I know it’s exciting to read about people booking trips to exotic locations on once-in-a-lifetime trips, but that’s not what all travel is about. You’re more likely to need a flight to Philadelphia and the only airlines that fly non-stop are Spirit, Frontier and American. That’s what happened to me on a recent search for a flight.
Because the Spirit flights are only very early or very late, that left me with Frontier and American.
Frontier’s flights are going for $59 and American Airlines is charging $203 for the same route and similar times.
While you’ll get 2 extra inches of seat pitch on American, is that worth $150 for a 2 & 1/2 hour flight?
I’m all for saving money but, in fact, most passengers won’t be saving that much by flying on Frontier.
From previous experience, I know that by purchasing the “The Works” package, I’d have access to stretch seating and be able to bring a carry-on bag (and a checked bag which I won’t need for this trip.)
Unfortunately, Frontier is charging an extra $159 for The Works on this flight.
I looked to see what it would cost just to pay for a Stretch seat and a carry-on bag. It wasn’t much less expensive.
- Airfare – $58.98
- Stretch Seat – $70
- Carry-on Bag – $54
The total fare for the flight would come to $182.98
While a Frontier flight for $59 sounds like a great deal, that’s only if you’re willing to take whatever seat they give you and have a tray table that’s not large enough to hold an iPad.
While the American Airlines flight might have looked more expensive at first glance, it’s not that bad.
Flights in Basic Economy go for $203 and Economy for $30 more.
However, I can book the same flight for 15.5K AAdvantage miles. This is a great value since most websites peg AAdvantage miles at 1 cent per point.
For an equivalent flight experience, I could pay $182 to Frontier, $233 to American Airlines or spend 15,500 AAdvantage miles. Guess which option I’m going to take? Even if I’ll end up seating in a seat where I’ll have to act like a T-Rex to type on my MacBook.
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