Allegiant’s new credit card will be ‘un-frequent-flier program’

David Becker / AP

In this Thursday, May 9, 2013, file photo, two Allegiant Air jets taxi at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

Allegiant Air is a deep-discount carrier with almost no frills, not even a frequent-flier program.

Now it’s gearing up to issue an Allegiant-branded credit card, and though it seems poised to offer some perks, company officials say it isn’t your usual airline plastic.

The Las Vegas-based airline is planning to roll out a credit card in September, executives said Wednesday. They disclosed few details but made it clear that Allegiant, known for its low-priced fares and big menu of add-on fees, isn’t launching a frequent-flier program.

Click to enlarge photo

An image shows Allegiant Air's planned credit card.

“I keep referring to this as the world’s first ‘un-frequent-flier’ program,” said Brian Davis, vice president of communications.

Davis and Chief Operating Officer Jude Bricker discussed the Allegiant World MasterCard during a media open house at the carrier’s Summerlin headquarters.

Allegiant flies mostly from small, underserved cities to warm-weather vacation spots. According to Davis, company officials wanted to look at other airlines’ frequent-flier programs “and then turn it upside down and be the exact opposite.”

He said spending money with the card, set to be issued by Bank of America, on everyday items would help pay for a getaway “or make your vacation better." He didn't elaborate.

Davis also said passengers usually “don’t have a reason to think about us” until another vacation comes around. Now the company wants them to think of Allegiant “the other 51 weeks of the year in their everyday life.”

“Our program is not about getting value by flying on us a lot,” he said. “Our program is about bringing us into your day-to-day life when you buy your gas and groceries and do the things that you have to do every day anyway.”

He also said, without elaborating, that the card would offer “a window into their lives,” giving the company “a better understanding” of its fliers.

With most airlines, Bricker said, the purpose of a loyalty program is to get your employer to pay for a vacation. An employee jets around on, say, American Airlines enough times to rack up the mileage for a free trip or an upgrade to a first-class seat.

“Neither of those two value propositions exist for us,” Bricker said.

For one thing, Allegiant doesn’t have seat classes. It flies “all-coach” planes with assigned seating, although passengers can pay extra for “giant seats” or “legroom+” and to pick where they sit in the cabin.

Asked if the company hadn’t finalized all the details of the credit card, Davis said: “We have; we just haven’t announced them.”

No word yet on how much it might cost to get the card — or, perhaps, whether Allegiant would waive customers’ credit-card fees when booking a flight (up to $8 each way) if they use it.

Allegiant officials did not respond to requests for further comment.

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