Visit One of Florida’s Best Beaches with Allegiant

Disclosure :: This post is brought to you by our sponsors at Allegiant and Visit St. Pete/Clearwater.

I love to travel. If I could, I would spend more time traveling than at home. Before kids, my husband and I took plenty of road trips, a cruise, we even took a flight to London! Since we had kids, our travel plans have slowed down and before we found out about Allegiant, we would never have even considered flying as a family of five. A flight was simply out of our budget … until now!

For as low as $39 each way, Allegiant flies non-stop from New Orleans to several cities — this opens up a whole new world of travel possibilities. Before now, our trips were limited to places 10-12 hours away, but now, we can travel to and from Pittsburg for under $100 a person!

flying allegiant

How in the world do they keep their prices so low?

That was my first question. Because I’m already paranoid as hell mildly anxious about flying, I had to make sure they didn’t sacrifice safety for good prices. After my experience, I can say for certain they do not. I felt completely safe and we had a smooth flight both there and back. That said, they do have some noticeable differences from other airlines. For one thing, you have to pay for snacks/drinks on the flight, and for your bags … even your carry-on. What they do is bring down the price of the ticket to a base price, and you pay for what you need a la carte. This is not Allegiant nickel and dime-ing us, rather, we pay for a lot of things we may not need or want on other airlines. To keep costs low, simply pack light {everyone is allowed a personal item, so you can pack the kids’ clothes in a small backpack to slide under the seat in front of you}, and be sure to bring snacks/drinks on the plane. Though remember, you can’t bring a water bottle through security – ask me how I know??

new orleans to clearwater

Visit St. Pete/Clearwater

Traveling somewhere new can be daunting. We have been to Florida before on a vacation to Disney, and of course the clearwater floridaEmerald Coast, but we had never been to the Clearwater area, so I was a little intimidated about getting around and making sure we hit up some of the “must see” attractions. Enter Visit St. Pete/Clearwater. They provided us with a fantastic itinerary which included a visit to the Clearwater Aquarium, lunch on the beach at Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill and a relaxing sunset cruise with Hubbard’s Marina. During our long weekend, we also spent some great time on the beach, and of course the kids wanted to swim in the pool at the Barefoot Beach Resort where we stayed. Our plans for a night swim were thwarted by a rainstorm, so we hit up Candy Kitchen for some sweet treats! This trip was a great way to kick off summer!!

The Lowdown on Flying with Kids

Flying with 3 or more young children is no small feat. BUT, neither is taking a road trip, amirite? It takes planning in the form of snacks and coloring books, and of course patience because no matter how short the flight, at least one child will have to use the restroom on the plane. Overall though, it was much easier than I expected. I have never flown with children on any other airline, but I can say Allegiant seemed overwhelmingly family friendly. On our way from New Orleans to Clearwater, we did experience a small delay (which was then additionally delayed due to inclement weather … but again, safety first). All the kids on the plane kids did great (I was most surprised about my own, haha!), and Allegiant provided us all with complimentary snacks and waters. We are already planning our next trip – which will be a Daddy/Son trip with my husband and son in the fall!

Some things to know about Allegiant:

  • Flights from New Orleans (MSY) to St. Petersburg/Clearwater (PIE) operate twice weekly on Allegiant
  • Allegiant offers ultra low base-fares and unbundled, a la carte pricing
  • If you’re looking for more than just airline tickets, Allegiant can assist you as a full-service travel company
Myndee
Myndee is a 35ish year old New Orleans area native. She's an author, speaker and self-love advocate. As an introverted extrovert, Myndee loves being part of the generation where most of her friends live in her computer. She and her husband, Luis, live just outside the city with their three kids.

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