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Airfare can be extremely affordable if you know how to outsmart the airline carriers. Here, I’ll share some tips on how to score $19 Allegiant Airlines flights consistently.
Book your flight as far in advance as possible
Allegiant has a policy of introducing their flights at an introductory rate, and then increasing the rate as more and more seats get filled. According to the FAQ on their website, Allegiant announces their upcoming schedule six to nine months in advance, making this the cheapest time to buy. If you know your trip dates that far in advance, you can already find $29 flights for both departing and arrival options.
Need to hold off on early booking? No worries. Allegiant tends to increase prices with every ten seats that are sold, and they do so in raising the price in $5-$10 increments. Unless you book extremely close to the departure date, or you choose a highly-desired flight date (think holidays, special events), flights can usually still be found in the $50-$80 range.
Tip: A majority of Allegiant travelers book their seats with three or fewer weeks notice. If you can book at least a month prior to your departure date, you can find yourself beating a majority of passengers to booking and save yourself $60+ in the process.
Book your flight at the airport when possible
If you’re within a short drive from your local airport, you can maximize savings with this little-known hack. By purchasing your tickets in advance from the airport, you can save $13 per flight in fees.
Hidden among the fees on Allegiant’s check out process, you’ll find a Carrier Usage Charge which is $13 added to each ticket. See below:
On the bottom right, you’ll see there’s a section dedicated to your flight breakdown. Click on the ‘Taxes, Carrier Charges & Gov’t Fees’ section and you’ll receive the following popup:
The Carrier Usage Charge in Allegiant’s own words is “electronic usage charge of $13 per passenger, per segment, applicable to all airline reservations booked through the Web site or call center.”
That means, on my roundtrip flight from Boise to Las Vegas, I’m paying only $25.68 for my flights ($12.84 each way) yet $26 for the carrier usage charge!
To eliminate this charge, simply purchase your tickets from Allegiant employees at their terminal. Make sure to look up their hours before driving over, and plan on showing up 2-3 hours before the flight so you’re not trying to book when people are checking into their flights.
While this takes more of your time, this $26 per person charge can quickly turn into a savings of $52 if you travel with a plus one, or a savings of $104 if you’re traveling with a family of four.
For me, I was able to pay just $25.75 per ticket or $51.50 for my roundtrip flight to Vegas simply by purchasing from them at the airport.
Tip: Allegiant flights don’t happen every day. Don’t make the mistakes I have, and show up when no one from Allegiant is there. Look up when they’re flying and then stop by at least two hours prior to the departure time to be assisted.
Sign up for Allegiant’s Newsletter
Yes, newsletters are annoying but signing up for Allegiant’s newsletter is worth it. Allegiant frequently has $29, $39 and $49 flight sales that you could learn about if you opt-in for their newsletter. Knowing this is important because if you’re interested in getting away for a spontaneous trip, your $29 flight will quickly become a $16 flight if you book at the airport to avoid the carrier usage charge.
There have been multiple times where I’ve found $29 flights to Phoenix, Vegas or Los Angeles and then booked at the airport to score a $32 roundtrip flight. That’s cheaper than filling up your tank with gas!
Allegiant is great about not spamming your inbox, and I only receive emails when one of these sales are going on. If you’re open to having an email every ten days or so from them, this can save you big in the long run and provide for some awesome last minute trips!
Tip: These sales typically occur for flight dates that are three to five weeks in advance. If you have some PTO coming up, opt-in to see where you can travel for cheap. By having at least three weeks to plan, you can ensure you save on hotel and rental cars as well.
Also, Read Six free apps you must download before going to Vegas
Avoid the Allegiant Fees
The last thing you want is to score a $19 flight only to find out you’ll end up paying $70 more at the airport because you didn’t plan ahead. Allegiant is notorious for piling on charges for everything!
We go into detail on how you can outsmart Allegiant Airlines HERE, but here are a few considerations to keep in mind.
- Print your boarding pass out prior to arriving at the airport, or show your boarding pass on your phone. Allegiant charges a $5 fee at the airport for employees to print your boarding pass for you. This $5 fee quickly turns into a $40 roundtrip fee for a family of four, so ensure you have your boarding passes ready to go BEFORE you arrive at the airport.
- Pack smart! Allegiant allows one free personal item per person. The personal item dimensions are 7 x 15 x 16 inches. While this sounds small, there’s actually a LOT you can pack into this personal bag and many sellers on Amazon actually sell these 7 x 15 x 16 bags (our favorites are this one, this one, and this one). By using space bags and wearing your heaviest clothes, you can get away with flying without any baggage fees!
By booking in advance, purchasing your tickets at the airport, taking advantage of a sale, and always avoiding Allegiant fees, you can consistently enjoy $19 flights across America! Happy travels!
Great article! Thank you for sharing these tips 🙂
I’ve read many flight cost articles, but your post here is among the most detailed, and therefore, the most helpful! Thank you so much for the time you took to put this together. I was reluctant to try this airline, but thanks to your post, I’m going to give it a try!
I did not realise that you could trim costs like this with budget airlines. I wonder if you can purchase at the airport with other carriers (e.g. Ryan Air, Easy Jet) and save these fees? Useful savings but you do have to be super organised.
Interesting post and some good tips here. I never done this personally but I am looking into this as I fly more and more.
Great tips. It’s very interesting to see how Allegiant increases ticket prices after a certain number of bookings. Also, I found it a great idea to book tickets at the airport in order to save the internet fees. I’ll have to look into this for other airlines too, Great job.
Thanks for sharing. It always nice to save money on airfare.
I haven’t heard of this airlines before (and now I see that they operate in the US, that’s why:)), but these are some cool tips- I wonder if some of them would work for European low budget airlines as well. I’ll have to check it out- direct flights with low prices have taken me to “unplanned” destinations before!
Interesting to see the types of fees they charge. The fee that you can avoid by going to the airport is a perfect example of paying for convenience. Helpful tips for that one especially
Air fare is the major component of the travel budget and hence any tips in reducing costs here are always welcome. These are some really amazing pointers to save here. Small things like printing boarding passes can add up to a lot.
To save costs in airline fares is very important as this is the most expensive part of any travel budget. You have listed many informative tips about how to score $19 Allegiant Airlines Flight. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve never flown Allegiant before, but sounds like I need to start checking them out! $19 flights?!?! That’s incredible! I’m definitely pinning this for future reference, thank you!
I’ve never flown with Allegiant, but it was interesting to know that it’s a little bit cheaper to purchase a ticket at the airport. I also had no idea you can get Allegiant’s flight for so cheap!
I never knew the tip about booking your flight at the airport!! That is such a great and easy tip living close to the airport!
Great tips here! I’ve always wanted to one day rock up to an airport and buy the cheapest flight to anywhere… never knew it would save me 13 bucks! I can’t believe you’ve been to so many great destinations for 30 bucks, I always think of airfare as being so expensive in the states, it’s great to know about these options.
Well researched post, but since Allegiant doesnt fly to most places I need to go, and those it does fly to, I have so many points and status with other airlines, doubt if I will ever fly them … but you never know.
Great tips! I read this aloud to my husband and we just had a good laugh at how outrageous some of the fees being piled on fliers are. Thanks for breaking them down and helping negate some of them!
Wow, that is incredible. I will sign up for their newsletter right away. Thanks so much!!!
Notify me on sale prices from Sanford-orlando to Grand Rapids Mich. For Augest flghts.
This is great! Since you can save on fees by purchasing your tickets at the airport, I wonder if it matters what airport you buy them from? For instance if you live closer to Dayton airport but you are flying out of Cincinnati. This would be very helpful for me! Any feedback would be much appreciated!
It doesn’t matter what airport necessarily, only that the airport has an Allegiant Airlines ticket counter. Hope this helps!
Can you purchase tickets for future dates at the airport?
Yes you can. Prices increase the more seats that are sold. So always buy in advance. Just make sure you arrive when they’re open. Some smaller airports only have Allegiant flights take off a few times a week, so there are days when they’re not open.