What you’re about to read is an in-depth review of Allegiant Air’s pinnacle offering. This is it. The best of the best. It doesn’t get any better than this.
The TLDR: I flew one of Allegiant Air’s longest routes (Flint to Las Vegas) on the A320. Not only did I pay extra for one of their fancy “Legroom +” seats, I threw in an extra few dollars to make it an “Allegiant Extra” experience as well.
Was it worth it? Meh.
G41529 Flint, MI (FNT) – Las Vegas, NV (LAS) Monday, October 28, 2024 Aircraft: A320-214 Registration: N211NV Duration: 4 hours 1 minute Seat: 2F (Legroom Plus)
Allegiant Air A320 (N211NV) side view illustration by NorebboStock.com Our route from Flint to Las Vegas today as G41529.
My full review of the Allegiant A320 Legroom Plus experience from Flint to Las Vegas
Note: they advertise “Allegiant Extra” as a package including extra legroom, reserved overhead bin space, priority check in, priority boarding, and a complementary snack. It’s only available on select routes (Flint to Las Vegas being one of them).
Considering that added legroom and reserved overhead bin space is part of the “Legroom Plus” thing, the only added benefit to “Extra” is priority access and a snack. Do with that information what you will.
My arrival at the Flint Bishop International Airport (FNT)
Those of you read either of my United Express CRJ-200 review or my American Eagle E145 review are about to experience a big fat dose of mother F’n déjà vu. The Flint Bishop International Airport hasn’t changed a bit since then. It’s still as quirky (and awesome) as it ever was.
The hell? What kind of idiot kicks off an in-depth airline review from baggage claim?Let’s try this again. Welcome to the Flint Bishop International Airport!In my defense, I am flying Allegiant Air all the way across the country today, so the “being an idiot” thing is to be expected. This is allegedly the Allegiant baggage drop and check-in area.They even have a Priority queue for Allegiant credit card holders. My assumption was that my “Allegiant Extra” status (which I paid extra for) would get me into this line, but I didn’t press my luck. It didn’t matter anyway since I checked in online. See that gate alllllllllll the way at the end? Do I even need to tell you what flight will be departing from there today? I’ll get there when I get there. For now, I’m just soaking up everything FNT has to offer (which pretty much consists of the best airport carpet anywhere in the world IMHO).She’s here! Never in a million years would I have expected a flight on Allegiant Airlines to be completely uneventful, but so far, things are going smashingly well. What’s the catch?Interesting. My carry-on (which I paid extra for) fit squarely into the “personal item” category (which is completely free). I was tempted to storm the desk and ask for a refund, but…whatever. As long as they don’t kill me today, I’m good.
The boarding process
I was starting to second-guess my decision for paying more for the “Allegiant Extra” thing just as they got the boarding process underway.
On one hand, boarding started within 30 minutes of when they said it would. Score! On the other hand, it didn’t really feel like priority access due to the long line of people in front of me. Poop!
Who says there aren’t any interesting flights out of Flint these days? I’m expecting this to be uncomfortable AF, but it definitely qualifies as interesting. That moment you realize that you weren’t the only person to pay for priority boarding today. Shoutout to my Allegiant Extra peeps! One last moment to contemplate all the reasons why you chose to fly Allegiant today over any other airline. It’s sobering.
Seat overview
There are 5 rows of Legroom Plus seats on the Allegiant A320. And dare I say it – they look awesome draped in black with orange stitching.
Other than the added legroom (which looks to be 5 or 6 inches IMHO), they’re not all that comfortable. After all, it’s the exact same seat you’ll find way back in the bowels of this aircraft.
See the seats with the orange accents (which look nearly identical to the seats without them)? That’s the Allegiant Legroom + seat. I know it’s kind of hard seeing what the “+” thing is all about, but stay with me here…See? That’s a lotta legroom. A lotta legroom indeed. Kneeroom and footroom too! Don’t forget the crumbs. There’s always crumbs. If you zoom out far enough you can’t even see the crumbs anymore. This is nice!Does an airline who doesn’t give a sh*t about properly cleaning an aircraft between flights deserve to have headrest stitching this cool? This is actually highly reminiscent of my EasyJet E320 experience (which was nowhere near as filthy BTW).Not only that, this is a lot nicer than the interior you saw in my Allegiant A319 Legroom Plus review. I don’t know what they’ve been smoking over at Allegiant HQ, but it’s gotta be some wicked good stuff.Black “leather”? Fancy stitching? I had prepared myself for a Sun Country 737-800 Best Seat experience (which was the opposite of “best”), but what I got was something far more spiffy. And y’all know I loves me a spiffy airline seat.
The departure
The fact that we were 30 minutes late as we pushed off the gate didn’t even phase me. I mean, this is Allegiant Air after all. You kind of have to expect it.
No, despite what you may have heard, Allegiant A320s don’t beep like smelly garbage trucks when they back up. This is, like, a legit flight so far! “Allegiant 1529, you’re cleared to depart runway 18 at your discretion. I mean, this is Flint and all, and we don’t get a lot of traffic here, so it’s not like there are any other airplanes to watch out for. What’s your favorite color by the way? Blue? I like blue too.” This is how I imagine tower communications to go here at FNT (because of how bored the air traffic controllers must be).Somewhere down there in Swartz Creek is a passionate AvGeek pumping his first (Top Gun style) at the sight of this Allegiant A320 ripping out of FNT. I used to do that in Holly (about 15 miles south) whenever the once-daily Piedmont 737 would take off. I totally get it, man!
Snacks and drinks
Their food for purchase menu is impressive. It’s far (far) more extensive than I was expecting. At least now we know how they can afford to make payments on these A320s
If there’s one thing you need to know about Allegiant Air, it’s that they’re going to try their damnedest to get you to spend money on snacks and drinks. Be tough. Stay strong. Unless getting sh*tfaced drunk is all part of the plan, that is. Paying for snacks is stupid. Paying more for the Allegiant Extra experience is smart (because you get free snacks).
I actually didn’t even realize that I would get a free snack as part of my “Allegiant Extra” status. It wasn’t much, but let’s just say I’ve never been so surprised to have a bag of pretzels thrown at me.
According to my calculations, this bag of pretzels cost me approximately $40 (that’s how much I paid for Allegiant Extra). Would you believe me if I told you that maybe it wasn’t worth it?
In-flight entertainment
Shame on me for flying Allegiant all the way across the country and not even downloading one stinkin’ TV show, movie, or YouTube video to my phone beforehand.
They don’t give you nothin’. No free messaging. No video screens in the seats. No streaming video entertainment. No Wi-Fi. Nothin.’
I mean, I knew there wouldn’t be any Wi-Fi or in-flight entertainment, but there’s no shame in checking anyway. Just to be sure.
Without proper in-flight entertainment, it’s up to each passenger to find things to do to kill time. Some choose to watch pre-download movies and TV shows on their iPad. Some choose to sleep. Me? I chose to document the sh*t out of the forward lavatory. It’s what nerdy airline reviewers do.
Seat comfort
Prior to this experience, I’ve always wondered why Allegiant Air doesn’t offer many cross-country flights. But now I get it.
The seats (even with all that extra legroom) are extremely uncomfortable. There’s no padding at all to speak of. It’s like sitting on a park bench.
I’ll tell you what. All this extra legroom combined with an empty middle seat is making me feel a bit conflicted. Yeah, it hurts. A lot actually. But at least I’m able to twist myself into positions favorable for proper blood flow.This doesn’t seem all that bad, does it? Sure, everyone looks bored to tears, but it’s a heck of a lot more spacious than the sardine can-like Allegiant A319 basic economy experience. Your lower back is going to hurt like hell though. And you’ll be lucky if you can still feel your feet by hour number three. All feeling in your toes will have been lost by hour two. And your spleen? Don’t ask.
The descent and arrival into Las Vegas
Unfortunately for us, Las Vegas was experiencing near hurricane-like winds the day of our arrival. Not only was it causing lengthy arrival and departure delays, the descent and landing was super (duper) gnarly. It was a white knuckle ride all the way in.
Looks a little different than Flint, doesn’t it? I’ll bet the water is cleaner out here too.Welcome to Vegas, baby!
Due to our late departure from Flint, combined with the wind-induced arrival delays into LAS, we ended up landing 49 minutes behind schedule. Is it even a proper Allegiant Air review without it ending later than it was supposed to?
Remember what I said earlier about just being happy if they didn’t kill me today?I’m happy (even though it does look like it). The look of relief I have on my face is just a result of just being able to feel my a** cheeks again. That’s all.
Pros and cons
In my humble opinion, the “Legroom Plus” thing was absolutely worth it. Adding “Allegiant Extra” (like a cherry on top) was kind of a waste of money though. I wouldn’t do that again.
Pros
They weren’t kidding about the extra leg room. It was ginormous!
The seats look great. The materials they chose are nice enough to make it feel like a slightly more upscale experience.
Gotta love that dedicated overhead bin space.
Cons
They should’ve paid me to sit in that seat for that long. Extra legroom or not, it was very uncomfortable.
Why do we get a free snack but not a free drink?
There are no USB power or 110 V electrical outlets in these seats.
Finaly another fnt review! i jus checked flightsfrom.com and its sad to see that fnt only has service from united AA and allegiant i think you should try more of the “tiny airports” around the ORD/MDW/ DTW area. i too agree with the carpet fact its definantly giving PDX noob vibes after the big renovation
Yeah, I was surprised to see that it’s down to only 3 airlines as well. Delta sometimes flies in and out of Flint, but it never lasts. I admire their determination though lol.
Ozzy
Finaly another fnt review! i jus checked flightsfrom.com and its sad to see that fnt only has service from united AA and allegiant i think you should try more of the “tiny airports” around the ORD/MDW/ DTW area. i too agree with the carpet fact its definantly giving PDX noob vibes after the big renovation
PLEASE FLY TO PDX AGAIN ITS BEEN SO LONG!!!!
Scott (SANspotter)
Yeah, I was surprised to see that it’s down to only 3 airlines as well. Delta sometimes flies in and out of Flint, but it never lasts. I admire their determination though lol.