Discount Airlines and Second-Tier Airlines for Small Cities

Locations in this article:  Austin, TX Fort Lauderdale, FL Los Angeles, CA Orlando, FL Portland, OR Seattle, WA

With major airlines cutting capacity across the board, the fear is that smaller cities are getting left behind. Or are they?

A second-tier airline is generally a small shuttle flight that’s not operated by one of the legacy carriers.

The drawbacks are that they usually have limited schedules, aren’t well-staffed in airports, and usually charge for everything short of breathing.

But where they work, they really work.

Allegiant Air connects dozens of smaller cities to bigger destinations.

We’re talking Billings, Montana to Los Angeles, and Greenville, South Carolina to Fort Lauderdale.

Some of these airlines are even adding routes.

This summer, Horizon Air will add flights between Seattle and Austin, and Portland to Maui.

Direct Air connects East Coast and Midwest cities to Myrtle Beach and Orlando and Fort Meyers, Florida.

So let’s compare flights from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Orlando: the cheapest flight was about $235 on Direct Air non-stop, but on Northwest, American and Delta, do you know what it’s going to cost you?

Between $400 and $600.

For more, check out our Airlines & Airports section.

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