"A perfect city:" Why Allegiant Air took a bet on Jacksonville

[dp8541]

I flew the new Jax to Richmond route on Allegiant this weekend.  Didn't have any problems either way.  Both flights were ontime and full.  Did notice a lot more elderly with wheelchairs on the return flight which took a little longer to board than normal.  Seems pretty similar to Spirit to me

[Steve]

I came back via Allegiant today to Sanford.

Did you drive and park?

One noticeable thing, no physical warning on electronic devices. None. They check for seat belts, they check to clear your feet. They announce a "airplane mode" request. But they did not force people off their headphones or ear buds on take off or landing. Usually on mainstream carriers I will have a cabin attendant scold me for not complying right away. Not here it seems. More training needed perhaps.

I've actually never been forced off my headphones or ear phones by any carrier anywhere. Not sure exactly what situation you're describing I suppose.

Yes, I drove and parked at Sanford.

Delta, United and American flight crews have always confirmed physically that my ear buds were out of my ears. One Delta attendant actually scolded me even though my phone was in airplane mode.  In this case I saw people using their iPads and playing games on iPhones right up to landing.

I personally know that phones and computers dont interfere with modern avionics.

The last time it was an issue is when I flew over dark territory in the South Atlantic back in 1998. Someone's CD player was putting out RF interference and the plane was asked to shut off everything in mid flight.

How long ago is that. For the last two years, all US Airlines allow gate to gate PEDs as long as they are in airplane mode. I haven't been asked by Delta since, doing between 60k and 100k miles a year with them.

[Adam White]

If they can maintain their equipment and keep their staff professional, they will won't be the next Ryan Air.

FTFY.

[spuwho]

I flew Allegiant this past week for the holidays and have noticed some favorable changes.

Professionalism of the flight crew is improving. The process of boarding was much more fluid and less chaotic.

Allegiant is improving the check in process with upgraded kiosks.

The planes (still older MD-80's) were in better shape on this round. No mismatched seats or patchworks of interior panels.

They were on time and the only issue was fog in the midwest which forced us to land at the Air Force base next door.

They now offer a miles credit card and drinks are free if you have one.

They sent me a Black Friday special for this particular trip and because I flew in 1 airport and back from a different one, I ran into an odd situation.

The first booking came in with the discount, but when I booked the return, it refused to let me pay on the check out. I logged out and back in and mysteriously I could now pay, but the fares were $20 a head more. Did the clear of the cookies and got the fare discount, but is little games like that, that can make the discount offer not so special.

Either way I flew a family of 3 to the midwest for $300 round trip. When I priced checked against the majors, I could t find a fare for less than $300 per person! So the price was most definitely right.

On another note, Orlando Sanford has so many people flying out of there for the holidays, they turn 4 large grass fields into economy parking lots. These fields massive and very full.

That gives you an idea of just how many people are flying Allegiant out of Sanford, especially during the holiday rush.

With the Black Friday discount rental through Enterprise, this by far had to have been the most economical holiday trip I have ever taken without driving.

I only had to go to Sanford because Allegiant drops the route from Jax in the winter. If Jax had the same arrangement, I would have saved even more.

[ProjectMaximus]

Welp, at some point in the last few months Allegiant dropped their routes to Memphis, NOLA and Richmond. I was looking to get flights to Memphis and noticed this. They are adding Cleveland soon though, which may make more sense. I will be flying Allegiant for the first time next month. Keep me in your prayers...I hope to report back when I've returned safely to Jax...

Also noticed twice weekly service to Dallas for Southwest. That may come in handy as well.

[spuwho]

Welp, at some point in the last few months Allegiant dropped their routes to Memphis, NOLA and Richmond. I was looking to get flights to Memphis and noticed this. They are adding Cleveland soon though, which may make more sense. I will be flying Allegiant for the first time next month. Keep me in your prayers...I hope to report back when I've returned safely to Jax...

Also noticed twice weekly service to Dallas for Southwest. That may come in handy as well.

AA has a twice daily flight to DFW from JAX.  (At least they used to) While I price check Southwest often, I can never find a reasonable fare.

[aldermanparklover]

we're new to Jax but I've flown out of Jax airport before and it was expensive ... are there any good fares out of Jax or is it all expensive?

we just moved from Myrtle Beach and the Spirit Air rates were dirt cheap. Even US Air out of there was very affordable.

[thelakelander]

From my experience, Jax's fares are competitive. Although it depends on where you're trying to fly too. My three go to airports are JAX, MCO and TPA. Between them, I can find something decent and even a trip to Tampa isn't bad because the majority of my family lives in the area, so it's like going back home.

[ProjectMaximus]

Welp, at some point in the last few months Allegiant dropped their routes to Memphis, NOLA and Richmond. I was looking to get flights to Memphis and noticed this. They are adding Cleveland soon though, which may make more sense. I will be flying Allegiant for the first time next month. Keep me in your prayers...I hope to report back when I've returned safely to Jax...

Also noticed twice weekly service to Dallas for Southwest. That may come in handy as well.

AA has a twice daily flight to DFW from JAX.  (At least they used to) While I price check Southwest often, I can never find a reasonable fare.

Yes they do. In my experience actually I've found Southwest to be much cheaper overall than the legacies. Like maybe 75% of routes. I just checked and must admit the AA flight is less than I'm used to (I think I've searched this routing 3 or 4 different times in the past year) but it is still $21 more than the Southwest option.

That said, I really just meant I like the competition. And Southwest also generally offers the advantage of free checked bags, free flight changes, and OW ticketing (although in this case, the AA option was half the RT price each way) so it's nice when Southwest is the competition.

we're new to Jax but I've flown out of Jax airport before and it was expensive ... are there any good fares out of Jax or is it all expensive?

we just moved from Myrtle Beach and the Spirit Air rates were dirt cheap. Even US Air out of there was very affordable.

I dunno...I find Jax prices to be pretty decent. Flights to DC are often $59 OW, NYC I see $69 pretty often, BOS $79 and FLL $39. This is mostly during Jetblue sales but US Air and United are usually very competitive to DC and Delta for NYC. Southwest used to have great sales often, now they only have two HUGE sales each year and maybe 2-4 other pretty good ones. Still, I've done $60 to Baltimore, $49 to Nashville and Atlanta, $80 to Chicago all in the past couple years. I'm flying AA to Miami for $54 in a few weeks. And our version of Spirit is Allegiant, which is the primary airline discussed in this thread. The Indy flight I'm taking next month was $48.

[ProjectMaximus]

From my experience, Jax's fares are competitive. Although it depends on where you're trying to fly too. My three go to airports are JAX, MCO and TPA. Between them, I can find something decent and even a trip to Tampa isn't bad because the majority of my family lives in the area, so it's like going back home.

Assuming my experience with Allegiant goes alright, and they continue to invest in their aircraft/maintenance, I may add SFB to my go to list.

[aldermanparklover]

Welp, at some point in the last few months Allegiant dropped their routes to Memphis, NOLA and Richmond. I was looking to get flights to Memphis and noticed this. They are adding Cleveland soon though, which may make more sense. I will be flying Allegiant for the first time next month. Keep me in your prayers...I hope to report back when I've returned safely to Jax...

Also noticed twice weekly service to Dallas for Southwest. That may come in handy as well.

AA has a twice daily flight to DFW from JAX.  (At least they used to) While I price check Southwest often, I can never find a reasonable fare.

Yes they do. In my experience actually I've found Southwest to be much cheaper overall than the legacies. Like maybe 75% of routes. I just checked and must admit the AA flight is less than I'm used to (I think I've searched this routing 3 or 4 different times in the past year) but it is still $21 more than the Southwest option.

That said, I really just meant I like the competition. And Southwest also generally offers the advantage of free checked bags, free flight changes, and OW ticketing (although in this case, the AA option was half the RT price each way) so it's nice when Southwest is the competition.

we're new to Jax but I've flown out of Jax airport before and it was expensive ... are there any good fares out of Jax or is it all expensive?

we just moved from Myrtle Beach and the Spirit Air rates were dirt cheap. Even US Air out of there was very affordable.

I dunno...I find Jax prices to be pretty decent. Flights to DC are often $59 OW, NYC I see $69 pretty often, BOS $79 and FLL $39. This is mostly during Jetblue sales but US Air and United are usually very competitive to DC and Delta for NYC. Southwest used to have great sales often, now they only have two HUGE sales each year and maybe 2-4 other pretty good ones. Still, I've done $60 to Baltimore, $49 to Nashville and Atlanta, $80 to Chicago all in the past couple years. I'm flying AA to Miami for $54 in a few weeks. And our version of Spirit is Allegiant, which is the primary airline discussed in this thread. The Indy flight I'm taking next month was $48.

great to know, thx!

[ProjectMaximus]

Flew back from Indy on Allegiant. Not much to report which is what I had been hoping for. I will not mind booking on them again in the future.

I had one small rolling luggage which I decided to use as my carryon, paying $15. It was a bit of a gamble as it measured out 2 inches taller than they allow for carryons and 1 inch too wide. For good measure, it was 2 inches under the limit for depth. Anyway no one batted an eye, it easily fit into the overhead bin, and there were definitely several folks with even larger carryons than mine. None of us got hassled, but I did see people who did not purchase a carryon that were getting pulled out of the line with bags of carryon size.

My only other thought was that the crew seemed to be aware of their airlines deserved reputation and acted almost apologetic about it. There were a handful of comments and actions by the flight attendants that made me think this. They were also very quick to allow all of us in the back to spread out amongst the cabin so that we each basically had our own row. May have also been the fact that this was the Indy crew.

Aircraft was clearly old and dated (MD-80), but it was large and I did not feel unsafe for whatever that is worth. They claim to begin boarding an hour before departure, but we did not board til about 30 minutes before departure. Took off about 5 minutes late but only due to a discrepancy in passenger numbers that took about 5-10 minutes to resolve. Flight landed on time.

I am now 3 for 3 on ultra low cost carriers. I'm probably one of the lucky ones, and I guess I'll continue to test my luck.

[thelakelander]

^What were the other two ultra low cost carriers?

[JaxAvondale]

I really wish that Allegiant would add back to New Orleans flight.

[JaxAvondale]

Well, the route has been cancelled.

http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2017/02/allegiant_cancels_jacksonville.html