So Allegiant Airlines is an ultra low cost carrier (ULCC). Similar to Spirit and Frontier here in the United States and a variety of ULCCs abroad like Ryanair, WOW Air, etc. I’m familiar with the different schemes they have for adding / tricking you with extra fees for anything from seat selection, to meals, to bags, etc. I think they have a space in any frequent traveler’s arsenal as an option, and I have no problem flying them if it makes sense.
(SEE ALSO: Calling experts on flying Frontier as a family?)
Seat selection on Allegiant
Allegiant of course charges you if you want to pick your seat. While I was not quite as bold as I was a few weeks ago flying Frontier (results of my risky Frontier seat experiment still inconclusive), I still have no interest in paying extra for a seat assignment. I am flying from Austin to Cincinnati with my 2 older boys, and so at the end of the day, if they stick us in 3 middle seats randomly throughout the plane, that’s fine. Maybe I’ll get some peace and quiet 🙂
I was out driving around randomly at the 24 hour mark to check in, and cell phone coverage was spotty. So I was able to periodically check the seat map, which showed something like this
Plenty of seats available but I couldn’t check in because I needed / wanted to add my son’s Known Traveler Number so he’d get TSA Pre. I only had that info on my laptop so figured I’d wait till we got into the hotel
When we got into the hotel, I went to check in and noticed that they had already put us into seats (I’d heard that you can’t really check for seats – as soon as you go to the page within 24 hours then Allegiant will auto assign you a seat if you don’t pay for one.
Okay – not a big problem. We’re near each other and at the end of the day, I assume whoever is sitting in 24E (the middle) would happily change out for my 24C aisle seat. But when I went to check in, I got the following error
HELLO?!?!? YOU are the ones that put me there? Why would Allegiant assign our party invalid seats? And then they would not let me pick a seat without paying!
I am hopeful that they will fix things up if I call / show up at the airport but that’s still pretty annoying. So until further information, I am declaring Allegiant’s the world’s dumbest airline! 🙂
Ever run into this problem on Allegiant?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
The only dumb person is someone who would actually fly on an airline who’s own pilots wouldn’t advise their friends and family to travel.
How about the person who calls someone else dumb and can’t use proper grammar?
Careful! You might end up having your family outing in Row 29.
Yup that’s where we ended up 🙂
I love the rear of the aircraft! Nothing like feeling your seat drop out from under ya..
You’re so dumb trying to save money. I personally just shell out without giving it a second thought. No LCCs for me.
Thanks for sharing your opinion!
I actually flew Allegiant Airlines on August 5th with my family from St Louis to Fort Lauderdale we purchased my 22 month old granddaughter a ticket so she had her own seat when we got on the new aircraft my wife seat disappeared as she was in row C and the only way she was going to sit down was if she sat in my granddaughter seat which we had paid for ……so in essence Allegiant did not allow my granddaughter to use the seat we had paid for we sent in the complaint middle of August and we just got a reply today they think we’re talking about seat assignments no we’re not talking about seat assignments we’re talking about the original ticket booked for our granddaughter ……I haven’t heard back from them it’ll probably be another 7 or 8 weeks this is not customer service
Just to clarify the A320 That was supposed to service the flight was replaced with a MD-80 which did not have a row C
My wife and I just flew on Allegiant for the first time and loved it. Efficient and inexpensive.
Doesn’t surprise me at all!
After the 5+ hour delay leaving FLL to ABE (they gave our plane to another route and brought in another plane from Orlando – mechanical issue) arriving just as ABE closes for the evening, I will NOT be flying Allegiant unless it’s too good of a deal to pass up! Planes were very old too!
I’d rather fly out of MIA on American and pay a little more; I know I’ll get there and they have free bags!
I’ve flown one segment with them. Besides the 2.5 hour delay, they really weren’t that bad.
I should also mention my mother-in-law has a friend who is completely embarrassed that she works for the company.
How old is your son who you wanted to add his KTN to the itinerary?
15. My 12 year old got PreCheck through my PreCheck. I actually forgot to put my 15 y/o’s KTN on the reservation but he got Precheck anyways. In the end it didn’t matter as we went through the South terminal at AUS which has no precheck line
This is dumb and a bit of bait and switch sort of. When i fly carriers like this i build in the cost of the seat selection, checked bag etc. And compare it to others. I hate paying to select seats but I’d rather pick and get what i want than be at the mercy of the airline IT system. But burns me up is having to pay to pick seats on non-LCC carriers like BA.