SomeGuy

Six destinations from Louisville, starting in May.

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Allegiant Airlines announced Tuesday that it will begin servicing the Louisville market in May.

Allegiant will offer year-round non-stop service to the following airports:
•Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport beginning May 19
•Orlando-Sanford International Airport beginning May 24
•St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport beginning May 24
•Punta Gorda Airport beginning May 25

In addition, seasonal non-stop service will be begin May 24 to Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport and May 26 to Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport.

All routes will operate twice weekly.

What do we need to know about Allegiant? I've never flown on a true LCC before.

cblaisd

We'll send this to the appropriate airline forum, thanks.

cblaisd
Moderator, Travel News

The OS

What you need to know is don't ever fly on it if you value your sanity and/or life.

- Old planes (20-30 years old +)

- upcharges for everything

- old planes = lots of issues, and without a hub/spoke model and a low number of flights, if you're mechanically delayed, there isn't a replacement plane - so you're likely going to have longer delays in the 4-8 hour range than you would with legacy carriers and Southwest.

- leads the industry with in-air mechanical issues - blown engines and whatnot. Planes can safely land with one engine, but going through that trauma is much more likely with them over even the other LCC's like Frontier or Spirit.

- they are a great investment if you're in the stock market, because they consistently make a profit due to how cheap they are, but that could all change with one major incident.

I've flown on Allegiant 3 times, and it just was a much worse experience with old and loud planes, at some airports the person who checked your bag at the front counter is also the gate agent (perhaps also the pilot? j/k) and you're flying with the lowest of the low in terms of people - super cheap people with tons of kids headed to Florida. If that's you, then enjoy. If not, avoid at all costs.

beachmouse

They've decided to make the Florida Panhandle their emphasis for Summer 2017, and have announced a bunch of routes into VPS (Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Northwest Florida Regional, Okaloosa Regional, or whatever they're calling the airport this week)

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/201...ents-live-feed

New routes to VPS from- Kansas City, Mo; Austin, Texas; Cleveland; Louisville, Ky; Peoria, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Springfield, Mo; Indianapolis; Pittsburgh; Washington D.C. / Baltimore; and Newark

They're in the process of replacing a lot of Northwest's sloppy seconds with shiny new planes, so hopefully that will increase their on time record and reduce mechanical problems. (Though I still wouldn't use them to reposition to EWR, even if the fare is cheap)

Probably won't fly them myself, but am very happy to see more competition in the historically expensive Florida panhandle airfare market.

Big4Flyer

I think that may be a bit dramatic. I flew on Allegiant dozens of times when living in Vegas, as they offered nonstops to dozens of fantastic destinations that would cost hundreds of dollars more and hours longer to fly if flown by the legacy carriers. They do have a rather poor safety rating, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that you should only fly them if you don't "value your sanity or life" and that only the "lowest of the low" fly them.

The fact is that they can offer a fantastic value proposition. I've flown on them for $56/round trip to Idaho Falls and visited Jackson Hole for a weekend, $66 r/t to Bellingham, WA to visit Vancouver & Victoria, $56 to Santa Maria, CA to watch a rocket launch at Vandenberg. If you have opportunity cost for your time and can put up with occasional IRROPS (of which I've had none), then its hard to beat.

dburns

Anyone thinking of flying Allegiant should check out this article from the Tampa Bay times. It is dated November 2016, so is fairly recent.

Link: http://www.tampabay.com/projects/201...al-breakdowns/

mjwise

I'm flying on them next week ROA-SFB and return due to being 1/4 the price and 1/2 the time of the available legacies. I'll let you know if I survive!

That article is a bit heavy on drama. The data side was okay, but Allegiant's never had a crash, so they had to settle for scary experience quotes.

jan_believes

The link didn't work but a bit of googling will produce it, I am sure.

Interesting enough, I am considering them out of nearby PIE. For me, just a quick two hour flight. Don't really care about the annoyances this time if I save funds and arrive safely. More concerned with whether I will actually save over WN with a require rental car since the arrival city is not my final destination, so have the extra 4 hour driving cost. Will be scouting for that $1.99 p/g fuel, for sure!


If it produces any noticeable savings, I would consider applying for the branded credit card with BOA after I return.

ILpt4U

http://www.veteransairport.com/survey.php
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TCMBLD3

This survey leads one to believe that Allegiant Air may be coming to MWA/Veterans Airport/Marion-Williamson County/Southern IL -- or at least considering it!

mjwise

Trip was uneventful. Outbound flight was two hours late but plenty of notice was given via their app so I didn't have to wait at the airport any more than I usually would. There was plenty of space for carry-ons because they're not free. I had a bin completely to myself! Friendly cabin crew. Seat was fine for a 2 hour flight. Non-reclining leather. Much nicer than taking two CRJ's on a legacy carrier for 3x-4x the price.

mjwise

Duplicate

N830MH

http://m.marketwired.com/press-release/allegiant-announces-five-new-routes-in-time-for-summer-vacation-nasdaq-algt-2198986.htm


Alligianit adds 5 new routes. One tor Belleville, IL to FLL and 3 new Summer seasonal MYR-DAY/PSM and OKC-LAX, as well.