The Way Away Traveler

Sun Country Airlines is a U.S.-based airline that has an interesting history. It was founded in 1982 in Minnesota, initially operating as a leisure-focused airline with scheduled flights to popular vacation destinations. #SunCountry #aviation #travel #lowcostairline #budgetairline #traveltips

The airline faced financial challenges in its early years, leading to bankruptcy in 2001. After reorganization, it emerged as a low-cost carrier, offering affordable flights to a mix of leisure and business destinations.

Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, Sun Country underwent several ownership changes, which impacted its operations and route network. Despite these challenges, the airline managed to maintain a loyal customer base with its unique service offerings and commitment to customer satisfaction.

In 2017, Sun Country was acquired by Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm. Under new ownership, the airline aimed to expand its fleet, modernize its operations, and grow its route network. This period of growth brought new destinations and increased competition in the leisure travel market.

Sun Country has a seasonal approach to its flight schedule, with a significant focus on serving leisure destinations during peak travel seasons.

SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES gets international attention at the 2023 Paris Air Show in Paris, France, after the SKYTRAX World’s Best Airlines Awards were announced.

In 2023, the aviation industry took notice that Sun Country Airlines means business when it comes to their reputation and customer service as an airline in an already competitive market. On June 20, 2023, the SKYTRAX World Airline Awards announced that Sun Country Airlines ranked sixth (6th) Best Airline in North America 2023, while the top spot went to Delta Airlines at #1, followed by Air Canada #2, United Airlines #3, Alaska Airlines #4, and Jet Blue Airlines at #5. To the shock and surprise to many in the aviation industry, Sun Country ranked higher than Southwest Airlines #7, Air Transat #8, WestJet #9, and American Airlines at #10.

SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES WINS BEST LOW-COST AIRLINE IN NORTH AMERICA 2023: Sun Country Airlines shocked the other low-cost airlines of North America by taking the #1 spot as the Best Low-Cost Airline in North America 2023. #2- Southwest Airlines, #3- Air Canada rouge, #4-Spirit Airlines, #5-Frontier Airlines, #6-Avelo Airlines, #7- Flair Airlines, #8-Swoop Airlines, #9-Viva Aerobus, and #10-Allegiant Air.

SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES WINS BEST LOW-COST AIRLINE IN THE UNITED STATES 2023: Sun Country Airlines pushed their way to the top of the low-cost airlines rankings in the United States to become the #1 Best Low-Cost Airlines in the United States 2023.

Of particular importance regarding the SKYTRAX World Airline Awards, according to the SKYTRAX website, “Whilst some Award winning airlines may not be the favorite of everyone, we remind our readers that Award winning airlines are voted for by customers. A key directive of the survey is for customers to make their own, personal choices as to which airlines they consider to be the best, underlining the brand as the Passenger’s Choice Awards.” You can view the complete 2023 SKYTRAX World Airline Awards here: https://www.worldairlineawards.com/

Impressively, Sun Country Airlines took home several other notable awards from the 2023 SKYTRAX World Airline Awards including:

• 7th Best Low-Cost Airline in the World
• 59th/100 World’s Top 100 Airlines 2023

I was not surprised of Sun Country Airlines success at the Paris Air Show when the SKYTRAX World’s Best Airlines Awards were announced in June 2023 since I had the opportunity on September 23, 2022 to fly Sun Country Airlines from Las Vegas, Nevada (LAS) to Dallas, Texas (DFW). I had no expectations of Sun Country Airlines when I booked my flight and when the time came for my flight, I was not disappointed. Of course, I have flown with several low-cost airlines the last several years, but to my surprise, the Sun Country experience was certainly different and overall quite impressive, especially for a low-cost airline. Rarely will you hear “complimentary” uttered by low-cost airline employees. However, Sun Country Airlines’ free offerings as a low-cost airline rival even some of the largest airline companies in North America.

For starters, Sun Country Airlines offered COMPLIMENTARY In-Flight WiFi, COMPLIMENTARY USB charging ports at seats, COMPLIMENTARY access to their onboard library of movies, shows, games and music that are accessible form your personal device. Most low-cost airlines do not even offer you free snacks or beverages during your flight, but Sun Country has flown to the top of the low-cost carrier rankings in my opinion, simply because of the complimentary amenities they offer as a low-cost airline. Oh, and did I mention, Sun Country Airlines had an entire selection of COMPLIMENTARY beverages that were available on my flight, including Caribou Coffee Brewed Coffee, Hot Tea, Apple Juice, Cranberry Juice, Orange Juice, Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale, Club Soda, and Tonic Water!

You can check out my full review of my Sun Country Flight Review at TheWayAwayTraveler YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFFmKOoQ8mkVefDORc2v1DA

What I paid Sun Country Airlines for Las Vegas, Nevada to Dallas, Texas flight:

When I travel on low-cost airlines for flight reviews I share on social media sites such as YouTube, I generally do not check a luggage bag or even bring a carry-on bag. I fly on low-cost airlines with only a personal item that can fit underneath the seat in front of me and my flight on Sun Country Airlines was no different. With that said, low-cost airlines do not make their money strictly on the low-priced seats they advertise and luggage fees are best way for low-cost airlines to make a profit. If you book a Sun Country flight and you want to check a bag (meaning, the airline takes your bag and places it underneath the plane for the duration of the flight and they return it to you upon your arrival at your destination), you will be asked to pay $40 generally for a checked bag IF you paid for the baggage when you booked your flight on SunCountry.com or during online check-in prior to your flight. If you wait until the day of your flight and arrive at the airport wanting to check your luggage, then you will be asked to pay approximately $50.00 per bag. Keep in mind that the $50.00 is per bag and per one-way ticket. So, if you have a roundtrip ticket on Sun Country, you will be asked to pay a total of $100.00 for your checked bag if you did not previously purchase while booking or during online check-in.

With that said, I paid Sun Country Airlines $32.60 for a one-way flight from Las Vegas, Nevada to Dallas, Texas. Included in my $32.60 airfare is the guarantee of a seat on their airplane. However, with the base fare of $32.60, there is no guarantee of where you will have that seat on their aircraft. When I fly airlines for flight reviews, I like to have the window seat to film footage of the departure airport and aerial footage of the arrival. To that end, I did pay an additional $17.00 to Sun Country Airlines to secure my window seat when I made my booking. (I personally prefer to know exactly where I will be seated on my flights)

So, for the GRAND TOTAL of $49.60, I flew Sun Country Airlines with a window seat and no carry-on or checked luggage from Las Vegas, Nevada to Dallas, Texas.

My advice and recommendations to Sun Country Airlines:

Sun Country Airlines should be proud of their recent international accomplishments and they continue to evolve and adapt to changes in the aviation industry. However, there a few areas of improvement that I would recommend based on my Sun Country Airlines experience and my experiences with other low-cost airlines.

• Clean your planes! Come on now, it is obvious when airplanes are not cleaned and my experience clearly showed an inattention to obvious cleanliness deficiencies. You know we are going to point this out on flight reviews!
• I am sure this has been discussed at the upper management levels and I am aware that one way to keep large costs down is to not have an app for your airline. But, man are they helpful and frequently depended on by us as customers. With that said, I would rather Sun Country Airlines continue with the complimentary amenities you currently offer versus the app if we can’t have them both! Again, I am sure this has been addressed numerous times at Sun Country.
• A particular point of attention that I would direct Sun Country to evaluate is the Customer Service/Ticket Agent/Gate Agent uniform appearance. I did not address this in my YouTube review of my Sun Country flight due to the fact that the customer service was in fact excellent and I had no issues and certainly did not want to offend a hard working and professional employee working on behalf of Sun Country. However, the unprofessional appearance of worn out polo shirts for gate agents, customer service agents, and ticket agents is not working or uniform in application. I was actually shocked at how unprofessional and frankly, unkept the employees at my Sun Country airlines experience was when I was leaving Las Vegas. Perhaps stick to one or two variations of uniforms and enforce it. The employees were great and I mean absolutely no disrespect to them, they just need something much more professional to represent your Sun Country Airline brand to the fullest potential.

However, those are just suggestions obviously, and I appreciate how well Sun Country Airlines performed on my particular flight experience from Las Vegas, Nevada to Dallas, Texas in September 2022. I look forward to seeing how much Sun Country Airlines continues to improve and elevate the low-cost airline experience.