Review: Allegiant World Mastercard from Bank of America
Allegiant World Mastercard® Card Overview
The Allegiant World Mastercard, issued by Bank of America, offers 3x points for Allegiant purchases. Those points are worth 1 cent each towards airfare, hotels and rental cars purchased through Allegiant. Its benefits include Buy One Get One airfare when you purchase a qualifying Allegiant vacation package, priority boarding and a free drink when you fly Allegiant. But these benefits, and a weak sign-up bonus, aren't enough to convince most people to get this card, especially with it's $59 annual fee. Card Rating*: ⭐½
*Card Rating is based on the opinion of TPG's editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.
Allegiant is an ultra-low cost carrier, akin to Spirit and Frontier. But unlike it's rivals, it specializes in point-to-point flying between vacation destinations and small and mid-sized markets. It also aggressively markets its vacation packages. While Allegiant has a loyalty program called myAllegiant Rewards, it only exists as part of the Allegiant World Mastercard®.
Who is this card for?
The Allegiant World Mastercard is for those who live in a city with Allegiant service that works for them. Many of Allegiant's routes are not flown by other carriers, and in some cases it's the only airline to offer service to an airport in a small market. It's also a card for those who regularly purchase Allegiant vacation packages.
This card certainly won't offer competitive rewards for purchases, except perhaps for Allegiant charges. Its main audience is people who value the Buy One Get One free airfare offer when purchasing a vacation package from Allegiant.
Sign-Up Bonus: Earn 15,000 bonus points, worth $150 in Allegiant purchases, after you spend $1,000 within 90 days of account opening.
Main Benefits and Perks
This card offers you a buy one, get one free airfare, as long as you use your card to purchase a vacation package from Allegiant that includes at least four hotel nights or at least seven rental car days on the same itinerary. Cardholders can also show their card to receive complimentary priority boarding and one free beverage every time they fly Allegiant.
This card also offers new applicants 12 months of 0% APR financing on balance transfers made within 60 days of account opening. Just keep in mind that it has a whopping 5% balance transfer fee.
Other cardholder benefits include a free FICO score, digital wallet compatibility and all of the World Mastercard benefits. World Mastercard benefits include $5 off of every $25 purchase from Postmates and a a free ShopRunner membership. You also receive numerous travel and shopping discounts.
How to earn points
This card has a very simple point earning structure that offers 3x points per dollar spent on Allegiant purchases, including airfare, hotels, car rentals, attractions and vacation packages. You also earn 2x points on dining and one point per dollar spent elsewhere.
How to redeem points
Points can be redeemed for one cent each towards Allegiant travel, car rentals, hotel stays and attractions. Redeeming points is an option online when you complete your purchase.
Little-known facts about the Allegiant World Mastercard
1. You have to call to redeem the Buy One Get One airfare. While you can redeem Allegiant points online, you have to call myAllegiant™ Member Services, at 702-800-2088 to get your free airfare. These offices are only open from 5 a.m. PST to 8 p.m. PST, Monday through Friday.
2. You can add travelers to your myAllegiant account. This will allow you to quickly book travel for family and friends. While most people might not think this is a big deal, Southwest Airlines currently lacks this basic feature.
3. You can't redeem your points for a Buy One Get One purchase. You have to charge these purchases to your Allegiant World Mastercard.
4. Allegiant doesn't do connections. This is the only airline that I'm aware of that only offers non-stop flight reservations. Even when an aircraft is continuing on to another destination, you have to purchase a separate ticket to travel on it. If you have checked bags, you have to claim them and recheck them yourself.
5. No credit card, no points. Unlike other frequent flyer programs, myAllegiant is really just a credit card rewards program. There are no rewards offered by myAllegiant if you don't have the credit card, and once you close your account, your points disappear.
Bottom line
I don't think this card makes sense for most award travel enthusiasts, but there's a narrow group of people that this card could benefit. These are people who regularly purchase Allegiant vacation packages who can save money with the Buy One Get One offer. For everyone else, there are far better travel and airline credit card options available.