Have you ever considered that flying with ultra-low-budget airlines could be your golden ticket to that elusive family vacation? Imagine the excitement, the bonding, and yes, even the chaos (but the fun kind). If flights seemed out of your reach due to a tight budget, then you’re in luck. You can find some really cheap flights on an ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC).
So, let’s embark on a little journey exploring why you should fly ultra-low-cost carriers and share some tips for making those budget flights a success.
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Why Fly Ultra-Low-Cost Carriers
You’ve probably heard some horror stories about flying on budget airlines like Spirit or Frontier. I’ve heard them, too, and I avoided them for years! Low-cost airlines often get a bad rap. But a tight budget and the determination to get out of town made me reconsider and give budget carriers a try. And I’m sure glad that I did!
Here are a few reasons why it’s worth it to fly ultra-low-cost airlines.
Unbelievable Low Fares
Picture this: flying your whole squad for less than what you’d spend on a day out at the amusement park (and we’re not even counting the overpriced souvenirs). These airlines offer such extremely low prices on both one-way and roundtrip flights that you’ll have to pinch yourself to believe it.
When I wanted to fly to Orlando with my husband with only a couple of weeks’ notice, that $89 flight on Spirit Airlines was a no-brainer. And when I found $38 round-trip flights to San Diego from Dallas Fort Worth, you bet we jumped on it! In fact, I went twice in one month! I would have paid hundreds more on American Airlines or Southwest Airlines.
Frontier Airlines even offers discounts off the base fare and kids fly-free options on specific days and flights when you join their Discount Den. If you’re planning multiple trips in a year and have some flexibility, this is an incredible way for families to save a lot of money on travel!
Stretching the Family Budget
Saving on flights means you can splurge on experiences. Think of the extra fruity drinks by the pool or a family snorkeling excursion. When you’re saving potentially hundreds of dollars on your flights, you free up a lot of cash in your vacation budget for experiences.
To stretch your family’s travel budget even more, use CheapOair to search for the lowest prices on flights. They’ll find you the lowest fare possible, and save you the time of manually searching for flight deals. It’s a win-win!
Eco-Friendly Travel Teaching Moments
Use your budget airline choice as a teachable moment about sustainable travel. Did you know that decreased legroom and the absence of business class and first class on ultra-low-cost carriers means less carbon footprint per passenger?
The more passengers you can fit on a plane, the lower the environmental impact. In fact, in a study done by IBA in May of 2022, Frontier and Spirit ranked in the top two spots for the lowest carbon dioxide emissions per seat per mile. This can give you and your kids something to feel good about when you’re feeling a little cramped in your seat on those medium- and long-haul flights.
Not to mention, Frontier Airlines prides itself on being the greenest commercial airline in the United States, due to its commitment to sustainable travel, with its young, fuel-efficient fleet of aircraft, installing lighter seats, using new engine technology, using sustainable engine fuel, and moving to biodegradable products on its flights. So if you’re environmentally minded and budget-conscious, Frontier Airlines checks both boxes.
Learning to Roll with It
Traveling on a shoestring teaches your family the valuable lesson of going with the flow. Delayed flight? Cancellations? Uncomfortable seats? Flying on low-cost carriers can come with inconveniences and frustrations.
These unexpected hassles are the perfect opportunity to model and teach flexibility, “a key aspect of self-regulation and handling big emotions,” according to Rae Jacobson and the Child Mind Institute. When we can self-regulate our emotions in frustrating travel situations, we’re setting great examples for our kids and teaching them life-long, necessary skills.
Packing Challenge: Family Edition
Ever tried packing for a trip with kids? It’s like a Tetris game on hard mode. Why do they insist on bringing all the things?! Try turning it into a challenge: the first person to fit everything in their bag gets to have the window seat.
When we had to fit everything for 3 days in a personal item-sized backpack, my girls surprised me with how light they packed! We ended up paying no baggage fees on our Frontier flight, making our $38 flights only $38.
Pro tip: You don’t need to pack the entire house, just essentials and your ingenuity. Check out our personal item packing guide for tips on saving lots of money on unnecessary baggage fees on ultra-low-cost carriers.
Unexpected Destinations
Ultra-low-budget airlines are kind of like those choose-your-own-adventure books I loved as a kid — full of unexpected twists and turns. You might be flying into airports you’ve never visited to catch the best travel deal. But adventure is what it’s all about!
Take that flight to Grand Rapids, Little Rock, or Des Moines and explore a city you’ve never visited. You’d be surprised by the fun you can have when you veer away from the typical tourist destinations and see new parts of the country or globe.
The unexpected can be a delight.
Be open to destinations, and you’ll find unexpected adventures that you’ll treasure forever.
The Great Airport Scavenger Hunt
Layovers? You might be groaning, but it doesn’t have to be miserable. Sometimes layovers are necessary to snag the best fares.
If you’re faced with a long layover, keep the kids entertained with an airport scavenger hunt. My two younger girls like to search for designer merchandise at the airport. Who can spot a Louis Vuitton bag or Gucci perfume first? It keeps them active and entertained during those hours of waiting.
If all else fails, search for A Dunkin Donuts and have a taste test of a few flavors. because who isn’t happier with donuts?
Make New Friends
When you’re flying on ultra-low-cost carriers, you’ll be charged for items like check-in assistance, baggage, and seat selection. Unless you want to pay to choose your seat and up that ticket price, you’ll have a surprise seatmate and potential new friend.
Note: When we’ve flown on Frontier Airlines with our kids, we have been assigned seats next to them upon check-in. My fourteen-year-old was not seated next to us, so my hubby switched with her so she wasn’t seated alone. And while some flight crews are accommodating with moving people, don’t bet on it! If you really need to get a seat with someone, it’s best to pay the seat selection fee when booking for the best price.
It’s a Badge of Honor
Think of budget airline terminals as unofficial clubs for family adventurers. It takes some ingenuity and serious planning to keep the kids entertained, fed, and comfortable on potentially long travel days. Instead of relying on in-flight entertainment and free sodas, you have to plan ahead and pack it all with relatively little luggage space. Being a savvy budget traveler is definitely something to be proud of!
Tips for Flying Cheap on a Budget Airline
Embarking on an adventure with ultra-low-cost carriers can feel like hitting the jackpot and entering a maze, all at once. To navigate this maze with the finesse of a seasoned traveler and still keep your wallet happy, here are five insider tips that might just make you the savvy traveler of the year:
- Be Flexible with Your Dates: The best deals are like shy creatures; they appear when least expected. Having flexible travel dates can lead to significant savings. Sometimes flying mid-week or at odd hours can slash prices dramatically. It’s like playing travel roulette, but you’re always a winner.
- Be Flexible with Your Destinations: If you can plan your vacation around the cheapest time and destination, you’ll be surprised at the incredibly low prices you can find.
- Start With a Short Flight: If you’ve never flown on a low-cost airline, you might want to start with a short-haul flight. These seats aren’t your typical seats like you’d expect on full-service airlines. They’re less cushioned and can become quite uncomfortable on a medium-haul flight.
- Pack Like a Pro: Think of packing as an art form. The masterpiece? Fitting everything you need into one bag. Avoid extra fees by wearing your heaviest items on the plane and rolling your clothes to save space. Bonus points for packing layers.
- Where Layers: If you’re trying to pack light but struggling, wear some extra layers to save space in your luggage. I typically don a tank, t-shirt, and jacket or sweater.
- Read the Fine Print: The devil is in the details, or in this case, the baggage policies and check-in requirements. Each airline has its own set of rules that can feel like a treasure map. Decipher it ahead of time to avoid any last-minute fees or surprises.
- Bring Your Snacks: Picture this: You’re 30,000 feet in the air, your stomach is growling, and a bag of pretzels is going to cost you $6. Ouch! Pack your snacks and a refillable water bottle (empty until you pass security, of course) to keep the hangries at bay and keep your food cost down.
- Download the app: For ease of check-in, flight updates, and having your boarding pass on hand, download the app. It’s the easiest way to manage your trip at the airport, as well as book a flight.
- Check your flight status before leaving for the airport: Ever arrived at the airport and realized that your flight has been delayed for hours? That’s never fun. We saved ourselves from hours stuck at a tiny, crowded terminal in San Diego by checking our flight status before we left the hotel. We got a couple extra hours of sleep, a warm (free) hotel breakfast, and avoided cranky kids.
- Arrive Early: Ultra-low-cost doesn’t always mean ultra-organized. Airports can be chaotic, and budget airlines often have strict boarding procedures. Arriving early at the gate can ease some of that stress. We suggest arriving two hours early for domestic flights and three hours for international flights.
- Be Kind: With unexpected chaos, tempers can flare. Gate attendants and flight crews are often on the receiving end of these tempers. Take a deep breath and remind yourself that they are just doing their job. A smile can go a long way, especially when you’re navigating the quirks and queues of budget travel. And if you really want to go the extra mile, bring some flight attendant thank-you gifts!
Popular Ultra-Low-Cost Carriers in the US
Allegiant Air
- Headquarters: Las Vegas Nevada
- Launched: in 1997 to offer routes from America’s smaller regional airports to vacation hotspots
- Fleet: Flies Airbus A319 and A320 planes
- Destinations: Operates out of over 100 airports in the US
- Flight Schedule: Flights don’t operate every day. By flying fuller planes on fewer days, they save on costs and share those savings with passengers through lower fairs
- Fees: Paying only for the extras you opt for allows for lower base fares
- Vacation Packages: Offers package deals on flights, hotel stays and car rentals
- Earn: Free to join Allways Rewards to accrue points on every flight or purchase
Breeze Airlines
- Headquarters: Salt Lake City, Utah
- Launched: Relatively new airlines launched in 2021
- Fleet: Operates Airbus A220-300, Embraer 190 and 195
- Destinations: Currently 44 destinations with more in the works
- Earn: BreezePoints frequent flyer program
Frontier Airlines
- Headquarters: Located in Denver, Colorado with its main hub at Denver International Airport
- Fleet: Operates over 100 A320 planes and has the largest A320neo fleet in the Americas
- Destinations: Serves around 120 places in the U.S., Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America.
- Fuel Efficiency: Achieves an average of 43% fuel savings compared to other U.S. airlines, making Frontier the most fuel-efficient U.S. airline. This is based on 2019 data comparing fuel consumption per seat-mile with the major U.S. airlines’ average.
- Save Offers discounts off the already low fares and allows children 14 years and younger to fly free on qualifying flights through the DISCOUNT DEN® travel club.
- Earn: Earn 10x points for every $1 spent to use towards flights and upgrades
Spirit Airlines
- Headquarters: Located in Miramar, Florida
- Destinations: 90 airports throughout the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean
- Fleet: Spirit Airlines flies an all-Airbus fleet of A319, A320, and A321 planes
- Space Options: Offer Big Front Seats, with larger seats and no middle row
- Earn: Earn 12 points per dollar spent to use towards travel rewards
- Save: Save more on flights with the Spirit Savers Club for discounted seats, bags, etc.
ULCC: A Different Business Model
Ultra-low-cost airlines (ULCCs) operate on a business model fundamentally designed to keep operating expenses at a minimum while maximizing the number of seats sold on each flight. At the heart of this strategy is the notion of offering bare-bones ticket prices that cover the cost of a seat and little else.
ULCCs fly to less congested secondary airports, operate a single type of aircraft to reduce maintenance and training costs, and implement fast turnaround times to increase aircraft utilization, and therefore are cheaper to operate. By focusing on direct sales through their websites, they also avoid the commissions associated with third-party booking sites.
The revenue model of ultra-low-cost carriers is heavily reliant on ancillary fees, which are charges for services beyond the basic fare. These can include fees for checked baggage, seat selection, priority boarding, in-flight meals, and more. This a la carte pricing structure allows passengers to customize their travel experience according to their needs and budget, while also providing the airline with a significant source of additional income.
Essentially, the ULCC model is built on the principle of offering low fares to capture market share and then supplementing those fares with revenue from add-on fees. This strategy not only caters to the budget-conscious consumer but also aligns with a growing consumer preference for paying only for the services they use, making ULCCs a compelling choice for a wide range of travelers.
Wrapping Up: Ultra-Low-Cost Airline
Air travel can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be out of reach. With some savvy searching and the willingness to forgo some of the perks of full-service airlines, you can save hundreds of dollars by flying with ultra-low-cost carriers. The goal is to get from point a to point b. The flight isn’t the whole trip, it’s just the means to get to your destination. Make space in your budget by saving money on a ULCC flight. I’ve never regretted it!
