Pantagraph.com | Money | AirTran to offer direct flights from Bloomington to Vegas

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Time 2 Fly @ BMI wrote on Apr 19, 2007 11:32 AM:

" Okay Dave'o, I was off a few seats :) But even if you yourself were to choose between flying Airtran or Allegiant you would fly Airtran (planes, routes, ammenities = a better airline, no contest). PIA is out of the way for everyone (even peorians), its old, there is no service advantages (airlines or destinations), generally higher fares, and what international tag are you talking about! What did you guys put a Chinese restuarant in the terminal- LOL! PIA neglects the communities of Champaign/Urbana which has poor service and Decatur which has NO service. There are over 600k people in central Illinois Dave-o, over half of which are over an hour + from Peoria. Simple inevitability, BMI/CIRA is going to continue to expand to serve the ENTIRE downstate area, more convenience + lower fares + better service = better airport. "

LAS = New Focus City? wrote on Apr 16, 2007 10:33 AM:

" Looks to me that AirTran is making Vegas a 'focus city' and will have plenty of connections. AirTran is weak in the West, but is expanding rapidly there..Vegas flights from BMI will go down about 60-100 bucks!..and on nice new 737s. Hopefully other West Coast destinations will be less expensive as well! "

David P. Jordan wrote on Apr 15, 2007 7:02 PM:

" Time To Fly @ BMI! wrote "Airtran will fly larger, brand new, and more flier-friendly Boeing 737-700's instead of the aging MD-83 Allegiant uses." Not true, Allegiant Air's MD-83's have 150 seats while AirTran's 737-700's have 137. Age doesn't matter as long as the aircraft are properly maintained. Peoria's airport may soon adopt "international" in its airport's name, and also construct a new, modern terminal building. New flights and destination(s) are expected to be announced in the coming months. CIRA's weakness is that its success depends on poor air service at Peoria, Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, etc., but should that change (and it has), CIRA's growth is stunted. Sure, CIRA handled more passengers than ever in 2006, but that was mainly due to the battle between AirTran and Delta, resulting in ultra low fares. Peoria will probably handle more passengers in 2007 than CIRA. "

Time To Fly @ BMI! wrote on Apr 13, 2007 10:46 PM:

" Airtran is already a 'partner' with Frontier, so with the success they've had at BMI, a direct flight to Denver should be pretty easy to 'land'. Airtran will fly larger, brand new, and more flier-friendly Boeing 737-700's instead of the aging MD-83 Allegiant uses. Also, Airtran customers in places like Orlando may be routed through BMI to Las Vegas and that will be good for local $. Airtran also has a huge network and who knows, maybe they'll add a flight from BMI to BWI. Besides, CIRA should serve ALL flights for Springfield, Peoria, Champ'bana, and Decatur. It has the best location, facility and access- and together we can all leverage more direct flights in all directions, possibly international. Third, Las Vegas DOES has churches- drive-thru style! "

Local wrote on Apr 12, 2007 9:15 PM:

" Thank you Air Tran, love flying out of BLM. "

Destinations wrote on Apr 12, 2007 7:41 PM:

" I would like to see a few western destinations but just getting flights to Denver would be a start. I would also like to propose that AirTran look into direct flights to LaGuardia rather than traipsing through Atlanta. I would go to New York City several times a year if I could get direct flights. "

Me too wrote on Apr 12, 2007 5:33 PM:

" I'd rather have nonstop service to Phoenix. However, it might not be too popular a destination in July. "

AirTran benefit wrote on Apr 12, 2007 3:05 PM:

" AirTran benefits Central Illinois travellers even if they fly a different airline. AirTran's fares are low and hold down other airlines' fares. You can sometimes fly out of CIRA connecting through Chicago to someplace like LAX cheaper than driving to Chicago and taking the same flight to LAX. If AirTran ever left here, you'd see fares rise. "

Vegas wrote on Apr 12, 2007 2:18 PM:

" This is a good west coast connecting hub. Vegas is a hub for Southwest and America West. Use any travel site, and you will be able to book connecting flights out of vegas to anywhere in the west. Airtran may not have interline agreements with other airlines... but you could still get to LA with one easy connection. Southwest and America West (Now US Air) have 20+ flights a day to the LA area from Vegas. You could surely find a connection. I do this all of the time. One way fares are not that far off from round trip discount, and in many cases.. I have gotten a cheaper ticket booking one way on multiple airlines. "

ECON 101 wrote on Apr 12, 2007 1:19 PM:

" I can't believe some of these posts...I fly here or there 3 times a year so they should make a flight to this or that destination. You have to FILL planes to make money, and they WILL fill the Vegas flights. They aren't going to book direct flights from Bloomington to Encino because your aunt Clara lives there. "

Tripper wrote on Apr 12, 2007 1:17 PM:

" THis is all good and I am a fan of AirTran. But I would also like to see something going to the East Coast from CIRA. "

Mow the grass today or...... wrote on Apr 12, 2007 10:31 AM:

" I just looked on Orbitz and Airtran's sites and the return flighg comes back at 4:30pm. That's not enough time for me to win big, see a "show" (heh), eat at the Taco Bell on LV Blvd., and return home the same day. They should move the return flight back a few hours. "

Good wrote on Apr 12, 2007 9:58 AM:

" You B/N folks should really support Airtran. They have brought affordable travel to BMI. Remember when you HAD to fly to a big hub, and pay 3 times what you pay now for a ticket. Use it or lose it! Good job Airtran. "

Phoenix wrote on Apr 12, 2007 8:14 AM:

" Sure would like a direct flight to Phoenix as I go there 3-4 times a year. Seams like Vegas is a good start, but competing against Peoria, it seams more logical to offer different flights so the airports can help the area by offering more choices versus the same duplicate destinations. I guess I'll have to wait longer, but one of these days the airlines will realize that these mid market airports can really pick up seats by offering more direct flights out west. "

Coors Light and Cheetos wrote on Apr 12, 2007 7:50 AM:

" Jerry Fallwell is rumored to be promoting this new service by offering a sermon to the first class section of the first Vegas-bound flight! All you righteous at Calvary......yee haw! "

Now they do that!! wrote on Apr 12, 2007 7:45 AM:

" I recently got married out in Vegas. We booked through Allegiant. I think, in total, we had 21 people that flew out for the wedding. I have to say that the flights were good times. However, service going out wasn't great. And we paid a premium price, because they said it was Spring Break time. Hmm. I don't see Vegas as the hot spring break location. In addition, they had a book that had all this stuff on it, as far as food and gifts. However, they were out of everything. I think it would be great to have something closer to our home, and hopefully an airline with better service. Bring it on Bloomington. But make sure the customers can afford it. "

MJ to "Hey MJ" and MHD wrote on Apr 12, 2007 7:39 AM:

" "What's so wrong with AirTran" is that none of the delays were weather related, but competency-related. During one eight-hour delay, an AirTran supervisor (not just a gate agent) lied to me. If "AirTran rocks," I certainly didn't see it. I'd have to have rocks in my head to fly them again. And to be ranked behind JetBlue, well, I hope you enjoy your hours parked on the tarmac at JFK! No airline is perfect, but I've flown American, United, Northwest and even USAirways, and I'd take ANY of them over AirTrash. "

Elvis wrote on Apr 12, 2007 6:44 AM:

" I really love Las Vegas(If you don't want to sound like a visitor, it is Las Vegas), this opens up many different avenues even to other places in the west, a round trip flight from Las Vegas to Phoenix is about $129, and even if you spend a couple hours in Las Vegas' airport which has shops and food courts to match no other...hopefully next CIRA will get direct flights to Phoenix, Denver, and Salt Lake City....anyone that wants to go to California needs their head examined...that is the place with sin and soon will drop off into the ocean, that is why I bought a piece of land in Nevada along the CA border, soon I will have ocean front property "

Vegas bound wrote on Apr 12, 2007 5:09 AM:

" I've tried to book Allegiant from Peoria to Las Vegas on its website, but the prices add up fast, and we found it cheaper to fly American from Bloomington via Chicago. Even with the change in planes, it was just as fast as driving 50 minutes to Peoria's airport. Depending on the day, Allegiant wanted from $338 to $458 each, round trip, and American was $289. On Allegiant's website, I got a calendar offering $109 fares (each way) for certain days, but when I clicked on a $109 day, I got a $229 fare. Plus, Allegiant wanted an extra charge for seat reservations so we could sit together, and tried to sell me $24 airport transfer tickets that are cheaper when you arrive in Vegas. I think that AirTran is a much classier airline, and this is great news. "

ORANGE COUNTY, CA :-) wrote on Apr 12, 2007 3:32 AM:

" I am from Orange County and that would be a great competition with United and American and Delta since they all fly to Orange County too... "

Wakeup wrote on Apr 12, 2007 12:59 AM:

" Peoria airport has free parking like Bloomington. "

pool boy wrote on Apr 11, 2007 10:27 PM:

" Great news! Phoenix non-stop would be even greater. "

Nice wrote on Apr 11, 2007 10:05 PM:

" Yipeeeeeeee! I'm all over that flight. I hope they keep working on Denver too though but I'll take Vegas for now :) "

Denver Hub??? wrote on Apr 11, 2007 9:45 PM:

" Denver is the big hub! Come on Bloomington Airport get with it!!!! "

For The Record wrote on Apr 11, 2007 9:44 PM:

" AirTran Airways ranked third in the annual Airline Quality Rating report released April 02,2007. "

Hey Born Again wrote on Apr 11, 2007 9:34 PM:

" Sin is fun.....you only live ONCE!!!!! Viva Las Vegas! "

Peoria Fan wrote on Apr 11, 2007 9:24 PM:

" Allegiant is much more competitive than AirTran in the LAs Vegas market. I am sure Allegiant will cut prices way below AirTran. By the way, you will never get a full package price with hotel cheaper than with Allegiant. I see that it leaves BMI at 7am . PIA's flight leaves at 8:40 am... much better. Plus Allegiant has 8 flights/week including 2 on Thurs/Sun starting 6/14. "

Thanks wrote on Apr 11, 2007 9:04 PM:

" At least now I'll be able to go to a casino and bar and smoke a cigarette without worrying about some better than thou individual wanting to report me. "

Flyer wrote on Apr 11, 2007 9:03 PM:

" I believe that CIRA is still looking for a westbound carrier, probably to DEN. LAS flights 4 days a week won't help the business traveler nor someone who wants to go on to the Northwest, Arizona or California. LAS is more of a final destination than a connecting hub. "

Musical History wrote on Apr 11, 2007 8:50 PM:

" I guess I'm the only one that got the Gram Parsons reference. "

Regular wrote on Apr 11, 2007 7:51 PM:

" As a regular Phoenix traveler, since a westbound flight is not available from Bloomington, you typically have to go to Chicago or St. Louis to get a non-stop. I would say 95% to 98% of the time, the airline (any of them) have over-booked the flight, and beg for passengers to relinquish their seats. Now why can't our guy from Bloomington's CIRA figure this out, and fill a destination need & major hub for connections to other westbound cities? No, we can't get what nobody else has(can you say P-R-O-F-I-T), we have to get something to compete! This is not brain surgery. "

Hey MJ wrote on Apr 11, 2007 7:10 PM:

" What's so wrong with AirTran? I have flown extensively on several airlines and compared to United, Northwest, Delta, etc. AirTran rocks! They were always on-time with my flights (except for weather issues, which I can't blame them) and never once have I had a luggage problem. I think they are one of the best airlines I have ever flown on. "

Vegas Babe wrote on Apr 11, 2007 6:53 PM:

" More...Bettter...Faster - I am all about that!!!! "

NOT A WASTELAND wrote on Apr 11, 2007 6:20 PM:

" Have you not been to Vegas Moral Wasteland? There is so much more there to do. You are within driving distance to the grand canyon, hoover dam, phoenix,scotsdale. You can do TONS of things , I went last year for 10 days and never gambled a penny, smoked or drank. So please explain to me how you think that all of Vegas is a moral sin. I saw TONS of families there having a great time. It actually is a pretty cheap vacation. "

To GRam Parsons and moral Wasteland wrote on Apr 11, 2007 5:40 PM:

" Right on it's for sinners...I'll be there Friday :) "

Another one! wrote on Apr 11, 2007 5:01 PM:

" How about Bloomington to California for that low fare, it's not that much farther!!! "

to: Gram Parsons AND las vegas is a moral wasteland wrote on Apr 11, 2007 4:57 PM:

" get off your drugs you are up tight and ate up. just what we need a bible thumper gripping about the words a writer used. "

That is crazy wrote on Apr 11, 2007 4:48 PM:

" Hey, Gram Parsons- lighten up! You must have nothing good going on in your life. "

To: las vegas is a moral wasteland wrote on Apr 11, 2007 4:46 PM:

" Nobody's gonna force you onto an airplane to Las Vegas. Just because you don't want to go doesn't mean that everybody else shares your views. "

MHD wrote on Apr 11, 2007 4:43 PM:

" AirTran is a first rate airline ranked number 3 only below jetblue and hawiian. For the record if you are stuck because of anything other than weather AirTran can and will put you on other airlines. It is their discretion and there has to be open flights on other airlines. "

Gram Parsons AND las vegas is a moral wasteland wrote on Apr 11, 2007 4:31 PM:

" Why do you think it's such a sinful place when we live in a sinful world? My husband lived there all his life until he came out here and I lived there 5 years. As a born again Christian there are a lot of True Believers in Christ out there. Yeah there's places to go and see that don't honor God and are sinful in nature but that's no different than here. And visa versa, there are more Christ like things to do out there than here so what's your concern? Vegas is a LOT larger than Bloomington Normal area. Romans 3:10 As it is written there is no one righteous, not even one. Thank God for his Grace and mercy dying on the cross for our sins. "

a business decision wrote on Apr 11, 2007 4:03 PM:

" Allegiant flies full planes to Vegas. I would Prefer a Phoenix or LA flight also, but if I'm Air tran, I could not ignore the demand for Vegas. How about a Nashville flight? "

To Curious wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:51 PM:

" IT SAID "AirTran Airways announced Wednesday it will offer nonstop service from the Central Illinois Regional Airport to Las Vegas four days a week beginning Aug. 15." Maybe thats why the price is more RIGHT now "

MJ wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:48 PM:

" Too bad it's AirTran. I would have hoped for a first-rate airline instead of this third-rate one. One of the major problems with AirTran is that they don't have reciprocal agreements with other carriers so that, if they have a problem, they can transfer you to another airline. You're stuck with them and with the long waits they generate. I've flown them three times, and will never do it again. "

To Curious and ESB wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:45 PM:

" I have a printed page in front of me from the website, FLight 727 outbound and flight 728 have Web Specials at $109. ESB you are so right I am making plans to Vegas as well, Airtran has been good to this community and my family so I am booking too. To I thought...just fly on from Vegas on Allegiant to Phoenix...oh yeah I guess you don't want to support your local airport, wow what a candy a## "

FL wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:38 PM:

" I think it's great. We often go to LAS to visit family and it gets annoying that I have to either connect or go to Peoria for the direct flight. The price is $ 238.00 for a round trip/nonstop ticket on certain days, this is actually better than Allegiants prices at times. This is huge for CIRA and awesome for us....... We deserve some new fresh flights from here. Go CIRA get some more we can handle the non-stops. GREAT "

YES!!!!! wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:33 PM:

" I hope they'll have great packages like Allegiant has. What a great boost to BMI. It's nice to see AirTran has fended off Delta nicely. I'll never fly Delta but I L-O-V-E AirTran:-) "

to curious wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:28 PM:

" you have to find the days and dates that the direct flight flys on...the 'normal' flight that connects in ATL is still $167...the $109 is a web special and won't likely last long, although to compete with Allegiant you'll have to keep normal prices low "

To Curious wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:28 PM:

" If you pick the right day, you will see $109 web specials. "

las vegas is a moral wasteland wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:27 PM:

" Great, so now we can fly all the sinners directly into the mouth of hell. Gambling, prostitution, all night bars? These are not things of virtue nor should they be celebrated. "

Gram Parsons says wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:26 PM:

" This old town's filled with sin.. It'll swallow you in.. If you've got Some money to burnnn..... "

finally wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:12 PM:

" let it begin!!!! "

to i thought wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:01 PM:

" waaaa!!! "

Yeah! wrote on Apr 11, 2007 3:00 PM:

" This is the best news I've read in a long time! "

Curious wrote on Apr 11, 2007 2:58 PM:

" If you go to Airtran and look up prices the cheapest I see is $167 one way....where are the $109 ones? "

ESB wrote on Apr 11, 2007 2:56 PM:

" It's about time! AirTran has surely been a friend to the Bloomington-Normal & Central Illinois travelling public. I am already making plans to head to Vegas!! "

Great! wrote on Apr 11, 2007 2:37 PM:

" Faster, cheaper, easier way to get to Vegas and win $! I'm ready. "

i thought wrote on Apr 11, 2007 2:23 PM:

" I thought they were discussing direct flights to Phoenix? I would rather them add something different. Rockford and Peoria both have Vegas flights. Rockford also has Denver. Would've been nice to have another option from a smaller more local airport without the parking prices and the traffic in Chicago and Peoria. "

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