boybi

Budget airline: USD445.00, LCC terminal 45min away from home.

Legacy airline: USD315.00, airport 3hrs away from home with normal traffic.

both fly non-stop. which one would you take?

ulker32

If one way:

If i had to drive myself and park the car there, then definitely the budget airline.

If i could take a cheap train or somebody willing to do me a favor and bring me there, than maybe the legacy airline.

If its not a one-way, than the only good choice is the first one I guess.

TravelerMSY

Southwest if nonstop. Legacy if connecting. Or Southwest no matter what if my companion is trailing with me.

nk15

In the US, only JetBlue, if I have to. In Western Europe, any LCC if the cost/time proposition is there (except Germanwings).

stut

I've recently moved over to flying more and more low-cost airlines. Some of them, like Norwegian, have comfort and service that put legacy carriers to shame. But even the bargain basement ones have their attractions.

For BA, let's say on my usual short-haul (~2h flight) route. Takes me about 2h and three trains to get to Heathrow reliably in the morning rush hour - taxi is just too unpredictable traffic-wise. T5 is pretty, but the people at security have a serious attitude problem, and zero sense of urgency, however, busy it may be. If you are unlucky enough to get your bag searched, be prepared for a very long wait. I then get directed through shops with all sorts of stuff I don't want. There's limited seating, but you go to the gate, and have to wait for all sorts of people to board first. You'll end up about halfway down the plane if you've checked in early, and may or may not get locker space. Timekeeping is poor. The loyalty scheme gets you pretty much nothing if you fly short-haul economy, so forget priority services. Timekeeping is pretty poor. Prices tend to be in the £250-300 region.

Or, I can fly Ryanair from Luton. Shorter journey from home (reliable 30 minute taxi ride - actually costing less than the train to Heathrow). Security tends to be very busy at peak times, but they're quick, professional and keep it moving. The main departures area has a number of places to grab a coffee, but is quite a long walk from most of the gates. The gates only get announced a short while before departure, so there's a bit of an undignified scrum from people waiting at the (sole) entrance to the gate area wanting to get there first. The worst part, then, is queuing at the gate, which starts a little early. Here, though, you can pay for priority services - security (I never bother), priority boarding and premium seating. So I always pay the £15, get a front row seat, generally with nobody in the middle, and get to go on first, and have the pick of the lockers. Timekeeping is great. Never paid more than £100, all-in.

Once we get direct trains to Gatwick Airport (coming soon!) I'll be flying Norwegian more and more, too.

pilotalan

In the U.S., almost always legacy carriers due to IRROPS. If I'm flying, it's because I have to get there.
Coming from a United hub, there's always a way to get where I'm going and back.

Plus Lounge access is a big plus during IRROPS, especially for agent assistance and also for quiet work space.

EmailKid

It is, but most of us Budget Travelers don't have lounge access on domestic flights @:-)

Having said that, UA offered me (and a few others) the Club Card with first year fee waived, so .....

Haven't used the benefit yet, as I had access on my only journey since geting the card via *A on int'l itinerary

Won't need it on 4th either, as that's another int'l journey, this time to Europe, not Canada.

JR14

Usually budget direct, but if the budget option is Ryanair then legacy will probably start to look really appealing.

eponymous_coward

LCC from my home airport.

AS is an LCC and a legacy at the same time.

JerryFF

These are the biggest factors for me. Airlines like Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant, who have one flight/day or even less and won't put passengers on another airline, have stranded people for several days because of cancelled flights. It's not worth the risk to me.

lgts

Yes, that's an important parameter as well.
I had to "extend" my stay in Oslo once because of this. Since then I always check the frequency of the LCC to the destination I'm flying.

chris19992

What is the difference?
These days for short haul flights, most European and US carriers are pretty much budget airlines, they are all sliding down a one way slope.
Most require you to pay for luggage now, most are starting to require an additional payment for a seat, the ones that include food in the price is barely edible crap and that's only until they start to charge for that as well.

Main difference I see is IFE, that's the only thing that budget carriers don't have that legacy carriers are NOT trying to emulate.

BuildingMyBento

I'm weighing this option now.

Fly into SAP (San Pedro Sula, Honduras) with Spirit, then out of TGU (Tegucigalpa) with DL. However, I've never flown Spirit (how are they with transfers, say in FLL?), and their SAP flights lands just a tad after midnight...which sounds like a bad idea.

mikesaidyes

For me, living in Korea, I fly at peak vacation time which means high tickets on traditional carriers. Often, the LCC, if booked early enough, can present significant savings. I bought my summer trip to Hanoi for 430$, but Korean Air was charging 700$. For a red eye one way where I sleep, and a four hour day flight, I'll load up the iPad and save almost 300$.

For longer flights to SE Asia and the U.S., the closest thing to budget would be Philippine or Chinese, and I just can't.

BorussiaMG

In most cases I would fly budget.

Nevertheless I try to avoid small regional airports if I urgently want or need to be at a specific destination. Because of limited traffic there is no way they will get you there in time - if at all - during IrrOps.

Howsoever as a student I was very happy when FR offered me to "fly anywhere they fly" on a cancelled 0.01 Euro ticket from NRN to STN 8 years ago.