Allegiant Air is a relatively young airline with its first flight commencing October 1999. Allegiant operates with an Ultra Low Cost Carrier Model (ULCC). This model is common in the United States with Frontier, Spirit and recently Sun Country adopting the model. In essence the cheap base fare is just that, a base fare. There are addon fees for things such as checked and carryon bags, seat selection and snack selections. Allegiant has some exciting growth and fleet expansions planned for 2024. To see what Allegiant’s main economy product is like, it will be reviewed from Cincinnati (CVG) to Providence (PVD).
Booking Process
Booking is accomplished by visiting Allegiant Air’s website. The booking process is straightforward. As with many other ULCCs Allegiant Air charges for bags and seat selection. There are different bundles that can be selected, Allegiant basic, Allegiant bonus and Allegiant total. With Allegiant total items such as seat selection and checked bags are bundled together in the addon. There is also an option to pay a la carte.
Ground Experience
Cincinnati is an aircraft and crew base for Allegiant. Ticketing counters are located in the main terminal departures level. As there are no kiosks, bag drop is done at the full service counters. Lines are long so its best to allot extra time to drop off bags. As this is only a day trip no bags were checked. After clearing security the departure boards indicated the dreaded orange font showing a revised departure time. The new departure time moved four hours later. No Allegiant gate agents were in the gate area or provided any explanation to the delay. Tracking the inbound aircraft it appeared that a mechanical issue delayed the original aircraft. Ground staff brought a snack cart out in an attempt to smoothen things out with the delay.
First Impressions
Delay issues aside it’s time to hop aboard the aircraft five hours after the scheduled departure time. Allegiant configures their Airbus A320 with 177 seats with 30 inches of seat pitch. The seats are in a dark blue color scheme featuring a small tray table and litterateur pocket. The aircraft is in clean shape and working order for this evenings flight. During the boarding process cabin crew were friendly and apologetic about the five hour delay.
Inflight Experience
After takeoff the crew began their inflight service. Allegiant Air has a small inflight magazine highlighting various Allegiant Air destinations. Near the back of the magazine is a menu outlining the buy on board snacks and beverages. Allegiant offers the option to purchase items al la carte or in bundles. For tonight’s one hour twenty minute flight a snack box was purchased. Snack box runs approximately $13.00. Payment is completed by credit card only. Currently, Allegiant aircraft do not feature Wi-Fi nor power outlets. If booking a longer flight it’s best to charge devices ahead of time.
Final Approach
Allegiant Air has some shortfalls in some areas yet is fine in others. To start, the five hour delay did not bring the experience to a great start. While allegiant staff set up a snack area, there were no gate agents at the podium to answer any questions. Following the flight, Allegiant customer representatives emailed each passenger a $50 flight credit. As expected with a ULCC airline Allegiant’s seats were bare bones. The seats were a bit more comfortable than Frontier Airlines similar product. The biggest issue with the seats however were the lack of a full tray table. It will only fit a small tablet, laptops will not fit. As for the crew, they were apologetic about the delays and were frequently to in the cabin collecting trash and serve buy on board items. Allegiant is rather basic yet gets the job done getting passengers from point A to point B at fairly low prices.