Baggage is great 2 bags, 2 personal. We are traveling coach so that is why the cost was so low for 2 adults!
graphite1326
Well-Known Member
I looked into them once since they fly out of our local airport. All I had to do is google their reviews. Nope not me.
Disneyhead'71
Well-Known Member
Allegiant is a super low cost option if you are flexible and travel light. The only upcharge I had was for a coke. But there is an upcharge for everything but 1 carry on. And they add up fast.
ItlngrlBella
Well-Known Member
I *just* booked them from MKE to Sanford for this Thursday-Sunday for a funeral (sadly not for WDW). It’s last minute but was only $114 RT vs $800 RT with a major airline.
What’s their safety issues???
They nickel and dime you to death I noticed. All I ha luv e is a carry-on and I’ll be paying for it.
What’s their safety issues???
They nickel and dime you to death I noticed. All I ha luv e is a carry-on and I’ll be paying for it.
ItlngrlBella
Well-Known Member
PS: I swear they will upcharge so much that I’m afraid that if I need to visit he little girls room in the sky, it’s another $60.
RootJenny
New Member
If you approach to book the cheap flight tickets then you move to the Allegiant Air Phone Number 1 800 854 7418 to check the flight's rates. You can easily choose the best flight as suitable for you and book.
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
I've heard that Allegiant is perfectly fine if you're willing to be flexible (as their flights are more likely to experience cancellations/delays) and don't want upcharged extras. As others mentioned, though, you won't be entitled to DME service, so if you'd otherwise be relying on DME to get to your resort, you'll want to be sure that you include the cost of roundtrip airport transportation in your calculations. By the time you add that expense, you might be better off choosing an airline that flies into MCO.
atjimfromdisney
Active Member
I used to fly Allegiant, from Roanoke to Sanford many many times a year while going to college in Virginia. Never had an issue with Allegiant. You get exactly what you pay for. I never had a problem not receiving snacks, no movies, not knowing my seat location, etc. for the very inexpensive prices of their tickets. Never seen a safety concern in the 20+ times I've flown them.
Donald Razorduck
Well-Known Member
An extremely slanted 60 Minutes news feature fed to them bya lawyer representing a fired pilot and a bitter union rep using lots of data when pilots were sandbagging operations like they were Air France employees during very heated labor contract negotiations. Amazingly, things got miraculously better when they got a new contract.
Read about their baggage policy and expect no wiggle room in it. People who often complain about the low cost carriers didn't pay attention or bother to read their fare's terms of contract.
Donald Razorduck
Well-Known Member
Kinda depends on what day that Southwest flight is. WN on Fri, Sun and Mon is getting more expense than the Legacy 3. Connecting flights on WN are really going up in cost.
Companion pass holder here, so I fly them a bit.
Two stories (Both true, as God is my witness) about flying Allegiant. Both were several years ago flying out of Stockton, CA to Las Vegas.
The first flight we taxi down to the end of the runway to take off and we sit, and we sit, and we sit. All of the sudden the cockpit door opens and one of the pilots walks down the aisle and looks out the window at one of the wings and promptly goes back up to the cockpit and we take off. About 15 minutes into the flight the pilot comes on the intercom and asks rhetorically "bet you wonder what we were doing before take-off?" Yeah (to say the least). He proceeds to tell us that there was some sort of light on the "dash" that wouldn't go on or off as it was supposed to and that they contacted Las Vegas maintenance and were told it was ok to fly if they had done a visual inspection for whatever the light signified and that the issue would be addressed when/(if) we got to Las Vegas. (Very comforting.)
The second flight a year or so later, we board the plane and it's eerily quiet. It took a moment or two to realize that they had shut the plane off. I mean totally off. You could hear a pin drop. We sit for about 15 minutes after everyone is seated and the "Captain" comes over the intercom to say they are talking to "flight control" for the "proper procedure" to restart the plane's engines. (Let me off this plane!)
Do what you wish with this info, but as for me I wouldn't fly Allegiant again if the flights were free.
The first flight we taxi down to the end of the runway to take off and we sit, and we sit, and we sit. All of the sudden the cockpit door opens and one of the pilots walks down the aisle and looks out the window at one of the wings and promptly goes back up to the cockpit and we take off. About 15 minutes into the flight the pilot comes on the intercom and asks rhetorically "bet you wonder what we were doing before take-off?" Yeah (to say the least). He proceeds to tell us that there was some sort of light on the "dash" that wouldn't go on or off as it was supposed to and that they contacted Las Vegas maintenance and were told it was ok to fly if they had done a visual inspection for whatever the light signified and that the issue would be addressed when/(if) we got to Las Vegas. (Very comforting.)
The second flight a year or so later, we board the plane and it's eerily quiet. It took a moment or two to realize that they had shut the plane off. I mean totally off. You could hear a pin drop. We sit for about 15 minutes after everyone is seated and the "Captain" comes over the intercom to say they are talking to "flight control" for the "proper procedure" to restart the plane's engines. (Let me off this plane!)
Do what you wish with this info, but as for me I wouldn't fly Allegiant again if the flights were free.
Just make sure you are comparing them appropriately when looking at other options. They do nickel and dime you on various fees so look at how many bags you normally carry and make sure you are aware of what it is really going to cost... They fly out of an airport near us but when we factored in all the charges they have that we wouldn't using another airline it just didn't make sense. Also look at the number of flights that they have daily, some of the Allegiant flights are very sparse which is only bad if something happens and you get a flight cancelled. We've had flights cancelled on major airlines and it is almost never an issue getting another flight that same day, when we've used airlines with limited service we've had to stay overnight when a flight was cancelled... so verify the number of flights they have to and from your home and destination.
About half of their MD-80 fleet has made emergency landings.
In 2016 an investigation by the Tampa Bay Times determined their planes were four times more likely to have in flight failures than other major U.S. airlines. Other public records indicate a 3.5x times higher more likely to have mid air problems compared to other major US carriers.
I don't like flying as it is, so I wouldn't roll the dice on a carrier where available data has shown them to be less safe than other carriers.
In 2016 an investigation by the Tampa Bay Times determined their planes were four times more likely to have in flight failures than other major U.S. airlines. Other public records indicate a 3.5x times higher more likely to have mid air problems compared to other major US carriers.
I don't like flying as it is, so I wouldn't roll the dice on a carrier where available data has shown them to be less safe than other carriers.