My Family’s Honest Review of Allegiant’s A320 Economy Class [AVL-HOU]

Airline: Allegiant Air (G4)
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Flight #: G41840
Route: Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) to William P. Hobby Airport (HOU)
Date: July 21, 2025
Duration: 2 hours, 21 minutes
Cabin and Layout: Economy class, 3-3
Seat: 20D
Cost: $102 round-trip (Houston (HOU) to Knoxville (TYS) with a return from Asheville (AVL) to Houston (HOU))

My family repatriated from Qatar to Texas in July 2025. After spending many of their summer birthdays outside of the U.S., my twins had 1 special request for their 11th birthday: visiting their grandparents in North Carolina.

After reviewing my flight options, I was flabbergasted that I could find round-trip direct flights on Allegiant for just $102 per person. We’d have to travel super light (personal bags only!) and drive a few extra miles to Hobby Airport, but I was willing to take those hits in the name of a wicked cheap flight.

Here’s my experience returning from my first Allegiant Air flight with 3 preteens from the newly renovated Asheville airport.

Booking Allegiant Economy Class

My kids have 1 pair of grandparents living in Knoxville, Tennessee, with the other set living in Asheville, North Carolina. Since I’ve lived outside of Houston since 2019, I was surprised to learn that Allegiant offered nonstop flight options from Houston (HOU) to Knoxville (TYS) and Asheville (AVL). The low-fare carrier started service from Hobby in 2020, and at the time of my booking, it operated 5 routes from HOU, including Provo (PVU), Utah; Des Moines (DSM), Iowa; and Gulf Shores (GUF), Alabama.

I stumbled upon these flights when exploring dates on Google Flights and searching by both Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU). I learned that Allegiant serviced Knoxville and Asheville on Mondays and Fridays, so I first played around with flying round-trip from Houston to Knoxville ($347 for 4 tickets) or Houston to Asheville ($343 for 4 tickets).

Ultimately, I paid a bit more to save myself a 3-hour return drive through an unpredictable part of I-40 at the Tennessee-North Carolina border still recovering from Hurricane Helene landslides. I decided to fly into Knoxville and return from Asheville, which Allegiant priced on 2 separate itineraries for $436 for 4 tickets.

Unfortunately, booking these flights caused me a few hiccups. Since I was still based in Qatar in May when I booked them, I wasn’t able to book directly on AllegiantAir.com, as the site didn’t work well with my foreign IP address, even when masked by a VPN. I turned to the online travel agency eDreams, which Google Flights listed as the lowest-priced provider.

By signing up for a free trial of its premium eDreams Prime service (which I promptly canceled a few days later to avoid recurring fees), I purchased the 4 flights for a discounted price of $418.68. This was the most basic fare and didn’t include carry-on or checked luggage (only a personal item) or seat selection.

I double-dipped with TopCashback to earn an additional 2.02% cash-back ($11.13) on the booking, bringing my total price down to $407.55, or $102 per round-trip ticket. My husband paid for the flight with his new Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card, as he was working toward meeting his minimum spending requirement for a welcome bonus offer. This is one of my go-to credit cards for booking flights, as it has fantastic travel protections!

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

A fantastic travel card with a great welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

A fantastic travel card with a great welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

Welcome Offer

Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

75,000 points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

$1,500

Annual Fee

$95

APR

19.99% - 28.24% Variable

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Good to Excellent

Why We Like This Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.

Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 5x points on all travel booked via the Chase Travel portal
• 3x points on dining purchases, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services
• 2x points on all other travel worldwide

Cons

• $95 annual fee
• No elite benefits like airport lounge access or hotel elite status

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Card Highlights

• Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel^SM, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases
• Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel^SM
• 10% anniversary points boost – each account anniversary you’ll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
• Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 19.99% - 28.24% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Since I booked the flights for myself and my 3 kids, I was curious if I needed Allways Rewards accounts for the entire family or if Allegiant offered any type of points pooling. As I learned, whoever books the Allegiant flights scores all of the points (1x points for flights under $500, 2x points when spending over $500). Since the flights were so cheap, I earned a paltry 304 Allways Rewards points, worth $3.04.

Asheville Regional Airport (AVL)

I checked in online via the Allegiant Air app, noted that my family was seated together (not a guarantee when flying Allegiant with kids), and added the boarding passes to my Apple Wallet. This allowed us to bypass the airport check-in desks.

I had not realized that AVL had recently undergone renovations, and my first clue (since last traveling through in May 2023) was that the security screening area, including TSA PreCheck, was now at the far right end of the check-in area.

Each of my kids has their own Global Entry membership (including TSA PreCheck), which we received as a benefit of several credit cards my husband and I have that reimburse the application fee.

After passing through security, we took the escalator up 1 level to the North Concourse, identified our flight on a departure board, and headed toward gates 9 to 12. Once we located the gate, we walked around the small concourse to look for seating.

The newly renovated concourse sparkled. I was curious when it was renovated and asked the agents at a nearby gate. I learned that the construction had just been completed within the previous 4 weeks, in June 2025.

With a new concourse came new, funky seating, and these large armchairs with slight privacy dividers and embedded power outlets were a popular choice.

The far end of the concourse had traditional airport seating, along with curved banquette seats with side tables and a workstation-style high-top table with stools.

Floor-to-ceiling windows allowed for easy planespotting. The new concourse level had gates with jet bridge access, and the gate at the far left of the concourse led to a security-controlled entrance to a ground level with remote stands.

My daughter and I walked a few laps ahead of boarding and often stopped to reflect at the multiple art displays. The exhibition at the time was “Mountain Memories,” a mixed-media collection themed around the impact of Hurricane Helene.

Boarding

The flight departed from gate 10, and boarding for the 5:52 p.m. flight began at 5:13 p.m.

Though a sizer was present, I never saw the gate agent pull anyone aside to check bags. This was a relief, as our post-birthday personal bags were packed to the gills.

We were in zone 4 (of 6) and boarded at 5:20 p.m.

We didn’t have much of a wait on the jet bridge and were able to get a sunny view of the A320 taking us to Houston.

On Board Allegiant’s Airbus A320

My family was seated in row 20, from seats A to D. Our seats were at the back of the wings, a few rows behind the emergency exit rows in the center of the plane.

These seats, outfitted in gray and navy leather with orange accents, were immediately impressive. They looked clean and in great condition.

I had the aisle seat on the starboard side of the plane, and my kids sat in the 3 seats across from me on the same row.

The window passenger and I shared a welcome look of relief when it was announced that the aircraft doors were closed and boarding was complete. We were free of sharing our row with a middle-seat passenger!

Later in the flight, I noticed that one of the airline’s cost-cutting measures was the lack of reclining seats. That meant the armrests between seats were quite small.

But as a bonus, all aisle armrests easily moved upward, which is especially helpful if your legs require a little extra space or you want to easily exit the seat into the aisle.

The seatback was fairly standard, with a plastic restraint at the top for a literature pocket and a chunky tray table.

The tray table was thick but narrow and didn’t accomodate my 15.6-inch laptop well. I tried angling myself to use the center seat’s tray table, which was also awkward. I ultimately ended up balancing it on the armrest to have enough space to use it functionally.

Allegiant has an all-economy cabin with several rows of Allegiant Extra seating at the front with extra legroom. I was in a standard seat, which has around 30 inches of pitch (the distance between one point of a seat and the same point on the seat in front of it). As a 5-foot-7-inch passenger, my knees nearly touched the seatback at a 90-degree angle, but my legs had plenty of room when relaxed and extended.

Standard air nozzles, reading lights, and flight attendant call buttons were overhead.

The overhead bins had plenty of space. Even though our fare only included a personal item, the bins were empty enough after boarding completed that I didn’t feel guilty storing our backpacks up high.

Food and Beverages

The literature pocket held a copy of the airline’s Nonstop Life magazine, an inflight offer for the Allways Rewards Visa^® Card, and a menu of the food and drink items available for purchase.

Soft beverages were available starting at $4, cocktails were $13, liquor started at $9, beers were $9, wine started at $8, and mixers started at $4. Note that Allways Rewards cardholders get a free onboard drink (excluding several premium alcohols).

Snack boxes were $11, and individual snacks ranged from $4 to $8.

Lavatory

The lavatory I used at the rear of the plane was small, and one of the most unusual things about it was the lack of a mirror above the sink. While I think this was a consequence of the curvature of the fuselage, it was still a little bit weird, though there was a large mirror opposite the sink.

I liked the undercabinet lighting, and the lavatory was well-stocked and mostly clean.

Service

After pushback at 4:56 p.m. Eastern time, we took off at 5:05 p.m. and were on our way. The flight attendants brought a service trolley through at 6:36 p.m., though the seatbelt light remained on until 6:42 p.m.

Throughout the flight, the flight attendants collected trash and conversed with passengers. One standout of Allegiant’s A320 was its wide aisle, which reduced the risk of seated passengers being knocked into by any aisle traffic.

Arrival

We started our descent at 7:35 p.m. Central time and landed at 8 p.m., just ahead of schedule. We deplaned at 8:15 p.m., and since my family just had personal items, we were quickly through the airport and on our way to the rental car facility.

Final Thoughts

After my first round-trip flight with Allegiant Air, I’ll easily be a repeat customer. The cabin was contemporary and clean, the seats were comfortable enough, and my expectations — which started low, based on the cheap fare — were easily exceeded. For just $102, I was saved the stress of over 30 hours of driving or a much more expensive flight with a connection, which is priceless in my book.

I was disappointed to learn that Allegiant’s direct flights to Asheville appear to be seasonal, and I will keep my eyes peeled for the future of the route from Houston beyond August 2025.