US Budget Airlines in 2026: Frontier, Allegiant, Avelo and Breeze Compared After Spirit (Fees Table)

How we checked: on 3 and 4 November 2026 we read each airline's own fee pages, ran Frontier's bag price checker for real flights, priced three routes on Google Flights and took reliability figures from the US Department of Transportation's October 2026 Air Travel Consumer Report. Fares and bag prices in the route table are from 4 November 2026.

Which budget airlines are flying in the US now?

Four brands of ultra-low-cost carrier remain, plus Sun Country under Allegiant ownership. An ultra-low-cost carrier sells the seat alone and charges for everything else. In practice that means a bag that goes in the overhead bin, a checked bag and an assigned seat of your choice.

Allegiant's release says customers should keep managing trips "through the airline with which they booked travel". An Allegiant vice president told USA Today that once the airlines fly under one operating certificate "it will be the Allegiant brand going forward", and she said the single certificate could take 18 to 24 months (AirlineGeeks, 11 July 2026).

What about Southwest and JetBlue?

They are low-cost carriers, not ultra-low-cost ones, which is why they are not in the list above. A low-cost carrier prices below the big airlines but still includes some extras, usually a carry-on.

Southwest's Basic fare includes a carry-on and a personal item, its first and second checked bags cost $45 and $55 each way, and Basic seats are assigned at check-in (Southwest's fee and fare pages, read 4 November 2026; more in Southwest's bag fees by fare). JetBlue's entry-level fare for bookings made after 29 July 2026 is Main Base, and JetBlue says "All fares (including Main Base) include a carry-on bag", plus a personal item; choosing a seat costs extra.

What do bags cost on each budget airline?

Bags are cheapest when you buy them with the ticket, and every airline here charges more at the airport. Frontier publishes a full price ladder for each flight. Allegiant and Avelo publish only ranges. Breeze publishes one fixed price: $75 for any bag added by airport staff.

Bag prices by purchase stage (per person, each way)

Frontier's prices change with the route and date. The same ladder ($69, $79, $79, $89, $99) came up for Cincinnati–Orlando and Raleigh-Durham–Orlando on 9 December. Frontier states that prices are "valid for this browser session ONLY", so check your own flight in its bag price checker.

Sun Country's own fee page could not be read on 4 November 2026, so its row uses Google Flights' totals for one flight: the 7:10 am Minneapolis–Las Vegas fare of $219 rose to $264 with a carry-on, and to $264 with a checked bag. Airport and gate prices were not confirmed; see Sun Country's fee page.

Gate checks are not always paid. Frontier says that when the overhead bins are full, a carry-on "may be gate checked at no additional cost". Allegiant lists gate-checked bags at "$0.00 to $75.00".

Sizes and weight limits

Frontier's 40 lb checked-bag limit is lower than the usual 50 lb, and a bag of 41 to 50 lb costs $75 more each way. For bags that will pass under every airline's seat, see our personal item size guide.

Which fees beyond bags catch people out?

Seat selection and change fees cost more than bags on some trips, and Frontier, Allegiant and Avelo list per-segment booking charges. Here is what the official pages listed on 3 and 4 November 2026:

Frontier's change and cancel rules apply to bookings made since 25 September 2026, and Avelo's to bookings made since 6 May 2026 without AveloFlex. Allegiant calls its $25 cancel fee "temporarily reduced", gives no credit within 7 days of departure, and says its "Fares displayed are inclusive" of the $22 charge. Frontier also lists up to $5 for checking in on its website (the app is free) and up to $25 for help from an airport agent, and Allegiant charges $19.99 for a call-centre booking.

Bundles can beat buying items one by one. Breeze's Nice bundle includes "One carry-on bag", and Breeze lists "No change or cancellation fees" for Nice and up. Frontier's Economy bundle includes a standard seat and a carry-on bag.

How much does a trip really cost? Three routes compared

With a bag bought at booking, a budget airline was cheapest on all three routes. On Raleigh–Orlando that holds only at the carry-on price Google Flights showed for Frontier ($73): with Frontier's own à la carte carry-on the total was $113, above Breeze and Delta, which tied at $89. This is a snapshot from 4 November 2026: one adult, one way, nonstop, Wednesday 9 December 2026, with fares from Google Flights and bag prices from the airlines' own pages. No seat was purchased on any fare.

The legacy fares are the lowest Google Flights showed with basic economy included. United's Basic Economy page says that on domestic flights "you'll have to check your carry-on bag", and its first bag costs $45 prepaid, $50 in the lobby and $75 at the gate for tickets bought since 3 April 2026.

Delta says that on Delta-operated flights "you may carry on one bag and a small personal item at no charge", and its first domestic checked bag costs $45 for tickets bought since 8 April 2026 (see Delta's bag fees by ticket date). Both Delta flights in the table, DL 511 (Boeing 737) and DL 1337 (Airbus A320), showed no other operating airline on Google Flights, so the free carry-on applies to them.

On Frontier, compare bundles with à la carte bags before you pay. Google Flights' carry-on filter priced the Denver–Las Vegas Frontier flight at $114 and the Raleigh–Orlando one at $73, which is $34 and $40 less than the fare plus a $69 carry-on. We could not see which Frontier product Google used, so check the bundle price on Frontier's site. For the cheapest days to book and fly, see our data on the cheapest day to fly.

How reliable are the budget airlines? DOT data for August 2026

Allegiant ran on time about as often as the big airlines in August 2026, while Frontier was below the industry and drew the most complaints per flight. The numbers below come from the DOT's October 2026 Air Travel Consumer Report (August 2026 data). A flight counts as on time if it arrived "less than 15 minutes after the scheduled time".

*Our calculation: August complaints divided by the airline's scheduled flights in DOT's Table 6, times 1,000. DOT publishes complaint counts, not a rate, and notes that most passengers complain against "the airline brand shown on their ticket or aircraft", so partner-operated flights can count against the big brands.

Avelo, Breeze and Sun Country have no on-time figures because DOT's delay tables cover only the 13 airlines with "at least half of one percent of total domestic scheduled-service passenger revenues". Any ranking that scores their punctuality is not using DOT data.

Refunds were the top complaint category in August 2026, with 2,478 of the 8,908 complaints DOT received about US airlines, foreign airlines and travel agents. If a budget airline cancels on you, the US refund rules apply to it exactly as they apply to Delta or United.

What happened to Spirit, and can you still get your money back?

Spirit stopped flying on Saturday 2 May 2026. Its press release says that refunds for flights bought from Spirit by credit or debit card would be processed automatically. Travel-agent bookings and vouchers, credits and points go other routes:

• Bought from Spirit with a credit or debit card: "Spirit will automatically process refunds ... to the original form of payment."
• Bought through a travel agent or online agency: "contact the travel agent directly to request a refund."
• Paid with a voucher, credit or Free Spirit points: compensation "will be determined at a later date through the bankruptcy process."

The bankruptcy case is Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc., et al., Case No. 25-11897 (SHL), in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The airline itself, Spirit Airlines, LLC, is debtor 25-11896. The court's claims agent, Epiq, lists a General Bar Date of 27 January 2026 and a bar date of 27 July 2026 for administrative expense claims arising before the wind-down, and both dates have passed. Its case page has the claim forms and a link to file a claim online.

If a card refund never arrived, a card dispute is the remaining route. The FTC says to write to the card issuer so that your letter "reaches the issuer within 60 days after the first bill with the error was sent to you". Our guide to refunds and card disputes explains the steps. The capped fares other airlines offered Spirit customers after 2 May ran for 72 hours to two weeks, according to the DOT, and have ended.

Spirit's websites can no longer be opened: spirit.com no longer resolved on 3 November 2026. Scam pages fill that kind of gap. Search results for budget-airline bag fees showed pages with toll-free numbers posing as airline lines, so read how to spot a fake airline helpline before you call anyone about a refund.

Where other guides are out of date (checked 3–4 November 2026)

Avelo says its bag "prices are based on your reservation date", so older figures may have been right when published. They are not what a new booking pays now.

Common questions about US budget airlines

Are budget airlines safe?

Every airline on this page flies under the same Federal Aviation Administration rulebook for scheduled airlines, 14 CFR Part 121. That rulebook covers the "domestic, flag, and supplemental operations" of every certificated carrier, budget or not. The difference you pay for is service: bags, seats, change fees and how the airline handles disruptions.

Is Frontier or Spirit cheaper now?

Spirit no longer sells tickets, so the comparison is gone. Frontier is the largest ultra-low-cost carrier in DOT's data, with 20,314 scheduled flights in August 2026 against Allegiant's 10,005. On our three routes Frontier's lowest nonstop fare was $44 to $80 on 4 November, and a bag bought at booking added $69.

Is Sun Country a budget airline, and who owns it?

Allegiant Travel Company owns it. The purchase closed on 13 May 2026, and Sun Country keeps its own brand, bookings and loyalty programme "in the near term". Allegiant says the two loyalty programmes will not combine "at this time", and Allways Rewards points can be redeemed only on "eligible Allegiant purchases". Book, change and check in through the airline that sold you the ticket.

What should I do if a budget airline cancels my flight?

The same US rules apply as on any airline: if the airline cancels and you decline the alternative, you are owed a refund of the fare, taxes and ancillary fees to your original form of payment (14 CFR 260.6 and 260.10). Start with what to do when a flight is cancelled, then claim the fare and any bag fees you paid.

Which budget airlines fly in Europe?

This page covers US airlines. In Europe the low-cost carriers most American visitors meet are Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air. Their cabin-bag limits are set in centimetres; our personal item size guide compares them.