Allegiant Seat Upgrade Guide: Legroom Options, Exit Row Seats, Extra Legroom and Upgrade Cost

Flying Allegiant Air is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach leisure destinations across the United States. But low base fares come with a trade-off most travelers discover only after booking: the seat you paid for may be a middle seat near the back of the plane, assigned automatically at check-in, with barely 30 inches between you and the row ahead. For a short hop, that is manageable. For a three-hour flight with a family, a business trip, or a tall passenger, it is worth knowing exactly what Allegiant seat upgrade options are available — how they work, what they cost, and how to get the most comfort for your money.

This guide covers every seat type on Allegiant, from standard economy to the airline's premium Allegiant Extra product, including exit row seats, legroom options, priority access, and exactly how to upgrade both before and after booking.

Does Allegiant Air Have Business Class or First Class Seats?

This is the first question most passengers ask, and the answer is clear: Allegiant Air does not operate a business class or first class cabin. There are no lie-flat seats, no dedicated meal service, and no separate premium zone. Allegiant is an ultra-low-cost carrier built on a single-class economy model, and every passenger sits in the same cabin.

What Allegiant does offer, however, is a tiered economy experience. Rather than a true Allegiant business class or premium cabin, the airline sells upgraded seating within its economy section — seats that offer meaningfully more legroom, better placement on the aircraft, and in some cases additional perks like early boarding and reserved overhead bin space. Passengers searching for Allegiant premium seats are really looking at three distinct tiers within economy: standard seats, Legroom+ seats near the exit rows, and the airline's newer Allegiant Extra product.

Understanding that distinction matters because it sets realistic expectations. You will not get a fully flat bed or a hot meal on Allegiant. But if your goal is more legroom, a guaranteed window or aisle, the ability to board early, or a seat near the front for a quick exit — all of that is genuinely available, for the right price.

Allegiant Seat Types Explained: What You Are Actually Choosing Between

Allegiant's cabin is organized into three main categories of seating, each with its own pricing, location on the aircraft, and benefit set. Knowing the difference before you reach the booking screen saves both money and disappointment.

Standard Economy Seats are the baseline on every Allegiant flight. These seats offer approximately 30 inches of pitch (the distance between your seat and the one in front) and are about 17 inches wide. They are mostly located in the middle and rear sections of the aircraft. Passengers who skip seat selection entirely will be assigned a standard seat at no charge during check-in — but they have no control over which specific seat they receive, and groups or families are not guaranteed to be seated together.

Legroom+ Seats are Allegiant's extra legroom upgrade within standard economy. These seats offer approximately 34 inches of pitch — four inches more than the standard rows — and are typically located in the first row of the aircraft and at the exit rows. For taller passengers or anyone on a longer Allegiant route, the difference four extra inches makes in comfort is noticeable. These are the Allegiant legroom seats most frequently referenced when passengers ask about extra legroom upgrades.

Allegiant Extra Seats are the airline's newest and highest-tier seating product, launched as an experiment in 2019 and expanded significantly since. Allegiant Extra provides a minimum of six inches of additional legroom compared to standard seats (at least 34 inches of pitch, with some configurations offering more), and also includes dedicated overhead bin space and early boarding as part of the package. On select aircraft, Allegiant Extra passengers also receive a complimentary snack — one of the very few complimentary onboard items Allegiant offers. These seats are found in the first several rows of the aircraft (typically rows 1 through 7) and are available only on certain planes within Allegiant's Airbus A319/A320 fleet. Not every Allegiant flight has the Extra product.

Allegiant Exit Row Seats: The Comfort Pick That Requires Responsibility

Allegiant exit row seats are consistently rated among the best available options on the aircraft for passengers who prioritize legroom. Exit rows typically offer the same 34-inch pitch as Legroom+ seats, but with the added benefit of no seat in front of you to recline into your space, and a quicker path off the plane after landing.

However, exit row seating comes with specific requirements under FAA regulations. To book an exit row seat on Allegiant, passengers must meet all of the following conditions:

• Be at least 15 years of age
• Be physically capable of operating the emergency exit
• Be able to understand and follow crew instructions in English
• Be willing to assist in an emergency evacuation

Passengers who do not meet these criteria — including those traveling with infants, passengers with certain physical limitations, and those who cannot assist in an emergency — are not eligible for exit row seating and will be reseated if placed there incorrectly. Allegiant's crew will ask exit row passengers to confirm their willingness and ability to assist before departure. Passengers with mobility challenges who are disqualified from exit row seating can still travel comfortably. If you need mobility support at the airport or during boarding, submitting a request for Allegiant Air wheelchair assistance ahead of your trip ensures you receive the appropriate help without any disruption to your boarding experience.

The Allegiant exit row seat price varies by route and demand, but generally falls in the $30–$55 range per segment. On high-demand routes or during peak travel periods, prices at the top of that range are common. Booking early typically secures the lower end of the price band.

A practical example: a passenger flying from Las Vegas to Portland who is 6'2" would save considerably more in comfort — and potentially avoid back pain — by paying $35 for an exit row seat on a 2.5-hour flight than by sitting in a standard 30-inch-pitch seat and arriving stiff. For passengers with long legs, this is one of the clearest value decisions in Allegiant's seat selection menu.

What Were Allegiant Giant Seats? Understanding the History

Passengers who have searched for Allegiant giant seats may have come across the term and wondered where to find them. Giant Seats were a premium product that Allegiant offered on its now-retired Boeing 757-200 aircraft, which served Hawaii routes until 2015. Those seats were wider and more spacious than anything in Allegiant's current fleet, partly because the 757 configuration on those routes needed to accommodate pilot rest requirements for the longer overwater flights.

When Allegiant discontinued its Hawaii service in 2015 and retired the 757-200 fleet, the Giant Seats went with it. Allegiant's current fleet consists entirely of Airbus A319 and A320 family aircraft, and Giant Seats no longer exist as a product. The closest equivalent available today is the Allegiant Extra product on select Airbus aircraft — which, while not as dramatically spacious as the old 757 Giant Seats, represents Allegiant's current best offering for comfort-focused passengers.

If you see a third-party site listing "Allegiant giant seats" as a current booking option, that information is outdated. The product no longer exists.

Allegiant Seat Selection Fee: What Every Passenger Should Know Before Booking

One of the most important things to understand about flying Allegiant is how the Allegiant seat selection fee works — because it catches many first-time Allegiant passengers off guard during checkout.

Allegiant does not include a seat assignment in its base fare. When you book a ticket, you will be offered the opportunity to select a specific seat during the booking process for an additional fee. If you decline, you will be automatically assigned a seat at no charge when you check in — but you will have no control over the result. That means you could end up in a middle seat in the last row, far from your travel companion, with limited overhead bin access.

Here is how the Allegiant seat selection fee breaks down by category:

A few important rules govern seat selection on Allegiant:

Seat selections can be made at time of booking through allegiantair.com, through the Allegiant mobile app, or later through the Manage Travel portal. Once you have printed or downloaded your boarding pass, seat changes are no longer permitted. This means if you want to make a last-minute Allegiant upgrade at check-in, you need to do it through the online check-in process before downloading your boarding pass — not at the gate. While reviewing, it is also a good time to verify that the passenger name on your ticket matches your government-issued ID exactly. Any discrepancy should be resolved through the Allegiant air name correction policy before your boarding pass is generated, since name errors can cause check-in complications that no seat upgrade can fix.

Allegiant's official seat assignment page also states that if you check in online, the system will show you your auto-assigned seat and give you the option to upgrade at that point. This is the last practical window for a self-service Allegiant upgrade at check-in.

How to Upgrade Seats on Allegiant: Step by Step

How to upgrade seats on Allegiant is one of the most searched questions among passengers who either skipped seat selection at booking or want a better seat than what they initially chose. The process is straightforward but has a specific cutoff point beyond which changes are no longer allowed.

Method 1: During initial booking - The easiest and typically cheapest time to select or upgrade your seat is during the booking process on allegiantair.com. After entering passenger details, the booking flow presents a seat map where you can choose any available seat for the applicable fee. Prices are lowest and availability is widest at this stage.

Method 2: Through Manage Travel (after booking) - Log into your account at allegiantair.com and navigate to Manage Travel. From there, you can view your existing seat assignment (if you selected one) or choose a seat for the first time. You can also upgrade from a standard seat to a Legroom+ or Allegiant Extra seat if availability remains. Fees apply based on the current pricing for your route and travel date.

Method 3: During online check-in - Allegiant opens online check-in 24 hours before departure. When you check in, the system displays your assigned or selected seat and offers upgrade options if available. This is your final opportunity to make a seat change. Once you download or print your boarding pass at the end of check-in, the seat is locked. Keep in mind that completing check-in and securing your seat the night before is also one of the most effective ways to protect yourself from an Allegiant Air missed flight. Passengers who check in early have their boarding pass ready and face fewer time pressures at the airport on departure day.

Method 4: At the airport ticket counter - In limited cases, passengers can ask about seat availability at the Allegiant airport ticket counter before boarding. However, this is not a reliable upgrade path — availability is typically thin by this stage, fees may be higher than online, and Allegiant's staffing model at smaller regional airports may not always accommodate last-minute seat change requests easily. Online self-service through Manage Travel or check-in is always faster and often less expensive.

Can You Upgrade Seats After Booking on Allegiant? The Rules Explained

Can you upgrade seats after booking on Allegiant? Yes — with one important limitation. Seat changes and upgrades are permitted after the initial booking at any point up until you download or print your boarding pass. Once the boarding pass has been issued, no further seat changes are allowed.

This means the window for a post-booking Allegiant seat upgrade is quite generous in practice. If you booked three weeks ago without selecting a seat and want to choose one now, you can do that through Manage Travel. If you selected a standard seat and now want to move to an exit row or Allegiant Extra, that upgrade is available as long as your boarding pass has not been generated.

The fee for upgrading after initial booking is the same as if you had selected the upgraded seat at booking — you pay the difference in price between your current seat and the new one, if you already paid for a standard seat, or the full seat upgrade fee if you did not select a seat originally.

One practical scenario: a passenger who booked a flight to Orlando two months ago without paying for seat selection could log into Manage Travel the week before departure, check exit row availability, and pay for the upgrade then. The price may be slightly higher or lower than booking time depending on demand and remaining availability, but the option remains open until that boarding pass downloads.

How to Get Extra Legroom on Allegiant: Choosing the Right Seat for Your Height

How to get extra legroom on Allegiant is a question most relevant for passengers who are above average height, those with knee or hip conditions, or anyone who simply finds the standard 30-inch pitch uncomfortable on flights over an hour long.

There are two reliable paths to extra legroom on Allegiant:

Path 1: Legroom+ seats (exit rows and Row 1) These seats offer 34 inches of pitch — four more inches than standard. You will find them at the exit rows and the first row of the aircraft. Row 1 is particularly good because there is no seat in front of you at all (it faces the front bulkhead), giving you the ability to fully extend your legs. Exit rows give you the same pitch with the added bonus of no recline from the seat in front.

Path 2: Allegiant Extra seats (select aircraft only) On flights where the Allegiant Extra product is available, these seats offer at least six inches more legroom than standard — the most generous option currently available in Allegiant's fleet. The trade-off is that Allegiant Extra is not on every aircraft, so you need to check availability specifically for your flight.

Practical tip for extra legroom without upgrading: If budget is a constraint and Extra or Legroom+ are sold out or too expensive, the next best option is any aisle seat in the first half of the plane. Aisle seats allow you to extend one leg into the aisle during cruising, reducing the confined feeling of a tight pitch significantly. Middle seats in any row are the worst option for comfort, and seats directly in front of the exit row may not recline (a common configuration that surprises passengers who expect standard recline).

Best Seats on Allegiant Air for Comfort: An Honest Comparison

Best seats on Allegiant Air for comfort depends on what you value most — legroom, proximity to the exit, a quiet location, or window views. Here is a breakdown of the most common passenger priorities and which seats serve each best:

For maximum legroom: Row 1 (bulkhead, no seat in front) and exit rows are the top picks. On Allegiant Extra-equipped aircraft, rows 1–7 in the Extra section provide the most generous space on the aircraft.

For fastest exit after landing: Exit rows and rows near the front of the aircraft. Allegiant Extra passengers in rows 1–7 typically deplane first among economy passengers.

For quietest ride: Seats in the forward third of the cabin are generally quieter than seats near the engines (which sit at the rear on Airbus A320 family aircraft). The back rows closest to the engines are notably louder, especially during takeoff and climb.

For window views without wing obstruction: Seats ahead of the wings (typically rows 1–7) give clear forward views; seats behind the wing (toward the rear) have minimal obstructions too. Rows directly at the wing line will see the engine nacelle in their view.

For traveling with a companion: Select adjacent seats during booking rather than relying on auto-assignment — there is no guarantee that the system will seat parties together when seats are assigned at check-in.

Allegiant Extra Legroom Upgrade: What the Allegiant Extra Product Actually Includes

The Allegiant extra legroom upgrade through the Allegiant Extra product is worth a closer look because it bundles several benefits that individually cost money on Allegiant — making the combined value stronger than the legroom alone suggests.

Allegiant Extra includes:

At least six extra inches of legroom compared to standard seats. On a 31-inch standard pitch aircraft, Extra seats offer 34 inches or more — a genuinely meaningful difference on flights over 90 minutes.

Reserved dedicated overhead bin space above your seat. On a carrier where carry-on bags are a paid add-on, knowing your bin is reserved directly above your seat removes one of the most stressful parts of boarding an Allegiant flight. Passengers who board late often find bins full even when their carry-on is paid for; this eliminates that problem entirely.

Early boarding. Allegiant Extra passengers board before general boarding begins, giving them first access to the overhead bins, time to settle in, and no rush through the aisle.

A complimentary snack. On an airline that charges for everything onboard, a free snack is a small but genuine perk. It is not a meal, but it is something for nothing on a no-frills carrier.

The Allegiant Extra upgrade typically costs $40–$60 per segment, compared to $11.50–$17.50 for Priority Access alone. If you were going to pay for early boarding anyway and need overhead bin certainty for a paid carry-on, the incremental cost difference between Priority Access and Allegiant Extra is often $25–$40 — for which you also get significantly more legroom and a snack. For passengers carrying a bag, the math on Allegiant Extra often makes more sense than it initially appears.

Allegiant Upgrade Cost: A Complete Pricing Breakdown

One of the most common questions from passengers is simply: how much does Allegiant seat upgrade cost? The honest answer is that Allegiant's seat pricing is dynamic — it changes based on route, demand, how far out you are booking, and which specific aircraft is operating the flight. However, the ranges below reflect consistently reported pricing from current and recent Allegiant passengers and official sources:

A few patterns are worth knowing. Prices at the lower end of each range are most common when booking well in advance (4–8 weeks out). Prices increase as the flight fills up and as departure approaches. On popular leisure routes — Las Vegas to Phoenix, Provo to Denver, Asheville to Nashville — demand for exit rows and Extra seats is high, so early booking makes a tangible difference.

The 7.5% federal excise tax applies to Legroom+ and Allegiant Extra seat selection fees for domestic travel within the 48 contiguous states, per Allegiant's official tax and fees page. This tax is included in the displayed price during booking, so no additional calculation is needed.

Allegiant Seat Assignment: What Happens If You Don't Choose a Seat

Not every passenger wants to pay the Allegiant seat selection fee, and that is a perfectly valid choice. Here is exactly what happens if you skip seat selection:

When you check in for your flight — either online (available 24 hours before departure) or at the airport — Allegiant's system automatically assigns you a seat at no additional cost. The seat is drawn from whatever inventory remains unselected at the time of check-in.

The earlier you check in, the better your auto-assignment is likely to be. Passengers who check in the moment the 24-hour window opens generally get better auto-assigned seats than those who check in at the airport counter two hours before departure — because more options remain in the system.

However, there are important limitations with auto-assignment:

Groups and families are not guaranteed to be seated together. If two passengers on the same booking skip seat selection, the system will place them in whatever two seats remain — which could be in different rows or on different sides of the aisle. Families traveling with a baby should also be aware that lap infants require a separate step at booking. The Allegiant add lap infant reservation process must be completed in advance, and the seat you choose will determine Where you and your infant are seated.

Passengers with specific needs — like wanting to be near the front for deplaning speed, or needing to avoid certain rows for medical reasons — will not have those needs factored into auto-assignment.

The auto-assigned seat is revealed when you check in online, and you are given the opportunity to upgrade at that point — before the boarding pass is downloaded. This is the Allegiant upgrade at check-in window that many passengers use to see what seats remain and decide whether to pay for something better or accept their assignment.

Practical advice: If you are traveling solo on a short flight and have no preference about window vs. aisle or location, skipping paid seat selection is entirely reasonable. If you are traveling with others, paying for seat selection — even at the standard tier — is the only reliable way to guarantee you sit together.

Allegiant Priority Seats and Early Boarding: How Priority Access Works

Allegiant priority seats is a term that sometimes causes confusion, because Allegiant offers Priority Access as a separate product from seat selection — and the two are not the same thing.

Priority Access on Allegiant is an add-on that gives you the ability to board before general boarding begins. It does not assign you a specific priority seat or guarantee any particular row. What it does guarantee is that you are among the first passengers to walk down the jet bridge, which means first access to overhead bins and a calmer boarding experience.

Priority Access costs approximately $11.50–$17.50 per segment depending on route. It is worth considering for passengers who have paid for a carry-on bag and want to ensure overhead space above their seat, or for those who simply prefer to be settled before the main boarding rush.

Note that Allegiant Extra seats automatically include early boarding as part of the package — so if you are purchasing the Allegiant Extra upgrade, you do not need to separately purchase Priority Access. It is redundant in that combination.

Allegiant Allways Rewards and Seat Upgrades: Can Points Help?

Allegiant's Allways Rewards loyalty program allows members to earn points on purchases including flights, baggage, and seat selection. Points can be redeemed toward future Allegiant purchases, including seat upgrades. The Allegiant Allways Rewards Visa Card includes complimentary Priority Access as a cardholder perk, which effectively removes the boarding upgrade fee for cardholders on every Allegiant flight.

For frequent Allegiant passengers, accumulating Allways points and applying them toward seat upgrades on future bookings is the closest the airline comes to offering a "free" seat upgrade — though it requires spending on the card or flying regularly to build a meaningful points balance.

Smart Strategies for Getting the Best Allegiant Seat for Less

After understanding all of Allegiant's seat options, the most common follow-up question is how to get a better seat without paying the full upgrade price. Here are strategies that consistently work:

Book early. Seat selection fees are typically lower when more inventory is available. Waiting until two weeks before departure to add seat selection often means paying more for the same seat than you would have at booking.

Consider a bundle. Allegiant offers travel bundles that combine a carry-on bag, seat selection, and Trip Flex into a single discounted package. If you were going to pay for a carry-on and a seat separately, the bundle pricing often makes the seat selection effectively free or very cheap by comparison. If you are still within a day of making your booking and are unsure about the seat category you chose, remember that the Allegiant cancellation policy allows you to cancel the entire reservation for a full refund — giving you the option to rebook with a better seat selection before committing, as long as your flight departs at least 7 days from now.

Use online check-in strategically. If you skipped seat selection entirely, check in the moment the 24-hour window opens. Review the available seats shown in your auto-assignment, then decide whether to pay to upgrade before downloading your boarding pass. You may find a good exit row seat still available at the standard Legroom+ price.

Enroll in Allways Rewards before booking. Points earned on your booking can be applied to future seat upgrades, and the Allways Visa Card includes complimentary Priority Access, which alone saves $11.50–$17.50 per segment.

Check Extra availability before assuming it applies to your flight. Allegiant Extra is only available on select aircraft. Before budgeting for it, verify that your specific flight offers the product — the seat map during booking will show Extra seats if they exist on that aircraft.