Allegiant Airlines - it is the sticker price plus...

Allegiant Airlines gives those of us in Montana reasonable airline rates out of Kalispell and Missoula. It is definitely NOT luxury travel. The seats are cramped and it reminds me of travelling on a bus...but for the price, it is a good deal.

We travelled on Allegiant to Phoenix in November. The cost for four round trip tickets was $163.72! But oh...let me tell you about the fees. By the time we added our federal taxes ($12.28), segment fees ($28), PFC ($18), 911 Security ($20) we were up to $242.00. The next three things we chose to add. There was a convenience fee of $46. They charge you this fee whether you book your tickets online or by phone. You can avoid this fee if you go to the airport and book your tickets. Be sure to check when the Allegiant window is open, because they have very limited hours. The other two things we elected to add was a $124 seat selection fee (we wanted to be able to sit with our 9 and 6 year old children!) and $60 so we could check two bags. That brought our total to $472 for 4 round trip tickets from Missoula to Phoenix...still a very good deal! To compare, a single round trip return ticket from Missoula to Phoenix is $471 with Alaska Air and $495 with Delta and both of those have one stop.

Things you can expect on board with Allegiant is the stewardesses to do a raffle for some merchandise (a hat, t-shirt and kids alarm clock is what a gal near me won). Allegiant is based out of Vegas and they say they like to add some gambling "entertainment" to the flight. Also, you pay for all drinks and snacks, so you might want to take a water bottle and fill it up after you go through security. The other thing you can do to keep your cost down when travelling with Allegiant is to pack light and avoid having to pay for checked bags. They let you take 1 personal item (such as a laptop bag, handbag, or briefcase) plus one piece of carry-on luggage that does not exceed 45 linear in (length + height + width). Allegiant says you need to be there two hours early for your flight. We definitely did not need to be that early flying out of Missoula, but it is way better to wait than miss the flight. When we flew home, we were so thankful we were two hours early at the Phoenix airport. There was extremely long lines as they had planes going out to three locations within an hour and only 3 check-in windows. If you fly to Phoenix, it is good to realize that you are not flying into Sky Harbor airport. The small airport you fly into in Mesa is only used by Allegiant.

Would we fly with Allegiant again? We definetely would because it was a great deal!

Currently you can fly (all non-stop flights):

Kalispell to/from Las Vegas (Monday and Friday)

Missoula to/from Las Vegas (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday)

Missoula to/from Phoenix (Monday, Wednesday and Friday and sometimes on Sunday)

Missoula to/from Los Angeles -flights starting in May