Allegiant - We have used 80% of the time with no problems. Use again?

[aimcat]

So my husband I are planning flights for our may cruise. Allegiant is just by far the cheapest and best to us because its nonstop (2 hour flight into FLL or less from our airport), even after all the fees, baggage fees etc it is still 300 less than Delta, United or AA. We have used Allegiant probably 10 times now without issues. We would be flying in the night before our cruise. I guess I kind of started getting a doubt to ask on here because I saw someone comment on someone else's post about how Allegiant has the oldest planes flying of any company, which I never thought about. I honestly thought their Airbus 319 and 320 were fairly new(er). I am normally not one to worry at all about this stuff but just curious if others have had any issues with them lately and I am talking major issues. I dont mind a little delay. What I am talking about is safety....wheels up and wheels down in one piece!! Let me know yourthoughts! !

[CruiserBruce]

And you haven't heard that they have a very limited fleet, with a limited number of flights? Thus, if an issue arises, they don't have a plan B, they try to get you on other carriers flights. But, with 100-120 people going to a given destination  from a given airport, on a given day, just how many seats do you think are available? 

 

Lowest cost is not always the best idea. A 2 hour flight is not the issue. A broken plane on your flight day is crucial no matter the length of the flight.

[sumiandkage]

In the past few years, they have indeed been phasing out their ancient Mad Dogs (MD-88s and MD-90s) for slightly less elderly Airbus options, and the FAA has put pressure on the company to reduce maintenance and repair issues that were seen as happening because they were trying to keep costs down as they expanded quickly. So better than they used to be, but I still go with the Big Four legacy carrier option myself from my local airports. 

 

But with all ULCCs, you need to have a Plan B mapped out if IRROPS are on the horizon because the ULCC is not going to have your back. The question is if you're okay with maybe a 10% chance of having to buy a same day walk up ticket from one of the legacy carriers because the ULCC cancelled your flight. 

[Zach1213]

54 minutes ago, sumiandkage said:

In the past few years, they have indeed been phasing out their ancient Mad Dogs (MD-88s and MD-90s) for slightly less elderly Airbus options, and the FAA has put pressure on the company to reduce maintenance and repair issues that were seen as happening because they were trying to keep costs down as they expanded quickly. So better than they used to be, but I still go with the Big Four legacy carrier option myself from my local airports. 

 

But with all ULCCs, you need to have a Plan B mapped out if IRROPS are on the horizon because the ULCC is not going to have your back. The question is if you're okay with maybe a 10% chance of having to buy a same day walk up ticket from one of the legacy carriers because the ULCC cancelled your flight. 

 

Not to be pedantic but I don't believe Allegiant ever had MD-90s. MD-88s, yes, and the last of them were just retired last year. They do only fly A319/A320 aircraft now, and the average age of their entire fleet now is 12.9 years, which really is a big drop (more than "slightly less elderly") versus a few years ago.

[Tapi]

The main problem with Allegiant isn’t anymore the age of their fleet, but their very limited schedule, lack of resources, and no agreement with other airlines.

 

They may serve your hometown airport nonstop to FLL, but check the frequency. Chances are that they operate maybe 2 flights in a week. Guess what happens if your flight is canceled. You’re now royally screwed because you’ll be sitting at a small airport with slim to zero options. 

 

A big reason why Allegiant is significantly cheaper than the majors is because they operate with the bare minimums. No extra planes, no extra crews, outsourced maintenance, etc. So if something does go wrong, they can’t recover the way that the majors do. They will simply cancel the flight and refund your money. 

 

Finally, Allegiant has zero agreements with other airlines. If your flight is canceled or severely delayed, they don’t have the ability to reaccomodate you on another airline. Once again, you’re left to figure things out on your own and come up with an alternate plan of action. 

 

Even with new planes, Allegiant still has on of the most dismal cancelation and delay records in the industry. Please don’t spoil your upcoming cruise because “you haven’t had an issue with them in past”. Enroute to a cruise is not the time to test their reliability. 

 

 

[thinfool]

We flew Allegiant to Florida for several years...only once did we have a cancelation due to equipment.

We were offered a refund or a next day replacement flight on an aircraft that was flown in from Vegas overnight.  Allegiant paid our hotel bill as we stayed overnight to catch the next day flight.

Our schedule was flexible and we had time before our sailing so it was no biggie.

While all of the information in previous comments is mostly correct it was  obvious to us that Allegiant had a plan B.  Obviously it would not work for everyone.  There was no discussion of a 4 or 7 day delay for their next 'scheduled' flight.

 

[thinfool]

6 hours ago, Tapi said:

 

Even with new planes, Allegiant still has on of the most dismal cancelation and delay records in the industry.

 

 

 

Please post a website that confirms this statement....I cannot find one that does.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2019 by thinfool

[sumiandkage]

For the curious, here's a report from October, 2018. Allegiant is #8 of the 10 biggest marketing carriers when it comes to on-time arrivals.  Hawaiian comes our first, likely because they don't have much in the way of weather impacts. 

 

https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/resources/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/327911/december-2018-atcr.pdf