Fool Me Three Times, Shame on Both of Us?
Debating a ticket purchase after a problematic prior experience
Too often in my life, family, friends and mild acquaintances have felt the need to regale me with their latest air travel horror story. Sometimes it’s a tale of genuine woe, but usually it’s something that ends with “And then we were delayed for TWO HOURS!”
My usual bedeviled response?
“Well, you should never fly Airline X again.”
The cold truth, though, is that most people will fly Airline X again. As you’ve already learned, I’m no industry apologist, but the fact is the vast majority of airline customers do not vote with their wallets. The late Spirit Airlines CEO, Ben Baldanza, put it best when he accidentally replied all to a customer complaint email in 2007 with this still (in)famous quote in industry circles:
Please respond, Pasquale, but we owe him nothing as far as I'm concerned. Let him tell the world how bad we are. He's never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny.
If you don’t think there are a lot of people in airline management positions who feel the exact same way, then we should probably talk.12
Well, life has a way of coming around, and this past weekend, I suddenly became the family member/friend/mild acquaintance with the axe to grind. Our family is going on a cruise this summer, and I had a decision to make:
To Allegiant or Not to Allegiant
On an objective level, I like Allegiant Airlines. I have a strong affinity towards carriers that do not waiver (much) in their brand proposition. Allegiant got its start flying ancient planes once or twice a week from tiny cities to Las Vegas with a strong focus on ancillary revenue from hotel bookings and other services. While the planes and cities have changed, their overall ethos really hasn’t. In fact, back when I used to attend airline industry conferences, one of the more informative presentations I remember was given by Allegiant’s CMO. He presented a clear vision and didn’t try to persuade anyone that Allegiant was something it wasn’t.3
Now, let’s go back to my first experience as an Allegiant customer. I booked a roundtrip for the family from Cincinnati to the Redneck Riviera, errrrr, Florida’s “Emerald Coast” over the Christmas break a few years ago.4 The outbound was perfectly smooth and uneventful. However, Allegiant cancelled our return four days before it was scheduled to operate. With little to no affordable alternatives, we ended up renting a car and making the almost ten hour drive home.
I could have been done with Allegiant then and there, but they did the right things given the circumstances. They gave us plenty of notice, offered to rebook us (not an option with their limited schedule), refunded our money right away, and even provided additional compensation. That’s about all I can ask. None of it was fun, but I wasn’t putting Allegiant in the doghouse for it. I’m a rational airline industry expert.5
Flash back again to last summer, and we decided to fly Allegiant home from our cruise as they had a perfectly-timed nonstop from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to our home airport of Lexington (LEX). Our sun-kissed family was still filled with the enchantment of our trip (wink, wink) when we got to the Allegiant check-in counter.
I knew that like many ultra low-cost carriers, Allegiant had moved to a virtually paperless experience. I also knew that they use contract employees in many stations. I knew that one needs to be patient and flexible when flying G4.6
What I did not know is that surly Allegiant contract check-in agents will performatively tear apart baggage claim checks in front of you while curtly telling you that “They’re in the app.”7
Luckily, my wife was there to witness that moment and the entire interaction leading up to it.8 We walked to security vowing never to fly Allegiant again. We sat in the gate area vowing never to fly Allegiant again. We sat on the Allegiant flight vowing never to fly Allegiant again.
Now yes, I see the contradictory logic here:
Cancel my entire trip and force me to drive home? No biggie, man!
Be rude to my wife and me at check-in? You’re done!
That may sound crazy, but remember, it’s the little things.
Now zoom forward to this past weekend. We have another cruise this summer and need to buy plane tickets. Said cruise is leaving from FLL. Flights on mainline carriers, all featuring connections, are very expensive. Allegiant has non-stops from LEX at ideal times on both ends of the cruise. Allegiant’s prices are reasonable.
What do I do? Do I stick to my guns, follow my own patronizing advice, and never fly Allegiant again? Or, do I begrudgingly enter my credit card number at allegiantair.com?
See you in June, Allegiant. No need to respond, Pasquale.
Note to Readers: this post went to “press” before the news of Allegiant and Sun Country’s planned merger. For the best immediate take (with actual data and stuff), I recommend reading the latest post from my friend Brett Snyder, aka Crankyflier and the godfather of snarky airline commentary.
Notes
No, not everyone at an airline is like that, but that mindset is not uncommon, particularly in the numbers-driven parts of airline management that hardly ever touch customers
Baldanza, an industry stalwart with plenty of achievements beyond his unfortunate email, sadly passed away in 2024
He did have a good explanation as to why Allegiant shelled out so much money (to the surprise of everyone) for the naming rights to the Raiders’ stadium in Las Vegas — it was a simple, yet big way to get name recognition for their number one destination
It will always be the Redneck to me, but in the time I wrote this, I’m pretty sure they just opened another Lululemon off 30A
This is debatable
G4 is Allegiant’s two-letter IATA code — the only thing nerdier than airport codes are IATA codes
Unsurprisingly, there was a bit more unpleasant back and forth leading into the dramatic tearing of the claim checks, but for brevity purposes, I just went straight to the denouement
For some reason, my wife thinks I am prone to exaggeration