13 reviews
Report No: 2022-801
Dear folks,
Welcome to this brand new series where I originally intended to fly 3 different US domestic products which I have never flown before but schedule changes and cancellations ruined the original plan of the trip so I had to make some modifications on my mini side trip within the United States of America.
The first series of this report would be onboard a new airline that I have never flown before, Allegiant Air, from Washington Dulles Airport to Nashville onboard their A320. I wanted to visit Nashville and this price was still 1/3rd the price of a legacy carrier even after adding the additional items such as carry-on and seat selection thus I gave a chance to Allegiant who operates this route 2 times per week. Before my flight I also had the chance to do some lounge hopping at Washington Dulles Airport.
So the original itinerary for this trip was as following, but flight #2 had been cancelled, which required a change to the itinerary.
However the actual itinerary is as below
Loads for this flight
85-90%
The day of the flight, I have taken bus 5A from downtown Washington DC to Dulles Airport.
The bus was crowded, however, every passenger was able to get a seat.
After a 55 minute ride, we have arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport.
FIDS for today - I was at the terminal about 2 hours 35 minutes before our scheduled departure time whereas I purposefully arrived early to do some lounge hopping and compare the available lounges at IAD.
Security that day was a breeze with no wait despite the fact that it was a Sunday in August.
That day, I have decided to take the walkway to Concourse A/B
While going up the escalator at the concourse, this Air Canada Embraer E-175 was pushing back
The concourse was empty that day since most international flights out were at later hours.
The first stop of the day was the Air France / KLM Lounge at Washington Dulles Airport.
I was able to access this lounge via PriorityPass
The lounge was empty at the time of my visit with comfortable seating all around.
However, the disadvantage was that there were no proper hot food options that day since the KLM flight didn't operate that day leaving the earliest AF/KL departure that day being a 6:35pm flight to Paris.
However, the buffet had various fruit, sandwich, cheese, salad, charcuterie, bread and snack options
The lounge also had a full bar which isn't pictured in this report
Here is my initial selection
Followed by more cookies and fries
The lounge also had a reserved seating area which I don't know why it was reserved.
Later on, I have decided to visit my second lounge of the day which would be the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse which I was able to access via my AMEX Platinum card.
A negative change since my last visit that those who are able to access the lounge via AMEX are no longer eligible to benefit from the a-la-carte menu and sit at the dining area.
That's why, I have went to the seating area upstairs where I was the only person at that time of the day.
The lounge had self-service snacks and had some pre-order items such as an impossible burger and salad. There is also a bar available which is self-service for customers not seating in the dining area.
The lounge also has views and I was able to spot this TK 787-9 from the clubhouse.
Also, the lounge doesn't offer any champagne so I have had a glass of Prosecco.
I have tried the impossible burger which was served with chips and it tasted good.
The last stop of the day would be the Turkish Airlines Lounge which I also accessed via Priority Pass. While entering, the lounge agent informed me that the lounge is full so advised me to find a seat first and after spotting an empty chair, I have handed my Priority Pass card to the lounge agent and was admitted in.
The lounge was pretty full and an area was blocked out due to leaking water from the air
However, despite the rowdiness, this lounge has the best food offerings among the 3 lounges that I have visited that day.
The tomato soup, the chicken and the meatball were all delicious.
The lounge also had various dessert options
And, I have opted for the sütlaç ( rice pudding ) option which is a Turkish dessert.
The bar section of the lounge was very crowded so I wasn't able to take a photo there but my seat allowed perfect opportunities for plane spotting.
While enjoying my dessert, this United Express CRJ-200 had arrived from Pittsburgh as UA 3814.
When it was close to scheduled boarding time, I have left the lounge and started walking to the gate
At that time, our bird, N291NV was just parking after it's previous flight from Sarasota Bradenton.
At the time of boarding, no gate agent was present as apparently there was only one ground staff at the passenger level handling everything of this plane including operating the jet bridge. The gate had plenty of seating area but most of them were occupied since the seating area was shared with the Southwest gates located next to ours.
A Southwest Boeing 737 parked at gate B66
And N291NV, a bird that used to fly for Aer Lingus at gate B62.
Boarding started a little bit later than the scheduled start time, and group numbers were announced but after some point announcements have stopped so people started to queue up randomly. Also something interesting that Allegiant would board those passengers without carry-ons before passengers with carry-ons which is the opposite of what other carriers follow.
Boarding N291AV
After being welcomed by two entertaining crew members at the door, I have proceeded to my seat which was 15F.
To be honest, the legroom is quite OK but the seat width is very short which I don't understand the logic since the aircraft had a very wide aisle.
Overhead panel
While boarding was going on, I was able to spot this TAP Air Portugal A321neo heading to Lisbon
This United 737-800 heading to Denver
As well as this United 767-400ER that was going to cross the Atlantic to Madrid that evening.
I was also able to spot this Avianca A320 pushing back
The seat has a tray table which is very small and useless if you wish to put literature or put your laptop on it.
While boarding was completed, the passenger in the aisle at my row has asked if he could move to the exit row, and the cabin crew said yes where the passenger in the middle seat moved to the aisle which increased the comfort on this ride.
However, a few minutes later, another passenger at a different row has asked a different member of cabin crew to move to the exit row and the cabin crew rejected his request.
The literature options were as below; the airline does not offer any other entertainment other than seat back pocket content.
It's time to check the Sunseeker magazine starting with the route map of Allegiant
And here is the Buy on Board options for this flight.
I find it weird that this airline doesn't offer any hot drinks such as coffee and tea at their buy on board menu. Most items are either packaged snacks or canned beverages.
And last not least, here is the fleet
Surprisingly boarding was completed on time but the crew had to count heads multiple times since apparently a passenger who had an kap-infant was occupying a seat which caused the passenger count to be higher.
Later on, the cabin lead Ivan, started making the pre-departure announcements in a funnier and entertaining way.
At that time F-GZNB had arrived from Paris as AF 54
N712EV waiting at gate B78 for it's flight to Detroit
This United 737-800 had just arrived from Cleveland while we were taxiing to the runway
Shortly later it was our time to take-off
And shortly later, we were in the air
The flight was mainly uneventful other than the BoB service and the jokes of the cabin lead Ivan such as "There is Wi-Fi onboard this flight and the password is capital N, number zero, capital W, number 1, capital F, number 1 -> You'll figure it out"
Entertaining announcements continued throughout the flight and the cabin crew were always visible to passengers instead of hiding at the galley.
Before descending, the cabin crew was provided information about the Allegiant credit card and handed forms, after that landing preparations have started and we have commenced our descent into BNA.
First shot of BNA
And we have landed on time
Leaving the runway
Then we have started our taxi and the first visible aircraft was this Southwest 737-700
Followed by it's sibling N959WN
There were even more Southwest aircraft at the concourse
N454WN was pushing back to operate flight WN 3036 to Albany via Myrtle Beach and Baltimore.
Southwest Airlines still operated direct flights with 1 or 2 stops under the same flight number and aircraft.
The next aircraft that I was able to shot were these American Eagle birds
Two Embraer E-175's
And, a mainline AA aircraft, N969NN heading to Charlotte that afternoon
Nashville's airport terminal is still under construction and some taxiways are closed due to that reason
This time, it's an American Boeing 737-MAX-8 which was assigned to flight AA2458 to Miami that afternoon
That day we were going to park at gate C5.
Once we did, Ivan made his final joke via the PA asking people to check their surroundings otherwise he would have more items to sell on Ebay after arriving at their base.
After saying thank you to the cheerful crew, I have left the aircraft and found myself inside the South Terminal
I was able to take this last photo of N291NV before it returns back to Washington Dulles that afternoon
Since I had lot of time for the next local bus to Nashville, I decided to go around the terminal to see what is available
Then I have headed towards the exit
While waiting for the bus, I have taken a seat at Green Beans Coffee and worked on my computer
At that time, I have also enjoyed a latte.
When it was time for the bus, I have left the coffee shop and headed downstairs
Another level down for ground transportation
Walking by the construction site on my way to the garage where bus 18 to the city departs
The terminal construction from another angle
All ridesharing services and buses depart from the same garage.
Bus 18 is the public transportation option to go from Nashville Airport to downtown and since it was a Sunday, the frequencies were not that peak.
Shortly later than its scheduled arrival time, the bus had arrived and I was on my way to the music city.
Which is Nashville.
That's the moment where this report has come to an end.
The series would continue soon with the next episode.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all in another report.
While Allegiant has a very tight seat pitch and width, it was OK for what I paid but the difference was significant than other carriers in the USA. Despite that, the crew tried to make the flight enjoyable and if the pricing wasn't a significant factor, I would have probably chose another airline on the same route.
IAD PriorityPass / AMEX Lounges are still superior compared to some other US airports and due to it being Sunday, the public transportation options from the airport to city are limited albeit the frequencies were reasonable and allowed me to have an extra coffee at the airport and do some work.
6 Comments
Nice that you got in the AF/KL lounge on PP...Everytime I used PP at IAD it seems it was never the times where AF/KL were accepting PP. I hadn't been in the AF Lounge since they renovated it a few years ago--looks good!
Thanks for sharing!
- I realized the same thing that most of their routes have 2 or 3 weekly frequencies and they have a unique business modal as it seems. Southwest also sells connecting itineraries where Allegiant doesn't.
In addition, if we are going to compare G4 with other LCC's such as F9 and NK, G4 is way behind in terms of comfort, and seat pitch.
- IIRC, the AF/KL Lounge over there only accepts PP pax when there is no AF/KL flights at the same time. However, the options during the time where there is no Air France and KLM flights are much limited compared to those hours when AF/KL flights are operating.
- You're most welcome
The works in BNA look huge!
Thanks for sharing!
- I haven't flown any European LCC except Frenchbee since COVID so I can't comment what is the situation over there. However, Turkish LCC's ( Pegasus, AnadoluJet, SunExpress, etc... ) are much more professional than this airline at least :)
- Same, I only had this in the USA
- Indeed, they are renewing the terminal.
- You're welcome, thanks for reading!
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