msp727

3/15/13
LAS-HNL
757-200 - N901LV
DEP 6:45PM
$149 O/W (base fare)

Check-in was efficient, normally the morning and afternoon Allegiant flights cause a mob at the ticket counter, but this flight was late enough in the evening to miss the rush. Note that Allegiant weighs bags very carefully, so don't try to get away with more than a 40 LB checked bag, the fee for 41 LBS is steep. The agent was pleasant, the only thing that struck me as odd was a banner for the airlines sign, I thought a hub airline might get a little more permanent signage. I proceeded to the D gates, note that Allegiant does also sell First Class TSA access as an option.

The flight began boarding at approximately 6:05P, Allegiant boards by zones and the first groups to board are those that paid for "priority boarding." I didn't pay for this service or for a carry on bag, but did pay $23 for row four seating and $70 r/t for my checked luggage. The gate agent Carrie was very abrupt and rude, shouting the rules about using overhead bins, and the need to board quickly to depart early. I don't usually do well with screamers like Carrie.

Once onboard I took my assigned seat 4A, the seats are Recardo non-reclining slim line seats without lower seat back pockets, rather a hard plastic magazine holder on the top of the seat. The seats were well worn, not new like I would've thought since Allegiant just entered the Hawaii market, and the pitch couldn't have been more than 30".

We took off with no problems even though the flight was 100% full and began our 7 hour and 5 min flight, much longer than schedule due to strong headwinds. The flight attendants were very junior and behaved like they were working at a fast food resturaunt, I mean how hard is it to memorize or practice the safety briefing? During the flight the beverage and snack cart came through four times, which was nice. Items range from soda and bottled water $2, to beer and cocktails $5-$7, and for food they have snack packs $5 and sandwiches $6. I had a bottled water, Sutter Home Chardonnay, Deli Snack pack, and turkey pretzel roll sandwich. Everything was as expected for a BOB program, I could tell the sandwich had been previously frozen. The cabin layout is limited, the front galley lavatory was monopolized by the crew and they even locked it to ensure no passengers used it, leaving three mid-cabin lavatory's for the 217+ passengers. The lavs were not serviced in LAS from the inbound HNL flight, and they were FULL of T.P. Gross. And just when you think bathroom soap can't get any cheaper, Allegiant is up to the challenge of watering down cleanser. Unsanitary. Also they had four pilots and they were constantly rotating out of the cockpit, very unusual rotation, and very very young looking crew.

We landed in HNL without incident and the bags took at least 45 minutes. Overall I wouldn't recommend Allegiant, when the price is all said and done it matches Hawaiian, Allegiant just reminds me of another USAirways but a lot less organized.