Allegiant Air… Never again!

I have never before seen such a poorly managed airline. My first experience with flying Allegiant Air will be my last (unless I have all day to spend in the airport for a 2 hour direct flight).

First, my flight outgoing from Knoxville, TN to Orlando, FL was delayed an hour and a half waiting on a plane. Then, one week later my return flight was delayed two and a half hours because they didn’t have enough planes to get everyone waiting in the airport to their destinations. The gate agent came over the microphone and announced that our plane had been given to another flight headed for North Carolina, because they were delayed waiting on a plane. Long story short, we watched our plane take-off for North Carolina while we waited on it to return to pick us up and fly us back to Knoxville.

Apparently, I’m not alone in my experience with Allegiant. While waiting in the airport, I had a chance to do a little Google-ing on Allegiant Air… I should have done this before I booked the flight… There are numerous websites listing more poor than good customer reviews, most of which are concerned with late flights waiting on aircraft. The only positive things given by “happy customers” are the prices and the fact the flights are direct flights. Direct flights yes... But I don’t know if they are any shorter due to the delays associated with not having enough planes to meet their commitments to their booked customers.

And if you like the prices… How do you like all the hidden fees? But that’s another story.