Allegiant Airlines Delays & Cancellations: What You Need to Know!

Did your flight on Allegiant Airlines get cancelled or delayed by more than 3 hours? If so, you need to understand Allegiant Airlines policy for handling these situations.

Flight delays and cancellations are an unfortunate part of traveling and while any unexpected schedule changes can be very frustrating, don’t let them discourage you from traveling.  Just make sure you know the rules and your rights when one of these situations occurs.

If you are flying Allegiant Airlines, and your flight gets canceled or significantly delayed, here are the key things to know about Allegiant’s flight delay and cancellation policy, as well as the protections you have from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Allegiant Airlines Flight Cancellations: What to do if Your Flight is Cancelled?

If your flight is canceled, the first thing you need to figure out is whether the cause of cancellation is within the airline’s control.    A controllable flight cancellation or delay is essentially a delay or cancellation that has been caused by the airline. 

When the situation is “Controllable”, airlines have responsibility and have made commitments, enforceable by the Department of Transportation (“DOT”), on how they will take care of the customer.

Controllable vs. Non-Controllable Delays & Cancellations

• Controllable Delays are caused by things the airline has control over such as maintenance and mechanical issues, lack of available equipment, cabin cleaning, flight crew schedules, fueling, baggage loading, etc.

• Non-Controllable Delays are caused from things that are outside of the airlines control such as weather, air traffic congestion, terrorism, emergency diversion, etc.

Allegiant Airlines Policy for Controllable Cancellations:

If your flight is cancelled for a controllable reason, Allegiant Airlines has pledged to do the following:

• Rebook you on another Allegiant flight at no extra cost.
• Rebook you on a partner airline or another airline with which it has an agreement at no extra cost. (unlike Delta, American and United, Allegiant will not book you on another airline)
• Provide you with a meal or meal cash/voucher when cancellation results in you having to wait for 3 hours or more for a new flight.
• Provide complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation.
• Provide complimentary ground transportation to and from the hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation.

How to rebook a delayed or cancelled flight on Allegiant

If your flight is cancelled, you can call the Allegiant customer service line (702-505-8888) or wait in line at the airport, but it’s normally faster to make the change on the Allegiant website or app.

In the event your flight is canceled you have the following two online self-service options*:

• Log in to Manage Travel to change to different flight dates, to/from the same city pairs, for no difference in fare. Change fees will not apply.
• Log in to Manage Travel to cancel your remaining flight segments for a refund of the unflown segment(s)of travel.

Often times Allegiant will automatically rebook you on another flight. If you want to take the flight they scheduled for you there is nothing further to do, just check in when you are ready to go.

If you choose not to take the rescheduled flight, you’ll have the following two online self-service options:

• Log in to Manage Travel to change to different flight dates, to/from the same city pairs, for no difference in fare. Change fees will not apply.
• Log in to Manage Travel to cancel your remaining flight segments for a refund of the unflown segment(s) of travel.

Allegiant Flight Cancellation Compensation

The U.S. DOT has fewer protections for passengers than other parts of the world. If you are flying in the United States, airlines are not required to provide additional compensation when flights are delayed or cancelled.  You will be eligible for a refund, but not additional compensation.

Compensation is only required by U.S. law when passengers are “bumped” from an oversold flight.

Refund of Ticket Price

If your flight is cancelled and you choose not to take another flight option provided by Allegiant, you are entitled to a refund for the unused ticket – even for non-refundable tickets.  This refund includes the ticket price plus any baggage fees you paid, and any extras you purchased, such as a seat assignment or pet fee.  

Your compensation for a cancelled flight is limited to the costs associated with your ticket only. Allegiant Airlines is not required to reimburse you for any consequential costs affected by the cancelled flight, such as a prepaid hotel room or rental car, a cruise, concert or other tickets, or lost wages.

Allegiant Flight Delays: What to do if your Allegiant Flight is Delayed?

Just as with a flight cancellation, there are no requirements to provide additional compensation, so you will first need to understand what has caused the delay and is it controllable by the airline.

Allegiant is committed to making customers aware of known delays and cancellations. The Flight Status section on Allegiant’s website or the phone app are typically the best places to get an updated status of your flight.

Allegiant’s Policy for Controllable Delays:

If your flight is significantly delayed for a controllable reason, Allegiant has pledged to do the following:

• Rebook you on another Allegiant flight at no extra cost.
• Rebook you on a partner airline or another airline with which it has an agreement at no extra cost. (unlike Delta, American and United, Allegiant will not book you on another airline)
• Provide you with a meal or meal cash/voucher when cancellation results in you having to wait for 3 hours or more for a new flight.
• Provide complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight delay.
• Provide complimentary ground transportation to and from the hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight delay.

However, if your flight is delayed due to weather or some other “uncontrollable” reason, Allegiant will not be liable for or provide any meals, alternate transportation or any other overnight expenses incurred.

Tarmac Delays

The DOT’s tarmac delay rule requires that flights (departing from a U.S. airport) are required to allow passengers to get off the plane if the delay is longer than three hours (for domestic flights) or four hours (for international flights).

Exceptions to the time limits are allowed only for safety, security, or air traffic control-related reasons.  You should not exit the airplane unless told by the airline that you can do so safely.

• During a lengthy tarmac delay, airlines are required to provide:
  • Drinking water and a snack, such as a granola bar, no later than two hours after the start of the tarmac delay.
  • Working toilets.
  • Comfortable cabin temperatures.
  • Adequate medical attention, if needed.

Airlines do not have to serve passengers full meals during a tarmac delay, even if the tarmac delay lasts for a lengthy period of time. 

For more details, you can check out Allegiant’s customer service plan.

Allegiant Flight Delay Compensation

As stated earlier, when flying within or from the United States, there are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide passengers with additional compensation when their flights are delayed. 

Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers.

How to check Allegiant flight status

You can check the status of any Allegiant flight via the Flight Status and Notification section of the Allegiant website. Here you can search by flight number or if you don’t have the flight number, you can search by the route.

4 ways to avoid flight delays and cancellations

There’s no way to totally avoid flight cancellations and delays, however there are a couple of things you can do to improve your odds.  

1. Fly out in the morning

Don’t fly in the late afternoon or evening. Book the first flight out in the morning.   Morning flights have the best chance of getting out as the plane is already at the airport, so the risk of an inbound delay is eliminated.

2. Book a non-stop flight

The logic here is straightforward. Having a single non-stop flight means you only risk having one flight delayed. If you have a connecting flight, you now have two flights to worry about and your odds of having a delay just doubled.

3. Fly a reliable airline

Any airline runs the risk of a flight delay, but it seems to happen to some more than others. Here is a list of the most reliable (U.S. based) airlines in terms of delays and cancellations. As you will see, Allegiant is at the bottom of the list for on time performance.

 4. Fly out of a dependable airport

There are some airports that are known for flight delays and cancellations. If you are flying into or out of one of these airports there is a higher chance you will have a delay (listed alphabetically, not by performance).

1. Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI)
2. Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
3. Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)
4. Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
5. Chicago O’Hare Airport (ORD)
6. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
7. Denver International Airport (DEN)
8. Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS)
9. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
10. LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
11. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
12. Orlando International Airport (MCO)
13. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
14. Reagan International Airport (DCA)
15. San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

In Summary

Flight delays and cancellations are inevitable, you can’t totally avoid them, but there are things you can do to reduce your chances of experiencing them.  And if you do encounter a significant delay or cancellation, it’s always good to know the rules and the rights provided to you by both the airline and the DOT.  Hopefully this article helps!