People who travel often, which budget airline is secretly the best and why?

Posted by PhillipsdMaab85@reddit | Shoestring | View on Reddit | 39 comments

I travel a few times a year mostly for work and I always end up going back and forth on which budget carrier to actually book with. The price difference between them seems small but the experience can be really different depending on the route.

I've had some flights that were way better than expected and others that were a total mess even on the same airline. Things like legroom, on-time performance, hidden fees, and how they handle delays matter a lot more to me now than just the base ticket price. I feel like there's always one airline that flyers swear by but nobody talks about enough.

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Foreign-Housing8448@reddit

No “secret”. Depends on your base airport. If you’re not at a hub for a ULCC, then your experience is going to be inferior than those who are at a hub, regardless of the ULCC.

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almasabia@reddit

I’ve never had a bad experience with Frontier. I’ve flown with them over 20 times now. Last was this morning and it was flawless start to finish. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Independent-Cloud822@reddit

Viva , Mexican budget airline. because it is cheap.

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dvbsh@reddit

I always get what I expect with Ryanair.

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Newtracks1@reddit

Ryanair if you are travlling light ( as in not having to pay baggage fees ) is insane. Fly clear across Europe for $30 dollars.

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AceCreed1@reddit

Jesus, I have never even heard of this airline.

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brookish@reddit

It’s the Frontier of Europe.

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SafetySecondADV@reddit

AirAsia has been pretty solid for me over the years. Rarely delayed too long, good prices, cheap upgrades, and good routes around asia.

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gov12@reddit

Flown them 10 times the past few years, 3 times they've rescheduled me or the flight multiple hours later or earlier.(I'm a weirdo who keeps a spreadsheet)

If you don't mind time changes then they are cheapest in Asia by far.

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Ifch317@reddit

All Chinese airlines are awesome and usually cheaper than airlines that fly from neighboring countries (e.g. Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, etc.).

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Ashamed_Tonight_3677@reddit

I would have said spirit because the prices can be unbelievably low, but unfortunately they were so low that they didn’t make any money

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groucho74@reddit

Spirit’s low prices didn’t do it in. They bought lots of Airbus neos, which have incredibly good fuel economy, and they had to mothball half of the fleet because the engines had damage from faulty manufacturing. That would kill any airline that isn’t long established with lots of reserves.

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NiagaraThistle@reddit

the one that gets me to my destination for the absolute lowest cost.

because i waste the least possible amount of my budget on the on part of my trip that has absolute zero impact on the actual trip.

The only thing i need for an airline is for the plane not to crash on the way to my destination. Anything more than that and I have paid for too much comfort and convenience.

I sleep the entire flight, so i really need nothing more than the cheapest transport to my destination.

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CaptainObvious110@reddit

agreed

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sick486@reddit

zero impact until your flight is cancelled an hour before its supposed to happen

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NiagaraThistle@reddit

yeah, but even if that happens, they usually find you an alternate flight.

but again the key is 'GETS ME TO MY DESTINATION":

'the one that gets me to my destination for the absolute lowest cost.'

In over 25 years, i've never had a flight cancelled that left me stranded for more than 24 hours without getting me on a different/later flight to my destination.

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CaptainObvious110@reddit

yeah

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castaneom@reddit

Which part of the world? You should probably specify that first. In the US I fly whatever to be honest as long as it gets me to where I need to go. Never Frontier though..

US doesn’t really have low budget airlines anymore. My favorite airline to fly on is Alaska Airlines.. United and American are the same, it’s ehh.

In Mexico I’ve flown Viva Aerobús and Volaris, they’re both okay.. I prefer Aeroméxico though.

In Europe, EasyJet is my favorite. Ryanair and Vueling are fine. TAP is also okay. I’m not that picky though.

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CaptainObvious110@reddit

why not frontier?

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bender445@reddit

I’ve had fine experiences on Frontier, flown them less than 10 times but all were good.

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CaptainObvious110@reddit

that's great. I've flown in spirit and had a great time

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Difficult_Camel_1119@reddit

tap is no low budget airline but a network carrier

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randopop21@reddit

Actually, they're pretty cheap. It's Portugal's flag carrier but they operate like a budget one. And I liked it the couple of times I flew with them.

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Difficult_Camel_1119@reddit

sure, I've flown with them round trip to the usa for 4€+taxes. But their business model is network carrier and not LCC

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juststupidthings@reddit

In us there's still some budget airlines - frontier, breeze, allegient... just expect bad service, delays, and no help if your flights are canceled

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Soukchai2012@reddit

AirAsia are great. Been using them for nearly 20 years and they are professional and only very occasionally a little delayed, never cancelled. They go all over Asia now. Inside Thailand Nokair are also good. The worst is Norse Atlantic - a Norwegian long distance carrier - most of their flights are cancelled and zero customer service.

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SpicyHabanero69@reddit

In the U.S., I’ve had a lot of fun/cheap trips with Allegiant. I am also a special use case, as I live next to a major and minor airport, and my hometown is also inbetween a major and minor as well. So, going home to visit I have a lot of options, which is important as they don’t fly a lot of their routes every day

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groucho74@reddit

There’s not one best budget airline. It depends on the route

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Kcufasu@reddit

I've never had an issue with ryanair, and at those prices why not

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GMVexst@reddit

Jet blue

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Difficult_Camel_1119@reddit

the one that gets you to your destination or flies from your airport.

for me: - Volotea, as it flies from the closest airport - easyjet, as it's the only one flying from a somewhat close airport to an airport close to my relatives - Ryanair, as it has the biggest network in my area - Wizz as it has mainly A321neo planes that are imho the most comfortable as passenger

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