The best budget airlines when you travel

Find the best deal on budget airlines

Flying on a budget airline such as Southwest, Frontier, Easyjet, and JetBlue all have some great advantages on the cost but knowing how to keep the price low can be a challenge.

The price of a ticket is not the only cost, be careful

Booking your ticket on any of these discount carriers you can specific a flight for a discounted price.   This price is sometimes deceiving low, but we want to keep that price down and avoid the additional fees. 

Southwest Airlines includes a free checked bag but no seat assignment.  Southwest on some airplanes that have WiFi give you access to Live TV through a personal device. Jet Blue which is a budget airline has a television on every seat to watch live TV.  Easyjet and Frontier will charge you for a carry-on bag or a checked bag.  All of these options gets confusing and difficult to figure out, especially when they add travel insurance too.

Carry on baggage fee

It took me a long time to learn how to pack my luggage and its saved me hundreds of dollars/hassle to only travel with a carry-on or backpack. Most people like to take a change of clothes for each day. I find by wearing the same piece of clothing a second day reduces the amount of clothes we need.

SouthWest is your best if you are a heavy packer, since they give you a free checked bag. https://www.southwest.com/html/air/bags-fly-free.html

EasyJet is focused on the weight and size of carry on bags. Easyjet is very particular with the size of your personal belongings.  If your bag is to big for their bin either you have to take something out or pay for the bag.   This can get very frustrating since I have seen people try to squeeze big bags into the container even though it won’t fit.    The trick here is if you have clothes in your bag and it doesn’t fit, take some clothes out to hold or wear them.

Frontier Airlines – Charges you for a carry-on bag or a checked bag. Sometimes the fees can be more then your one way ticket so be mindful on how much the costs are when you are choosing this airline.

 

Buy or bring snacks and drinks.

Bringing your own snacks and drinks will be a cost saving compared to these airlines that charge for drinks and snacks on board. Snacks and drinks Frontier, EasyJet, and JetBlue charge a fee.  This fee could be as much as a couple of dollars for a cup of soda. I find it better to purchase a drink at the airport, it may costs more at one of the magazine shops but it’s cheaper than on the plane. 

A Tip, I found that works bring an empty water bottle and fill it at the drinking fountain before your flight

Bring a ziplock bags of snack from home. I find pretzels and cookies hold up well as you travel, fruit you should be careful with since sometimes it can go bad or get thrown around as you go through the TSA scanner since all snacks have to be within your bags when you go through security.

Should you pay for an assigned seat?

Budget airlines charge to have a specific seat assignment. Lots of people love sitting at either the window or aisle. I have found it’s better to save the money and sit in the assigned seat when it costs $20-$40 per flight, I prefer to be given a seat at check-in. It doesn’t always work out, you could end up with a middle seat but I rather save the money for my next trip..

Additional Fee’s

All of the different budget airlines now ask you to pay for a variety of options that may include boarding early, travel insurance, checking for your flight early or the ability to change your flight without paying an additional fee. These allow for more flexibility but you have to decided what works best for your family.

FYI: Frontier Airline changes their flight times but customer service rocks!

Be mindful that Frontier Airlines changes their lift off time, due to scheduling issues but they are a great airline once you get on your plane.   They frequently change the flight times to earlier or later lift off time.   We had a flight for 6am that was changed to 8:30am.  Lucky for us this wasn’t a work day but we have seen them switch flights to a lot later in the day.  My dad had an issue from an afternoon flight that Frontier changed from a flight leaving 3pm to a 11pm flight.  This was concerning to him since he wouldn’t get home until the following day.   The Frontier customer service is very nice and accommodating to a different flight.

We have to remember that we are getting a great deal and sometimes that has little inconveniences. If you learn to handle these right you will save enough that you can go on two trips for the price of one.

Budget airlines are great and can really save you money just watch out for these extra fees when you are on the road.