Why Not To Ever Fly Allegiant Airlines

 Yes, this is quite a bit off topic with no legal implications, but there are customer service implications.
Lawyer office in New York.

My brother who lives in the Phoenix area thought it would be really convenient to fly Allegiant Airlines from Mesa, AZ to Bellingham, WA, avoiding Sky Harbor and SeaTac. I'll let you read my brother email to Allegiant and Allegiant's response, but needless to say, he'll be flying from Sky Harbor to SeaTac from now on, as will I.

My brother's email to Allegiant, sent on 7/13/11:

Nature of Request: Cancelled/Delayed/Rescheduled Flight

Name: ***

Email: ***

Telephone: ***

Itinerary Number: ***

Relationship: Self

Request Details: Just want to voice my concerns on my 1st and most likely last flight on Allegiant Air. Flight 216 out of Bellingham, 7-9-11 delayed 1hour and 45 min. 1st time. Then another delay of 1 hour and 30 mins. to bring in another plane. Trying to get any info from your staff was a challenge at best, no communication at all and it seemed to be all too common to them. In the air and close to Mesa a little rough weather and not a word from the cockpit while flying around a storm. On the ground, on the tarmac, we were told we would not be able to de-plane until the lightning stopped, well the lightning stopped, it rained some then stopped and this took 2 hours and again nothing from the cockpit and flight attendants, we were just puppets. All in all, 6 hours of delays, poor communication, no free drinks or any offer of compensation, and I just don't believe I could get on another Allegiant flight and I really wanted this to work because of the convenience. Pre-Travel inquiries receive a response within 24 - 48 hours. Post-Travel concerns may require additional research and response time may take 4-6 weeks. (Apparently it's really 8 weeks....)

Allegiant's Response (Received 9/11/11, 2 months later)

From: "702_589-7277_AC_0109703/Conf_Call_Line/Corporate@allegiantair.com" <702_589-7277_ac_0109703 allegiantair.com="" onf_call_line="" orporate="">

To: ***

Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 6:59 PM

Subject: Allegiant Itn# ***

September 11, 2011

Dear Mr. Williams,

Thank you for taking the time to convey your frustration about the delay on your recent flight. On behalf of the entire Allegiant Travel team, we wish to express our sincere apologies for any inconvenience you may have experienced due to your delayed/rescheduled flight.

We would like to thank you for taking the time to convey your flight experience with Allegiant Travel. As we grow and strive to serve more customers, it is imperative that we keep our service levels where our customers have come to expect from us. It is feedback, such as yours, that allows us to see our service through the eyes of our valued customers. We recognize that a delay can be an unsettling experience. Safety is our primary focus in all of our operations at Allegiant Travel. We want to reassure you that Allegiant Travel adheres to the most rigorous schedules of both mandated and preventive maintenance on all aircraft in our fleet.

We understand that a delayed arrival creates inconveniences to plans you may have already made. Please be assured that our greatest desire is to get each and every one of our customers safely to their final destination on time; however, we will never sacrifice safety to meet an on-time departure or arrival.

Allegiant Travel has the right to change or cancel flights without compensation per section 85 of our Contract of Carriage which states:

B. Carrier shall not be liable for any failure or delay in operating any flight due to causes beyond Carrier's control, including but not limited to, acts of God, governmental actions, fire, weather, mechanical difficulties...

In consideration of the inconvenience you experienced, Allegiant Travel has issued $35.00 worth of vouchers to your party. This voucher has been emailed to this email address, and it is good until the date specified on the voucher and is fully transferable. Please be advised this is a final decision for compensation, and nothing further will be authorized nor offered. We do apologize for the lack of customer service you have experienced, we appreciate all feedback from our customers.

When you are ready to rebook using this voucher, you can either book online at www.allegiantair.com, or you can call the Reservations Center at 702-505-8888, option 1, and inform the agent that you are making a new reservation using a credit voucher. Upon concluding your online booking process in the payment screen, select "Credit Voucher" as a payment type and enter the alpha-numeric voucher number, then click "continue." When calling into our Reservations Center, provide to the agent the alpha-numeric voucher number when prompted. Please be advised that all travel involving funds from this voucher must be booked and completed by September 10th, 2012, as we cannot extend the validity of this voucher for any reason.