Enjoying PIE and the sky on Allegiant flight from St. Pete to PIT

Convincing my partner to celebrate New Year’s Eve with me in Tampa took a bit of convincing so I was eager to sweeten the proposition by scoring a great deal for us. In my search for the best price, I weighed all options for flying out of nearby Pittsburgh International (PIT).

An interesting if unlikely option caught my eye. I could book a one-way, nonstop flight on Southwest Airlines from PIT to Tampa International (TPA) and use Allegiant for the nonstop return flight, albeit from St Pete-Clearwater International (PIE), which is roughly 15 miles from Tampa.

Given that ‘bags fly free’ on Southwest, the $159-per passenger price tag meant that we could each bring two free checked bags plus a carry-on and a personal item. I booked it six weeks before the New Year.

The baseline cost of each Allegiant ticket, meanwhile, was $138 and some change, but included no extras. So, I selected a bundled package including checked bags and trip cancellation flexibility, which added $90 each — and gave us peace of mind — for a total of $228.

The grand total for this roundtrip came to $387.55 each person. Southwest’s price for a flight home on 2 January would have been $500-plus apiece on that day.

Regular Southwest flyers know the cattle car boarding drill. And so, exactly 24 hours before our flight, I was finger-ready to check-in on the Southwest app and secure decent boarding positions. My diligence paid off. Happily, we received positions B7 and B8, and enjoyed an uneventful Boeing 737 flight down to Tampa.

(I do want to plug TSA PreCheck at PIT. I have Pre; my husband does not. Guess who stood in a snaking line for 30 minutes at PIT?)

I’m a newbie to the Allegiant passenger experience so I was excited to try it out. The day before our flight, we checked in on the easy-to-use Allegiant app. We had already selected exit row seats.

Arriving at PIE about 2.5hr before the flight gave us plenty of time to locate the rental car return and have some breathing room. This airport is much smaller than TPA and it’s very nice.

Unlike Southwest, Allegiant doesn’t offer airport kiosks to print bag tags. Passengers must queue up, but because we had paid for the add-ons, we were able to use the priority lane, which went very fast. The agent mentioned that bags need to weigh under 50 pounds. No problem. We handed them off and made our way to security.

There were no lines at security so Pre did not prove to be hugely beneficial here — other than that I didn’t have to remove my shoes.

While relaxing at the gate we saw our Airbus A320 arrive.

The gate agent announced that we would be boarding from the outside — from both the front and back — according to seat assignments. I thought to myself ‘this is going to be chaos’, but it went well. Only a few people didn’t follow the instructions.

The aisle seemed to be wider on this plane versus the Southwest flight. Perhaps that’s because the A320 cabin is a bit wider than the 737. Allegiant also offers a trolley service for its buy-on-board food & beverage sales whereas Southwest’s cabin crew provide a tray service only for free beverages and snacks.

The seats on Allegiant are ultra-slimline, and decidedly less padded than Southwest’s. Being lean has its disadvantages at moments like these.

When we fly, my husband always takes the window seat which gives me the middle. But we had plenty of legroom, which is the most important comfort feature to us.