Allegiant Airline Review + Our Trip to San Francisco

It's time for our Allegiant Airline review. After reading the negative comments, it was time to share my opinion. I also have done a full Provo airport review, the small airport in Utah we flew out of.

Starting our Allegiant airline review journey

Christmas morning was a wonderful morning. The kids opened their gifts and found that they were going to go to San Francisco this winter!

They were thrilled and more than a little nervous when they found they would be flying a plane for the first time.

Two weeks after Christmas and the day arrived that we were leaving for San Francisco.

The fog was extra thick at the little airport we flew out of and I knew that the flight would be delayed. However I never thought that our delay would be handled in this manner...

Why choose Allegiant airlines?

We chose to fly through Allegiant Airline. A small airline, Allegiant began it's humble roots fifteen years ago. They wanted to offer more accessible, affordable flights through smaller airports.

Choosing Allegiant was a little selfish on my part. I didn't want to deal with airport construction and hauling three young kids through the larger airport in Salt Lake City. I didn't want to deal with long term parking, parking shuttles and juggling luggage and kids. So I decided to go with a smaller airport.

The day of our flight the airplane coming in was delayed for fog. They diverted the flight to Mesa Arizona. The fog burned off but the expected plane that we were told was going to come in later that afternoon did not. They cancelled the flight entirely that day.

In an effort to get out of town that day and salvage our weekend I cashed out my husband's Southwest points. I got us all tickets out of the larger airport up north. We never even got to fly out with Allegiant! And I had to get us taxis since we still had to fly back into the smaller airport on our way home.

Coming home from Oakland our Allegiant Airlines flight was delayed by two hours. when we landed we had to sit on the runway for twenty minutes while we waited for the other plane to load and take off. And then we had to find a taxi to take us home from the airport.

What was our Allegiant airline review rating?

Here are our honest thoughts on Allegiant airlines:

Pros:

• Smaller airports: Having accessibility to fly out of smaller airports is a bonus. had our flight worked out as planned, it would've been very convienent to fly in and out of the airport without having to deal with higher traffic airports.
• Friendly staff: We found the on ground staff to be very friendly and try their best to accomodate us and my children when we were delayed. They brought water and snacks for the kids and anyone with medical needs like diabetes. The staff did a great job of updating on flight delays. The staff came on several times (every fifteen minutes) to let us know where the flight was in the air.
• No hassle on the luggage: Each of us packed a medium to large sized backpack and it fit comfortably under our seats in front of us. The staff was great to gate check our stroller and carseat. The staff was also great to mention that if there was room in the overhead compartments we could place our jackets and coats up there. Free of charge.

A few more Positive Allegiant airline thoughts:

• We sat together:The staff also did a great job of trying their best to get us seats together. We got economy seating on the return flight home for no extra cost. We opted to not pay for the seating assignment prices as recommended by others. They also made sure that our littlest one could get a window seat so for her first flight she could look out the window.
• They waived fees: Both times they waived the fee for the boarding pass when I physically showed them that I couldn't get the boarding passes to print via their app.
• Prices for on board refreshments are decent. I've heard a lot of complaints about the prices charged for on board refreshments. But we felt that the staff treated us fine when we opted to bring on our own food and drinks. We found the offerings and prices to be similar to other airlines and some in flight snacks were less than the airport offered them.
• The pilots were super nice: We had no issues with the pilots. They loved the kids and did a great job welcoming us and keeping us informed during the flight. They were apologetic about the delays and made sure that they got us in the air as soon as possible.

Cons of Flying with Allegiant Airline+

• Budget airline: Allegiant Airlines experiences a lot of trouble when they have delays. When that happens they don't have a vast supply of planes and pilots waiting to come to the rescue like the larger airlines. Our only options to fly out of our smaller airport are budget airlines that often experience massive delays. The low cost alone for these airlines doesn't draw me to drive an extra 30 minutes. This is because by the time I pay for luggage and my seat, it's only a little bit of a savings.
• Customer (phone) service is ridiculous! To ask one question, it took me 40 minutes the first time. 50 minutes the second time. And close to an hour the third time.
• The way they handle cancelled flights is ridiculous. I've had plenty of cancelled flights in my day. So has my husband. But Allegiant Airline cancellation policy is also considered one of the worst of all the airlines.

Tips and Tricks for flying Allegiant

• Realize they are behind the times. Allegiant struggles to keep up with the big carriers. Their mentality is slower, their apps are slower and their mindset is just slower. It's best to take them when you have some flexibility in your schedule to account for delays or cancellations.
• Pack light. The best piece of advice we were given is to pack a backpack so you don't have to pay extra.
• Grab food ahead of time. I grabbed extra snacks, water bottles and lunch at the airport before we got on the plane so we had plenty of options for delays.
• Don't pay for your seat unless you are on a longer flight. We were given the advice to wait until we got to the aiport to assign seating. This saved us a lot of money and they were able to get us all sit together or relatively close together.
• Be flexible. Realize that delays, cancelled flights and flying in and out of a smaller airport may cause you need to be flexible. Warn your rides, warn your dog boarding facility, warn your taxi driver. Warn your family and warn your employer that you may not make it back by the dates and times promised.

Who should not fly Allegiant Airlines?

• Don't fly if your schedule times are tight: If you are looking for a quick weekend getaway, go with a more reliable airline. `
• Business travelers: It's great that Allegiant services smaller airports that may be close to where you will be working. More than a few times my husband has been tempted to fly with them. Having to drive into a large aiport and then drive several hours to his work destination is tough. With the delays I had the chance to talk to some Allegiant business flyers. They admitted that the perks for business members were few and they felt it ended up costing their business more money in delays and cancelled flights overall.

Will I fly with Allegiant again?

I give Allegiant arlines a 2.5 out of 5. It was okay, but I'm not giving up my frequent flyer miles with other airlines anytime soon.

We were not compensated from Allegiant for our review. (In fact, they owe us money). We did feel that our experience and the reviews that we read warranted our own write up of our experience to allow our readers knowledge of the airline.