Is Low Cost Airlines Really Cheap?

While booking trips for my Miami Spring Break trip, a friend of mine told me that it is cheaper to fly with Spirit Airlines than American Airlines. AA price is $300 while Sprit Airlines is $238 so it caught my attention. A question comes up in my mind instantly: Is low cost airlines really cheap?

I have flown LCA before and they are not bad at all.  However, what I hate most is the “optional fees”. Even though they are “optional”, one cannot avoid paying these fees in order to book the ticket. The nice thing about having LCA is the competition between them and legency airlines, thus lower fares that benefit customers.

A quick look at Spirit Airlines optional fees gives me a quick answer for my question. Assuming one travels with one carry on plus a personal bag, no checked bags, online check in and seating assigned at the airport, here’s the breakdown of all the cost:

Spririt charges $28 for a carry-on each way. It costs about the same to check a bag, however Spirit allowance is only 40 lbs instead of 50 lbs with legency airlines.

Another to imporant factor is that Spirit Airlines departs from Atlantic Airport, which is over an hour drive from Philly. Not only I have to wake up early, I would also have to arrange transportation which cost extra $.

On the other hand, as an EXP on AA, I enjoy first class upgrade, free checked bags, priority services and I can jump on the 15 minutes train to the airport. It’s pretty clear that in my case, low cost airlines is not really cheaper.

LCA may work for you if you fully understand what you’re getting into. For instant, Spirit $9 fare club sounds really good for weekend getaways. However, in my opinion, average travelers will not save much if any from LCA. Not to mention you can reach Star Alliance Silver for several years with a simple transcon flight (Aegean Airlines program), which gives you free checked bag, priority services and no charge for carry on with United and US Airways.

Update: A great video explanning how LCA works:

Picture of the Day

(Disclaimer: I did not set it up;)

The New United Drama

As you may heard, United merged 2 PSS to one this weekend. I have to say they have done an amazing job keeping everything running. However, I have my first MR of the year on United this Tuesday and it's not looking good:(

First off, It makes no sense to me that United chooses A319 on this PHL-SFO transcon. I have seen so many GS in coach on this flight. I have no hope whatsoever for upgrades. 8 F seats on a transcon is unacceptable! A B757 is the right one on this route, not the freaking A319!

Second, due to the PSS integration, I lost most of my assigned seats. The picture below explains it all:

The only seat leftover is the middle seat on the last row of EMB-120. FML.

Third, United new Boarding Groups has some issues. There are too many boarding groups which means it will not be seriously enforced by the GAs. The golden rule is less is more. How does pre-boarding different from boarding? You either board the plan or you don't. Why don't just assign them group 1 instead? Clearly United is shooting in their own foot here.

I also don't agree with uniformed personnel to board with GS. Let me be clear that I greatly appreciate their sacrifice for the country, however it's clear that uniformed personnel are not the most profitable customers. They could have board with Group 2,3,4 or 5 (Elite Boarding) and still get plenty of time to get overhead bin space and settle down. In my opinion, this is a pure political move. Not to mention I'm not sure how they will deal with foreign troops, especially when fights departs from overseas.

I'm extremely happy to fly again especially to test the "new" United. However, after trying out the dAArk side last month, my prediction is the grass is greener on the other side:-P

Til we meet again, Continental Airlines

RIP Continental, it has been a crazy fun 3 years. Your flights depart on time, arrive early, DirecTV is a big plus (in F w/o extra charge of course), and your food is excellent. Despite the lack of vouchers, I still like you. I definitely will miss you ( not the ugly globe icon though:-P).

Til we met again, Continental (PMCO FA that is;)

PS: Please, for the love of God, replace the A319 on SFO-PHL route with something better. I'll never get upgrade on this freaking flight!

Getting back on track

I just got back from a 5-day conference at Charlotte, NC. While I had a great time (who doesn't love Westin Havenly Bed ;), my life is a mess right now. My inbox is overflowed with emails waiting for response and I have a midterm tomorrow. Not only that, I lost my Kindle which has all of my receipts that I need in order to get reimbursed. FML. It will take me a little time to get things back on track. Hopefully I'll post some good stuff over the weekend. Travel isn't always fun:-/