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Allegiant FSD or Spirit MSP????

Discussion in 'Getting There & Getting Around' started by zamboni, Jul 28, 2013.

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  1. zamboni

    zamboni VIP Whale

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    I am going out Oct 7-10th and have my room comped. My conundrum is my flight. Either I can go Spirit out of Minneapolis for $137.78 after tax, or Allegiant out of Sioux Falls for $155.48.

    The Spirit flight gets into Vegas at 10:30 PM and return to MSP is the red eye, landing at 5 am MN time.

    Allegiant gets into Vegas at 5:15 pm and flies back to Sioux Falls at 3:05 and lands at 7 pm MN time.

    I live 2 hours from both Sioux Falls and Minneapolis, but have horror stories about both airlines- especially Allegiant.

    I would love to hear what people would choose and why. I can work Monday and drive up after work with Spirit, or with Allegiant I would have to take half a day vacation. BUT- the Spirit flight would cost me a vacation day on the back end with the red eye.
     
  2. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

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    The only thing I know of Allegiant is my husband's cousin and wife (who live in the Renville area) flew Allegiant out of FSD and had an okay time going out (I can't remember where they went). Coming back, they had delays that forced them to stay in the airport all day and night until they could go back in the morning.

    All airlines have problems and anyone could have a case like this at anytime.

    I'm sure you already know about all the extra fees with Spirit.

    I would personally go with the one that would give me the most time in Vegas. :)
     
  3. deadeye

    deadeye Tourist

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    I'd take Delta non-stop msp/ las $319.00
     
  4. deadeye

    deadeye Tourist

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    Traveling from Kato area checked Allegiant@Sioux Falls limited travel days. Spirit @ Minneapolis was $158 + $60 bag fee and red eye home thought about it hard but Delta won with more options and 3:45 pm return.
     
  5. lasvegas_limo_driver

    lasvegas_limo_driver MIA

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    allegiant or Spirit

    I have have only used them flying cali, Phoenix and Vegas, and not happy with either. The baggage fees were a last minute upcharge, that if you don't read fine print, you will pay more for bags than the tickets. If you have sounthwest or some other airline, I would look at them, even if the prices are higher.
     
  6. runningonthehub

    runningonthehub VIP Whale

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    If those were my only options, I would go with Spirit. The is not much difference between the two from what I have read, except Spirit has newer aircraft. I would not want to fly either one of these airlines, but if you are looking strictly at price, go with Spirit.

    To be honest, I would pay more and go with either Delta or Southwest. I would avoid Spirit and Allegiant like the plague.

    All airlines will get you where you want to go, but remember "you get what you pay for"
     
  7. mjamesp

    mjamesp High-Roller

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    I'm taking the chance with Spirit next Thursday and flying SW back the following Tuesday (no Red Eye). I pre-purchased one carry-on for two people to use.

    Last summer I arranged a large group trip to Vegas and booked one family on Spirit on the way out. We took their luggage on SW with us. They had no issues and incurred no extra fees. They felt Spirit was no different than any other airline except the leg room and small seats. For the price difference at the time they thought it was worth it.

    I'll follow-up with my experience when we get to Vegas next week.

    My one concern is how strict Spirit is with the size of the personal item. The bag I'm planning to take with is a little longer then 16". It's soft sided and I'll be able to make it fit in something they might test with but if it's pulled as long as it can be it will measure at something close to 18". It's always fit under the seat in front of me. I've used this many times on past trips, just not Spirit.

    I'd prefer the Allegiant flight times.
     
  8. zamboni

    zamboni VIP Whale

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    Southwest out of MPS to Vegas sucks, not even a consideration. It's either what I've listed or Sun Country or Delta, both of whom I've done every trip out, but both are significantly higher priced
     
  9. IxAccDnf

    IxAccDnf VIP Whale

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    People have different things that are important to them. I could not stand to deal with the 28 inch seat pitch on a Spirit flight.
    Allegiant has 2x3 seating.
    Given those 2 choices I would fly Allegiant.
     
  10. mjamesp

    mjamesp High-Roller

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    I started out really disliking SW but I have to admit that they have won me over. A short lay-over in Denver or Phoenix is OK with me now.
     
  11. zamboni

    zamboni VIP Whale

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    It is $302 on SW with stops and changing planes vs $317 on Sun Country or Delta. For $15 I will skip Southwest, and fly non stop.
     
  12. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    That price difference is usually only on the crappy flights, when I've checked the prime hours flights are alot more.
     
  13. mjamesp

    mjamesp High-Roller

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    I agree that's a no-brainer. SW would have to get to $250 before I would book with them. Earlier this spring I couldn't find anything direct for less than $400. I was getting concerned that my trip next week might not happen.
     
  14. saintpauljeff

    saintpauljeff VIP Whale

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    this is what happens to me all the time; my schedule never allows me to take the unpopular flights
     
  15. topcard

    topcard Here's to $10 3:2 two-deck, $5 Craps, and $5 UTH!

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    Thing to remember with SW is the 'no-baggage-fees' thing.
    Be sure you're comparing apples-to-apples.

    When I price shop, I look at the cost of SW, using the EBCI ($12.50 each way from Dallas).
    Then, when looking at other airlines, I look at total cost including checking one bag.

    Because of the infernal 'Wright Amendment' SW is still not 'permitted' to fly non-stop to Vegas from here. As of today, American has an effective non-stop monopoly on that route...and they usually charge accordingly. (AA loves the Wright Amendment!)

    It's really sad how many past options from DFW no longer exist.
    We used to have non-stop service via:

    National
    Air Tran
    Delta
    US Air
    American

    Today? Only American. (I don't count Spirit).
    It's sad.
     
    Annual Spring Trip!
  16. zamboni

    zamboni VIP Whale

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    Carry on only. Ever. Even on a 6 night trip earlier this year I could still get all my stuff in my bag.

    "unpopular" flight times to some aren't to others. The 7 am out of MSP is one of the cheap ones always, that gives you the whole day in Vegas. I have absolutely no problems getting out of bed early.
     
  17. saintpauljeff

    saintpauljeff VIP Whale

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    i'm completely the opposite, I almost always go into Vegas with the night flight so I can get a full day of work in
     
  18. WHITEJACKET73

    WHITEJACKET73 VIP Whale

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    Double check the flight times with Spirit out of MSP. Starting in Sept they are adding a 10 AM flight (non-stop) to LAS with a 1:30 PM return flight back to MSP daily; in addition to the 9PM and 12:30 AM return flights. The best days to fly out of MSP to Vegas is on a Monday or Tuesday and returning on Saturday, pricewise. Spirit flies out of the Humphrey terminal which is much smaller than the main terminal in MSP. It is much easier to navigate and the security lines are a lot shorter. Keep checking the Spirit website each day; the prices change regularly. They just had a $24 off promotion that ran over the weekend. I've booked a RT flight with Spirit in late Oct for $165; add the baggage fees and my total is $215. Delta and Sun Country are at $317 (not including the fee for a checked bag). If I had waited a week and took advantage of the $24 promotion I could have paid only $133. In April I was able to grab a RT fare to Vegas for only $59.80....hell, I paid $25 for the damn taxi ride from McCarren to downtown. I have flown with Allegiant when they were flying out of Rochester,Mn to Vegas. I had a couple of their flights that were delayed (not more than an hour). The seats on the Allegiant planes are a lot more comfortable than the seats on Spirit. That is my only gripe with Spirit...the seats are uncomfortable and they don't recline. There is not much leg room...if you are a tall person, your knees will be touching the back of the seat in front of you.
     
  19. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    If I were you I would go with the larger airport if only for the peace of mind that if anything goes wrong, there are plenty of flights and options.

    Our in-house TA has warned us that Allegiant is known as the absolute worst in the industry for customer accommodation when problems occur. If your outbound flight is cancelled, you are SOL! Most airlines will bend over backwards to accommodate you, like even rebooking you on a competitor. With Allegiant, they will not re-book you with another airline and the "next flight out" is (if you're lucky) 24 hours away. They also take 3 weeks or so to issue refunds.

    In all fairness to Allegiant, we flew with them a few times when they served LNK and had no issues. Minor delays and that's it. They pulled out of LNK at short notice, citing competition from Southwest in nearby OMA. They moved to Grand Island (think of that teeny-tiny airport in the sitcom Wings) which is a good 100+ miles from us.
     
  20. zamboni

    zamboni VIP Whale

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    Done that before, the only thing I want to do when I get to Vegas is go to bed.
     
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