Recently, I was looking for credit card charges on Allegiant airline’s website. Since there were no upfront notifications, I kept going through the buying process to see if and when a credit card usage fee might be disclosed. It never was. Mind you, I didn’t actually put in my credit card. However, I found plenty of other fees that were added automatically to my ticket prices. Lots of “GOTCHAs.”
Let’s go through the process and the worst pre-checked screens. Starting from the home screen (see above), Allegiant assumes the passenger wants to purchase both flight and hotel. “GOTCHA.” Plus, the screen is pre-checked to ask for tickets for two passengers. I find this unsettling. It would seem that the default screen should be for flights only and for one person only, then allow the user to select more passengers or add a hotel room.
I actually forgot to check “flight only” and had to note that I did not want a room. I only wanted a flight from Bellingham, WA, to Las Vegas. Once I got to the flight screen, Allegiant does a good job of showing the lowest airfares available. At the bottom of their airfare displays is a link to taxes and fees. Note this unusual “convenience fee.” It amounts to a credit card fee or remote flight reservation fee — the only way to avoid it is to go to the airport ticket office. “GOTCHA.”
Convenience Fee: For the convenience of using any of Allegiant Air’s booking services (inclusive of call center), there is a fee of $16.99 per traveling customer. Purchases made at any of Allegiant Air’s Airport Ticket Offices will not incur a Convenience Fee of $16.99 per customer. All fares are subject to change until confirmed and purchased.
When I push continue for the airfares I want, I get another Would you like to add a Hotel Package? screen. “GOTCHA.”
Please note: The tiny “No Thanks” beneath the “Yes, show me hotel packages” button. “GOTCHA.” I click on the “No Thanks” button and the next screen shows me my current costs.
Strange, but there is now, automatically, a “1 ROUND-TRIP SHUTTLE MCCARRAN AIRPORT FEE” that has been added to the airfare. “GOTCHA.” I try to go back to see where I might have added this or missed a pre-checked box, but I get this message:
That normally means that I lose everything I have already added into the reservation record, so I scroll down the page. Ah hah! I find a request for the airport shuttle pre-checked (“GOTCHA.”) in the list of “featured activites.” I guess I should be thankful that they didn’t sign me up for a hundred-dollar show or a trip to the Grand Canyon. Then again, I would have noticed that more quickly than the airport shuttle.
I unclick the airport shuttle section and hit continue. All I want is a cheap airline ticket to Vegas. So, I get rental cars. Once again, the “no thanks” link is the tiny one at the bottom of the page. This time, I know where to look for it.
Next, Allegiant wants my traveler information — name, birthdate, gender. They claim that this is required by TSA, but obviously not until I purchase my ticket. It is a way to gather more customer data.
When I click on “Why do we want this information,” I get this message:
Privacy Notice
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) requires you to provide your full name, date of birth, and gender for the purpose of watch list screening, under the authority of 49 U.S.C. section 114, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and 49 C.F.R parts 1540 and 1560. You may also provide your Redress Number, if available. Failure to provide your full name, date of birth, and gender may result in denial of transport or denial of authority to enter the boarding area. TSA may share information you provide with law enforcement or intelligence agencies or others under its published system of records notice. For more on TSA privacy policies, or to review the system of records notice and the privacy impact assessment, please see the TSA website at www.tsa.gov.
There is nothing here about what Allegiant can do with your information. “GOTCHA.”
I fill our the “required information,” and click on “continue,” which brings me to the seating chart. Allegiant proclaims on the page, “Save by selecting your seats online now.” Well not quite, you save more by NOT selecting your seats online and waiting for open seating. “GOTCHA.”
Worse, I have preassigned seats for a fee of $13.99 and I have been signed up for “priority boarding” at a cost of an additional $9.99. “GOTCHA.”
Passengers have to unclick “priority boarding” and hit change and then remove to get rid of the seat reservation. Once they hit “remove,” they get hit with this screen.
Passengers have to go through this 4-click process for both the departing flight and the return flight. “GOTCHA.” “GOTCHA.”
The “GOTCHAs” keep coming.
The next screen, dealing with baggage, shows a ready pre-checked “one checked bag.” “GOTCHA.”
Passengers with no checked bags must uncheck the pre-checked baggage information. Below the baggage infomation, Allegiant again collects passenger information and pre-checks a request for emails from the airline for future bargains. “GOTCHA.”
When I click on “No Checked Bags,” I get this message with NO LINK to the information or the contract of carriage.
You have selected 0 for checked bags. A fee of $35 each way/$70 round trip for first checked bag and $35 each way/$70 round trip for second checked bag per person will be collected at check-in for baggage not pre-paid at this time. Please refer to our Carry-On and Checked Baggage Policies in our Contract of Carriage.
The terms and conditions have a mention of “TripFlex” and at the top of the next screen, I find that I have been pre-checked to purchase “TripFlex” for $23. “GOTCHA.”
Passengers have to uncheck the TripFlex selection. Now, after selecting the lowest priced airfares for the days I want to travel, I am finally ready to purchase my Allegiant ticket for $263.37.
In the end, after checking with Kayak, a flight to Las Vegas from Seattle would have only cost $289 on Alaska airlines or $301 on multiple airlines without all of the “GOTCHAs.”
Admittedly, the lowest airfare flying from Bellingham to Vegas was $389 which was more than $120 more than taking Allegiant. I guess if travelers want to save money they have to put up with lots of “GOTCHAs.”
It shouldn’t be that way. Buyer beware. Buyer be aware.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
