Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant are three of the cheapest airlines in the US, but who’s the fairest of them all?
In a new YouTube video, travel expert Jeb Brooks and his wife set out to rank each carrier based on their ‘ground game,’ seat dimensions, buy-onboard programs, cabin crew service and inflight entertainment.
They note that pricing is ‘really a non-factor since all three flights were essentially exactly the same.’
The duo take short flights with each airline, starting their investigative journey in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they zip over to Cincinnati, Ohio, with Allegiant.
They then travel with Frontier on to Denver, Colorado, before taking the last leg to Las Vegas, Nevada, with Spirit.
Fly down to see their insights into what each airline offers and their verdict on which one ranks highest.
Allegiant: Punta Gorda to Cincinnati
Jeb, who is based in North Carolina, notes that Allegiant is the only airline serving Punta Gorda and ‘their passengers certainly filled the terminal’ on the day he flew
The couple described the legroom at their seats at the back of the plane was ‘tight’ but there was room for their personal items under the seat
PRICE: $291 with preselected seats, priority boarding, and two extra carry on bags
Jeb, who is based in North Carolina, notes that Allegiant is the only airline serving Punta Gorda and ‘their passengers certainly filled the terminal’ on the day he flew.
He adds that part of the airline’s business model is to ‘operate out of some of these smaller airports where fees tend to be lower and then in theory they pass that along to you.’
They also don’t use jet bridges at that airport so they pay less in gate fees, Jeb says.
Unfortunately, the travel pro’s flight was delayed by two-and-a-half hours and to make matters worse, there were no updates around what was happening.
With this in mind, he advises viewers to have ‘plenty of padding’ between flights with low cost airlines, as they often have smaller fleets than the major airlines ‘which means they can’t just magically find another plane if something goes wrong.’
‘Add to that the fact most of their routes are serviced once a day if not less, well that’s the recipe for trouble in the event of delays of cancellation,’ Jeb adds.
In terms of seat dimensions, Allegiant’s seats offered a 24 inch pitch, 11 inches of legroom, and a shoulder width of 15 inches
Finally, after he boarded the plane – which was 20 years old – he found a ‘pretty basic three-three configured cabin.’
The couple described the legroom for their seats at the back of the plane as ‘tight’ but there was room for their personal items under the seat.
They said that they were glad they paid extra for priority boarding as most of the overhead bins by them were reserved for crew bags and one was ‘filled with the life raft.’
After settling in to the flight, Jeb and Suzanne checked out the onboard menu which they described as ‘fairly robust.’
On Allegiant, two gins, a can of tonic and a bag of Doritos cost $23.96.
All of the airlines the couple tested did not offer inflight entertainment so they used their own iPads to watch content they had previously downloaded.
In terms of seat dimensions, Allegiant’s seats offered a 24-inch pitch, 11 inches of legroom, and a shoulder width of 15 inches.
Frontier: Cincinnati to Denver
The base fare for Jeb and Suzanne’s flights from Cincinnati to Denver with Frontier was $49 each but after various additions the total came to $274.96
The couple added reserved seats and carry on bags which included priority boarding
PRICE: $274.96 with preselected seats, priority boarding, and two extra carry on bags
The base fare for Jeb and Suzanne’s flights from Cincinnati to Denver with Frontier was $49 each but after they added reserved seats and carry on bags – which included priority boarding – the grand total came to $274.96.
In their video, they note that the airline charges an extra $20 to print tickets at the airport, so it’s best to think ahead and print documents in advance.
They were due to be on a ‘brand new plane but the aircraft was swapped for one that was seven years old’ last minute.
Jeb explains that Frontier’s fleet is made up of three-three configured Airbuses and ‘just like Allegiant’ you’ll find more legroom when you book the more expensive seats at the very front or in the middle of the plane.
However, Jeb and Suzanne found the seats were more basic than Allegiant’s with ‘even smaller tray tables.’
This meant the drop down tables were ‘pushed to their limits’ when the iPads came out and the couple put in an order for two gins, a can of tonic and a tube of Pringles – at a cost of $26.98.
Jeb and Suzanne found the seats were more basic than Allegiant’s with ‘even smaller tables’
After getting his tape measure out, the globetrotter recorded a pitch of 24 inches, 11 inches of leg room and 14 inches of shoulder room
Jebs says in the video: ‘I guess my point here is if you’re looking to get work done on a laptop during your Frontier flight, these seats are probably not for you.’
After getting his tape measure out, the globetrotter recorded a pitch of 24 inches, 11 inches of leg room and 14 inches of shoulder room.
While the flight ran smoothly with just a bit of turbulence, Jeb wasn’t impressed with the service. He said some passengers were confused as the aircraft was swapped out which meant their seat numbers changed.
However, the crew weren’t too friendly by his account.
He said following his trip: ‘That flight was the longest one of the trip and I would say that wasn’t the friendliest crew we’ve ever experienced in our lives.
‘Nobody was rude to us but I saw some unfriendly behavior to other passengers which is too bad.’
Spirit: Denver to Las Vegas
Jeb and Suzanne’s trip with Spirit Airlines came to $251.78 after they added bags and seats
When the couple got to the gate, they found out their flight was delayed due to wind in Las Vegas but it was only a 30 minute wait
PRICE: $251.78 with preselected seats, priority boarding, and two extra carry on bags
Jeb and Suzanne’s base fare with Spirit Airlines from Denver to Las Vegas was just over $95 for the two of them but after they added their carry on bags and paid to select their seats as they did on their previous legs, the total came out at $251.78.
After he purchased his tickets, Jeb also opted to add two different WiFi packages to compare the standard and premium options.
In Denver, the YouTuber said the security lines were ‘so brutal’ they didn’t have time to stop by the ticket counter but luckily they had checked in online so they could go straight to the gate with no issue.
When the couple got to the gate, they found out their flight was delayed due to wind in Las Vegas but it was only a 30-minute wait.
Jeb gave a shout out to the Spirit ground crew and explained ‘they did a nice job of telling us exactly why the delay [happened].’
He added that the same couldn’t be said for Allegiant on the first leg of their flight.
Once onboard, Jeb noted that Spirit ‘offers a unique configuration for their planes.’
Jeb noted that Spirit ‘seemed to have more overhead bin space towards the back of the airplanes than the other airlines’
Spirit’s buy onboard program was ‘pretty similar to the others’ and the couple went about ordering two gins and a can of tonic, along with a ‘massive’ bag of Cheez-Its for $25.50
At the front of the aircraft he says ‘you’ll find the so called Big Front Seat [and] they’re arranged in a two-two configuration.’
While these bigger seats are ‘extremely comfortable,’ Jeb says they do not recline ‘like all of the seats on all of these [budget] airlines.’
After the Big Front Seats, the rest of the Spirit Airlines plane is arranged in a three-three configuration.
Jeb noted that Spirit ‘seemed to have more overhead bin space towards the back of the airplanes than the other airlines’ and they had ‘no problem’ with their personal items fitting under the seats.
Moving to the carrier’s buy-onboard program, it looked ‘pretty similar to the others’ and the couple went about ordering their traditional two gins and a can of tonic, along with a ‘massive’ bag of Cheez-Its for $25.50.
Unfortunately, Suzanne discovered that her tray table had some ‘residual residue’ from a previous passenger, which Jeb said was ‘too bad’ after noting a run of positives.
Unlike their previous flights, the avid travelers were able to use onboard WiFi. After testing vouchers for the slower and faster speeds, Jeb found they were ‘essentially the same’ so he advised viewers to just choose the cheaper option.
Finally, looking a seat dimensions, Jeb recorded 12 inches of legroom, a pitch of 24 inches and 15 inches of shoulder room.
US BUDGET AIRLINES: JEB BROOKS’ VERDICT
GROUND GAME
The biggest loser in the ground game category for Jeb was Allegiant. Explaining his reasoning he said: ‘If only the ground team in Punta Gorda had made some kind of announcement.
‘At one point I approached a supervisor during the delay and asked for an update personally and she said she didn’t even know it was delayed but that the gate agent working the flight would make announcements every 30 minutes or so. [However], it took two-and-a-half hours to get an update.’
The ‘biggest winner award’ went to Spirit ‘whose contract ground handlers made regular updates during our mere 30 minute delay we encountered plus the pilots updated us throughout the flight.’
SEATS
When it came to seats, Jeb said that they were all ‘pretty much the same.’ Having said that, he outed Frontier as the biggest loser as their slimline seats caused him the ‘most back pain’ and Spirit was deemed the winner ‘thanks to that one extra inch of knee room.’
BUY ONBOARD PROGRAM
Just like the seats, the buy onboard programs were ‘virtually identical’ on all three flights but Jeb said if he had to pick a winner it would be Allegiant because their ‘price was the cheapest beating Spirit by $1.54.’
SERVICE
The biggest loser in terms of inflight service was Frontier, as Jeb said ‘their crew were downright rude to several passengers who were completely confused by last minute changes to their seats because of an aircraft swap.’
He crowned Allegiant the winner, as despite a ‘lengthy delay’ the cabin crew ‘all had great attitudes.’
INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
When it came to the inflight entertainment category, Jeb said the clear winner was Spirit thanks to the existence of WiFi. Allegiant and Frontier then tied ‘since neither offers anything.’
THE WINNER…
With 13 points, Spirit was revealed as the winner of the US budget carrier battle.
Allegiant came second place with a score of 10, while Frontier landed a 6.
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