My verdict on Allegiant
September 27, 2010
As requested by Stacking Pennies when I first mentioned flying Allegiant, my opinion now that I’ve flown my entire round trip: You get what you pay for, but only if you pay very little.
Pay more than $30 each way and you will probably be livid at what you overpaid for.
The MD-80s are creaky, ancient jobs that more often than not spill water on people towards the back (polled frequent fliers: this is true in their experience); the engines are so loud that you might suffer temporary hearing loss if you’re seated too close to them; they charge for everything like the right to choose your seat, even the “standard” free beverage so don’t expect a free glass of water, you cannot check in beforehand, if you miss your flight you have to wait a week for the next one or buy a new ticket on another airline.
It’s as barebones as you can imagine. More. I don’t know if you’re charged to use the lavatory but I’ve started to expect so.
So yes, if you snagged one of those magic $10 tickets, you should put up with all of that without complaint but if you ended up paying nearly standard fare before opting for any amenities, I can only imagine you’d be a tad grumpy. *hand raised* Other than that, we saved the cost of a rental, though marginally offset by the cost of public transit going to and from the Oakland airport on this end, and maybe a few dollars more than that for a standard fare into a more metro city.
Still, it got us into the destination with a minimum of fuss for our hosts and given the fact that they put us up in, while not decadent, very well fed fashion, I’m glad it was very easy for them to pick and drop us off. So there’s that.
My thanks …..
to Well Heeled for hosting this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance and including my post on the costs of PiC’s Marathon entry win.
I’ve flown on Allegiant a few times and never had issues. They have even checked my carryon for free a time or two. I would gladly fly on their airline any time. I only wish they had more places they flew from out of Fargo.
I think my perspective is a little different. Usually the airline choices I have to choose from have very similar (crappy & old & loud) planes. Though I never have had water dripping on me! Wow! Therefore, I didn’t really notice a decrease in plane quality, because mostly crappy planes fly to my hometown. 🙂
I typically save over $150 RT. most recently, we saved probably $400+ between the 2 of us. So for random routes, it’s a nice option. But if you have many options (and I often don’t when trying to get home), it might not be the best.
For a few dollars ($50 or so?) it is probably worth it to upgrade. Having allegiant fly LA to my hometown has also resulted in “real” airlines dropping fares to be more competitive.
(Actually, if you miss your flight, you not only have to wait a week, but i think you ALSO have to buy a new ticket. So DO NOT miss your flight!)
I think I saw an Allegiant plane while waiting for my flight to New York. My boss looked at it and said: What the F is that? Never heard of that company before!
Me + rickety old plane = does not go well together.
My mom flew them to visit us last year and got $15 fare each way. By the time she added in luggage and fees to pick her seat she might has well had taken SWA. And then I wouldn’t have had to drive back/forth to LAX.
Maybe I’m an starting to be a cranky old fart about travel, but that sounds dreadful. I usually do straight coast to coast or international on big planes, so I haven’t come across anything quite like what you describe. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to, either. Having said that, I’m glad it got you there and back in one piece and worked well for your hosts.