Questions and Answers

Hey all,

When my mom and I book non-award tickets, I push for the lowest costing ticket. Usually this is a budget carrier, but still happens to be a cheaper ticket if all the auxiliary costs add up. My mom, on the other hand, pushes for the lowest costing ticket for a [B]non-budget[/B] carrier. She fears that the IRROPs handling of budget carriers would leave her in a terrible position.

Whose logic is better?

I think its just a difference of opinion and not necessarily one better than the other. However, I’d much more prefer your mother’s logic for my own travels but it really depends on the route and the price.

How do you define “Budget” airline? Would Southwest be one? When there were delays/cancellations to my flights resulting in me being stranded at an airport, those always happened on “regular” carriers (Delta, United, AA). Southwest on at least two occasions delayed our connecting flight by 2 hours so that all of us could make that connection (we flew from Salt Lake City to Denver and from there to Nashville). Once the flight we were on was delayed by 2 hours when WE were waiting for connecting passengers. Other, European budget carriers like Wizzair and Pegasus also went out their way NOT to cancel the flights, and after several hours of delays because of severe weather, they took us to our destination. For me that is the most important thing: I want to get to my destination and not left stranded at an airport. But then again, it is only my experience, others might have different experience.

It really depends, if you are talking about Southwest or Jetblue then definitely take them but, if you are talking about Frontier, Spirit, or Allegiant then do not book because they will nickel and dime you so much that you will pay more than on AA UA or DL

[QUOTE=”Hugh B, post: 22838, member: 2317″]It really depends, if you are talking about Southwest or Jetblue then definitely take them but, if you are talking about Frontier, Spirit, or Allegiant then do not book because [B]they will nickel and dime you so much that you will pay more than on AA UA or DL[/B][/QUOTE]

That’s not categorically true. A couple of months ago I had the option of a non-stop on Frontier for ~$100 (plus bag fee) or ~$230 with a connection on AA (no bag fee). I’d much rather have earned the AA miles miles but the price difference was just too much.

I think the decision has several factors: how many flights at origin, destination and connection points do each of the airlines have? Knowing that would give you an idea of what your options might be in the case of IRROPS. If you have status with an airline that will likely influence your choice as well. But sometimes even that’s not enough to take the mainline carrier flight. (See Ed’s post: [URL=’http://pizzainmotion.boardingarea.com/2016/10/15/booked-first-flight-frontier-united-told-tips-booking/’]I Booked My First Flight On Frontier. United Told Me To[/URL])

I go with the odds and do not factor in flight interruptions taking the best option which isn’t always the lowest price. I put greater weight on schedule and hard product (aircraft comfort, WiFi, IFE, meals). In most cases, that means I avoid discount airlines.