7 Low-Cost Airlines You Should AVOID at All Costs (And 2 That Are ACTUALLY Worth It)

7 Budget Airlines to AVOID in the US (And the 2 That Are Actually Worth It) You booked a cheap flight and thought you got a deal. But by the time you reached the gate, you owed more in fees than your ticket cost. That is how budget airlines work in the US today, and most travelers find out the hard way. This video breaks down the worst budget airlines in America, ranked by hidden fees, cancellations, complaints, and real passenger risk, so you know exactly which airlines to avoid before you book your next flight. Are budget airlines in the US worth it? The short answer depends entirely on which airline you choose and what you are not being told at checkout. Frontier Airlines, the worst budget airline still operating in the US, now pulls 62% of its total revenue from ancillary charges, meaning fees for bags, seats, and basic services outweigh the ticket price itself. Carry-on fees on Frontier can reach $99 at the gate, and Senate investigations confirmed that gate agents earn a $10 commission for every bag they flag. That is not a policy. That is an incentive system designed to take money from passengers. Spirit Airlines, once the face of ultra-low-cost flying in America, ceased all operations in May 2026 after two Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings and $2.76 billion in losses. Passengers holding valid tickets were left without guaranteed rebooking or automatic refunds. That is the real risk behind the cheapest ticket on the screen. What are the hidden fees on budget airlines? Allegiant Air charges a $13 fee just to search for tickets on its own website. American Airlines basic economy can trigger change fees as high as $400. Southwest Airlines, the last US carrier to offer free checked bags, ended that policy in May 2025 after 54 years, introducing $35 for the first bag and $45 for the second. Between 2018 and 2023, US airlines collected $12.4 billion in seat selection fees alone, a figure documented by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. A federal transparency rule that would have required airlines to show all-in pricing before purchase was blocked by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in January 2025. Without that protection, travelers are left piecing together the real cost of a flight after they have already committed to buying. Which budget airlines are actually safe in the US? Two carriers stand out. Avelo Airlines recorded 83.9% on-time performance in 2024 with zero cancellations for the entire year, the best reliability numbers of any US budget carrier. Breeze Airways offers direct routes between midsize cities with transparent pricing that matches what you actually pay at checkout, and received DOT approval for international expansion in 2025. Is JetBlue a good airline? In 2024, JetBlue ranked third highest in complaints filed with the Department of Transportation and hit a 4.5% cancellation rate in August of that year, the worst single-month figure among major US carriers during that period. The branding promises more than the operation delivers. What happened to Spirit Airlines? Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2024, again in August 2025, and shut down permanently on May 2nd, 2026, leaving thousands of passengers stranded with tickets and no planes. Are Frontier Airlines fees really that bad? Frontier became the first US carrier ever to exceed 60% ancillary revenue in a single year, meaning more than half its income comes from fees, not flights. That number alone tells you what the business model actually is. 00:00 Intro 00:28 7 | Avelo Airlines. 01:17 6 | American Airlines basic economy. 02:15 5 | Southwest Airlines. 03:22 4 | Allegiant Air. 04:28 3 | JetBlue Airways. 05:30 2 | Frontier Airlines. 06:43 1 | Spirit Airlines. 08:06 Why the system keeps winning. 09:37 The 2 airlines that actually work. Sources: U.S. DOT Air Travel Consumer Reports U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations IdeaWorksCompany Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue 2025 U.S. PIRG Education Fund J.D. Power 2025 North America Airline Satisfaction Study Aviation Week