I recently had an opportunity to go to Jacksonville, Florida for a few days. It was wonderful! I was able to visit with great people, shop, eat out, put my toes in the ocean, and just enjoy some relaxation. I wanted to share a couple of things that I learned during this trip that might be helpful.
The big thing was that I flew on an airline that I have never been on before. It is Allegiant Air. This airline has been around since 1997 but I hadn’t heard about it until the last couple of years. It had been a west coast thing before that and even had a different name to begin with. They are billed as a budget airline and are the 9th largest airline in the United States. The headquarters are in Nevada.
I live near Buffalo, New York and normally fly from the Buffalo Niagara airport. Allegiant, unfortunately doesn’t come to Buffalo. They do go the Cleveland and that is a two and a half hour drive for me all on Interstate 90. I decided to book the flight last October.
I had flown out of Cleveland before but had never driven there myself so I really hadn’t noticed anything about the drive. I asked a couple of people and looked at the directions online and it seemed doable.
Having flown out of Buffalo, I have gotten in the habit of parking in The Parking Spot near the airport and then being shuttled over. There are always coupons in the booklets you see in the airplane or online which makes it cheaper. I end up paying about $44 or so for a week. It isn’t a bad deal since if I give someone gas money to drop me off and pick me up that is half of the parking cost, at least. Also, it is pretty nice to be dropped off by the shuttle at the front door of the airport near your chosen airline desk.
Of course, right away I checked to see if the same parking chain was near the Cleveland airport and it wasn’t. I checked online for parking lots and there were a few. However, getting a head’s up from someone who flies out of the airport is much better (insider tip, totally legal and totally unlike insider trading, LOL). A friend of mine is from Cleveland and her sister travels a lot for work. She clued me into Fast Park. I went online and made a reservation. The cost was estimated to be slightly under $50 and the same type of shuttle to the airport. I made a mental note to look for promo codes, coupons, etc. online and/or coupons in the airport or airline.
All right, so back to Allegiant. It is a budget airline so you pay for your checked bag and for any carry on which is in addition to your purse. I did this early and got a deal. I was charged $20 for my carry on. The checked bag limit is 40 pounds which is less than most airlines. They explain this difference by saying less weight on the plane, less gas usage and they pass the savings on to you. Okay, I can live with 40 pounds. I also could have reconfigured things so that I didn’t have a carry on to pay for too but I will do that next time.
Now, here’s where it gets really good! The flight was non-stop! I paid less than $200 round trip (plus the bags) It was 1 hour and 45 minutes. So, it might not be the cushiest airline but…………….let’s face it. I am a mother of five and I can pretty much do anything for 105 minutes! In reality, it wasn’t that bad at all. The flight attendants were wonderful! The flight was quick. I had a nice friendly person sitting next to me on the flight down and on the flight back. What’s not to like?
When I returned to Cleveland I looked for a promo code online for the parking and promptly found one for a percentage off. I paid $43 and some change so it was on par with The Parking Spot in Buffalo.
All in all I was very pleased with the whole experience and would recommend flying on Allegiant to anyone!
Just before writing this I checked the Allegiant website. Some of the deals they have listed are fantastic! Fort Lauderdale and Myrtle Beach for $29 one way and New Orleans for $40. I am definitely doing this again! If you would like to check out some of the deals and steals at Allegiant use the following link.
*Just an added little note……………..you know how you can’t take a water bottle through TSA screening? Well, you just can’t take a full one through. I took an empty water bottle in the side pocket of my backpack and just filled it at a water fountain once I got through security. I bet I saved $8 on water if you look at the round trip. I love that kind of stuff! I am just slightly embarrassed that I didn’t do it sooner. Oh well. I will from now on.
Happy trails people. Get out there and travel!
