chperplt
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Elvis and a Las Vegas showgirl arrive Jan. 18 at Shreveport Regional Airport via Allegiant Air. (Times File Photo/Shane Bevel)
RELATED LINK
Allegiant Air: www.allegiantair.com
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Rodriguez .photocontainer {width: 375px;}
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If you've lived in this city the past couple of months, you've probably heard the following phrase:
"Hey, Allegiant Air has flights to Vegas for $80. I'm going!"
Maybe you've said it yourself after a hard day of work.
Maybe you've wondered exactly what is involved in this booming, low-cost, no-frills carrier that began offering twice weekly flights in January, ranging from $79 to $179.
Lucky for you (well, lucky for me), I flew on Allegiant recently. And I can tell you what to expect on this flight, which was comfortable and offered gambling, both of which prepared me to enter Sin City.
First, you have to know that Allegiant only flies out of Shreveport Regional Airport at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday and returns at 6:35 p.m. Shreveport time on Saturday. Don't try looking for reservations on expedia.com or travelocity.com; you find the deals and book the flights at AllegiantAir.com.
Click "Destinations" and you'll see a map of the country with lines connecting smaller cities to Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla. When Allegiant came to Shreveport, a representative told me that it's possible that more flights to Las Vegas and service to Orlando could be added, if there's a demand for it.
It sure looked like there was a demand on a recent Wednesday night. I was a little surprised: Passengers nearly packed the jet, which must've been either the airline's 130- or 150-seat plane.
My only complaint occurred before I even got to the airport. I was double-checking my reservation but couldn't do that through the company's Web site. I called its toll-free number, but an automated system told me that operators were unavailable -- and hung up on me. That happened throughout the day.
But from that point on, customer service was excellent. Flights took off and arrived exactly on time, too.
On the way to Las Vegas, I was surrounded by people who weren't going to gamble but rather were using the airline as a cheap trip out west to visit friends or relatives. Shreveport Regional doesn't have a hub farther west than Dallas.
You order snacks and drinks off of a menu that offers a well-crafted apology explaining how you're helping the airline keep its fares low. "Let the big Las Vegas casinos lavish you with free drinks," it says. Alcohol is $5, with a free mixer; juice and soda are $2; snacks are in the same range.
Toward the end of the journey, flight attendants asked passengers to pull out a dollar and write their seat numbers on it. You could do as many dollars as you wanted; winner took all.
Turns out the winner got almost $100. The $5 game, which I didn't play, was worth about $130 for the guy in front of me.
Flying time from Shreveport to Las Vegas was three hours; and back, it was a little shorter. Every seat was coach, and the seats were big and plenty cushioned.
Descending into Las Vegas at night, there was an amazing view of lights downtown and on The Strip. On the way back to Shreveport, the Grand Canyon could be seen from the left side of the aircraft.
As on the first trip, the flight back was packed. There was no money game. But then again, it looked like people wanted to nap.
Elvis and a Las Vegas showgirl arrive Jan. 18 at Shreveport Regional Airport via Allegiant Air. (Times File Photo/Shane Bevel)
RELATED LINK
Allegiant Air: www.allegiantair.com
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Rodriguez .photocontainer {width: 375px;}
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If you've lived in this city the past couple of months, you've probably heard the following phrase:
"Hey, Allegiant Air has flights to Vegas for $80. I'm going!"
Maybe you've said it yourself after a hard day of work.
Maybe you've wondered exactly what is involved in this booming, low-cost, no-frills carrier that began offering twice weekly flights in January, ranging from $79 to $179.
Lucky for you (well, lucky for me), I flew on Allegiant recently. And I can tell you what to expect on this flight, which was comfortable and offered gambling, both of which prepared me to enter Sin City.
First, you have to know that Allegiant only flies out of Shreveport Regional Airport at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday and returns at 6:35 p.m. Shreveport time on Saturday. Don't try looking for reservations on expedia.com or travelocity.com; you find the deals and book the flights at AllegiantAir.com.
Click "Destinations" and you'll see a map of the country with lines connecting smaller cities to Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla. When Allegiant came to Shreveport, a representative told me that it's possible that more flights to Las Vegas and service to Orlando could be added, if there's a demand for it.
It sure looked like there was a demand on a recent Wednesday night. I was a little surprised: Passengers nearly packed the jet, which must've been either the airline's 130- or 150-seat plane.
My only complaint occurred before I even got to the airport. I was double-checking my reservation but couldn't do that through the company's Web site. I called its toll-free number, but an automated system told me that operators were unavailable -- and hung up on me. That happened throughout the day.
But from that point on, customer service was excellent. Flights took off and arrived exactly on time, too.
On the way to Las Vegas, I was surrounded by people who weren't going to gamble but rather were using the airline as a cheap trip out west to visit friends or relatives. Shreveport Regional doesn't have a hub farther west than Dallas.
You order snacks and drinks off of a menu that offers a well-crafted apology explaining how you're helping the airline keep its fares low. "Let the big Las Vegas casinos lavish you with free drinks," it says. Alcohol is $5, with a free mixer; juice and soda are $2; snacks are in the same range.
Toward the end of the journey, flight attendants asked passengers to pull out a dollar and write their seat numbers on it. You could do as many dollars as you wanted; winner took all.
Turns out the winner got almost $100. The $5 game, which I didn't play, was worth about $130 for the guy in front of me.
Flying time from Shreveport to Las Vegas was three hours; and back, it was a little shorter. Every seat was coach, and the seats were big and plenty cushioned.
Descending into Las Vegas at night, there was an amazing view of lights downtown and on The Strip. On the way back to Shreveport, the Grand Canyon could be seen from the left side of the aircraft.
As on the first trip, the flight back was packed. There was no money game. But then again, it looked like people wanted to nap.
