Allegiant Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 Seat Selection Guide (2026)

The two seat-map traps on Allegiant's 737 MAX 8

Allegiant's Boeing 737 MAX 8 is the high-density 8-200: 190 seats, which is more than the standard MAX 8 airframe is certified to carry. Boeing clears the extra ten passengers by adding a second pair of exit doors behind the wing, and those doors are why this cabin looks slightly odd on a booking map. They also create the first of two traps.

Trap one: extra legroom with no window. The aft exit doors sit in the 26A and 26F positions, which is why row 26 is only four seats wide. Row 27 sits immediately behind them and picks up the extra pitch that comes with an exit row. But the doors displace two cabin windows on each side, so 27A and 27F have no window at all — they are window seats in seat-map terms only. If you want row 27's legroom, take 27C or 27D on the aisle, or 27B and 27E in the middle. Do not pay for 27A or 27F expecting a view.

The same thing happens further forward without any exit doors to explain it: 12A and 12F are also windowless, with solid fuselage where the window should be. That row is otherwise unremarkable, which makes it easy to pick by accident.

Trap two: Allegiant Extra that isn't extra. Allegiant sells 21 Allegiant Extra seats on this aircraft — rows 1, 2 and 3, plus 4D, 4E and 4F. Rows 1 to 3 genuinely have the extra pitch: 33″ against a 28″ standard, and the row spacing on the cabin plan bears it out. Row 4 does not. It sits at exactly the same spacing as row 5 behind it. Buy 4D, 4E or 4F and you are paying for a forward seat and early access, not for legroom.

Nothing reclines — and that changes which seats are good

Allegiant fits fixed-back slimline seats across its entire fleet, and the MAX 8 is no exception. No seat on this aircraft reclines. That single fact inverts two rules that hold almost everywhere else:

• The row in front of an exit is normally a seat to avoid, because it can't recline. On Allegiant, row 15 loses nothing — it never had recline to lose. Treat 15B, 15C, 15D and 15E as ordinary seats.
• The first exit row is normally the worse of the pair, for the same reason. Here rows 16 and 17 are equivalent on recline, so the choice comes down to windows and the exit-door aperture beside your shoulder.
• Nobody's seatback comes into your lap. On a 28–29″ pitch that is worth more than it sounds. The flip side: you sit bolt upright for the whole flight.

Cabin-by-cabin: where to sit

Allegiant Extra — rows 1–3 (and 4D/4E/4F)

Best pick: 2A. Only five seats on this aircraft have a perfectly aligned window — 2A, 22A, 22F, 29A and 29F — and 2A is the only one of them with Allegiant Extra pitch behind it. It also has a normal seatback tray table, which row 1 does not.

Think twice about row 1. It is the bulkhead, so the tray table folds out of the armrest — which makes the seat physically narrower, and 1A and 1C are flagged as narrower than standard for exactly that reason. Row 1 also sits between the forward lavatory (on the A/B/C side) and the forward galley (on the D/E/F side), so you get the queue on one side and the service noise and cabin lights on the other. You are paying an Extra premium for a compromised seat.

Row 3 is the quiet choice — full Extra pitch, clear of the bulkhead, and 3F has two windows alongside.

Skip 4D, 4E and 4F unless the only thing you want is to be near the front. See the trap above.

The exit rows — rows 16 and 17

Best seats on the aircraft: 17A and 17F. Row 17 is the second overwing exit row. It has the extra pitch, two windows alongside each window seat, and no seatback in front of you. Because nothing reclines on this aircraft, there is no trade-off to weigh.

17B and 17E are the best middle seats on the aircraft outside Allegiant Extra — a sentence that is rarely worth writing, but at 190 seats an extra few inches in a middle seat matters.

Row 16 is nearly as good. Same extra pitch, one window per window seat rather than two, and the exit-door aperture sits beside 16A and 16F. If row 17 is taken or is charged more, row 16 is the fallback, and 16C and 16D give you the aisle with the extra pitch.

Standard economy — rows 4–15 and 18–31

Best windows: 22A and 22F. Perfectly aligned, mid-cabin, and far enough forward to stay clear of the rear lavatory traffic. If you want a window and are not paying extra, this is the row to ask for. 29A and 29F are equally well aligned and are the last good window seats before the rear zone.

Windows to avoid because the opening does not line up with the seat: 5A, 5F, 11A, 15A, 15F, 18A, 18F, 21A and 21F. You end up looking over your shoulder rather than out beside you. Note that 11F is fine — it is only the A side of row 11 that is misaligned.

Rows with two windows each, which gives a noticeably wider view: 8, 20, 23, 28 and 30 on both sides, plus 17A/17F, 3F and 11F.

There is no row 13. Row 12 is followed directly by row 14, with no gap in the cabin — the number is simply skipped.

The rear — rows 31, 32 and 33

The lavatories sit behind row 33, with the galley alongside them on the B–E side. That makes the last three rows the worst part of the aircraft, in escalating order:

• Row 31 — close enough to catch the queue and the noise, but not directly against it. Tolerable if you are boarding late and have no choice.
• Row 32 — immediately against the lavatories. Noise, odour and a standing queue in the aisle beside you.
• Row 33 — the last row, backing onto both the lavatories and the galley. 33A is narrower than the rest of the cabin where the fuselage tapers. This is the single worst seat on the aircraft.

Cabin features at a glance

Quick-pick summary

How to tell which Allegiant aircraft you're on

There is no version lottery within the 737 MAX 8 — every one of Allegiant's is configured identically at 190 seats. The lottery is which aircraft type gets assigned to your route, because Allegiant flies four different cabins:

• Boeing 737 MAX 8 — 190 seats, rows 1–33. The densest of the four.
• Airbus A320 — 186 seats in one sub-fleet and 177 seats in another. The 177-seat version runs rows 1–31.
• Airbus A319 — 156 seats, numbered rows 3–29. The smallest, and the roomiest of the four in practice.

Three tells you can use at booking, in order of reliability:

• A four-seat row 26 — no 26A, no 26F — is unique to the MAX 8. Nothing else in the fleet has it.
• If the cabin starts at row 3, you are on the A319. It is the only Allegiant aircraft with no rows 1 or 2.
• If there is a USB port at your seat, you are on the MAX 8. Allegiant's Airbus fleet has no in-seat power at all.

Allegiant's MAX fleet is growing — it has 737 MAX 7s on order as well, which will be a shorter aircraft with a different cabin when it arrives. We'll cover that separately.

Related guides

The same aircraft at other US airlines — useful for seeing what 190 seats costs you against the same airframe flown less densely:

• Southwest 737 MAX 8 Seat Map & Best Seats
• American Airlines 737 MAX 8 Seat Map & Best Seats
• United 737 MAX 8 Seat Map & Best Seats
• Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 8 Seat Map & Best Seats

The rest of Allegiant's fleet:

• Allegiant A320 Seat Map & Best Seats
• Allegiant A319 Seat Map & Best Seats

Other US budget carriers, and where Spirit's routes went:

• Frontier A320neo Seat Map & Best Seats
• Breeze A220-300 Seat Map & Best Seats
• Sun Country 737-800 Seat Map & Best Seats
• Spirit Airlines Is Gone — What Flies Your Route Now — Spirit ceased operations on 2 May 2026

And one non-US comparison worth a look: Ryanair's 737 MAX 8-200 is the only other guide on this site covering the same high-density airframe, right down to the four-seat row created by the extra exit doors.

Frequently asked questions

Is Allegiant Extra worth paying for on the 737 MAX 8?

In rows 1, 2 and 3, yes if legroom is what you want — 33″ there against 28″ standard. In 4D, 4E and 4F, no: row 4 sits at ordinary row spacing, so you are paying for a forward position rather than legroom. If you want space and are not fussy about being at the front, 17C or 17D in the exit row give you comparable pitch at no charge.

Which seats on the Allegiant 737 MAX 8 have no window?

Four: 12A, 12F, 27A and 27F. 27A and 27F are the frustrating ones, because they sit in the exit row behind the aft doors and carry the extra legroom — the doors displace two windows on each side, leaving a blank wall. Take 27C or 27D instead.

Do Allegiant's 737 MAX 8 seats recline?

No. Allegiant fits fixed-back slimline seats across its fleet and the MAX 8 is no different. The upside is that nobody in front can drop a seatback into your knees; the downside is that you are upright for the whole flight. It also means the usual reason to avoid the row ahead of an exit doesn't apply here.

Why is row 26 only four seats wide?

Allegiant's MAX 8 is the high-density 8-200, which carries an extra pair of exit doors behind the wing so it can be certified for more than 189 passengers. Those doors occupy the 26A and 26F positions, so row 26 runs B, C, D, E only. It is a good row for a couple: no third seat to share with a stranger.

Which rows should I avoid on Allegiant's 737 MAX 8?

Rows 32 and 33 back onto the rear lavatories and galley, and 33A is narrower where the fuselage tapers. Row 31 catches the lavatory queue. Avoid 12A, 12F, 27A and 27F for the windows they don't have, and 5A, 5F, 11A, 15A, 15F, 18A, 18F, 21A and 21F if window alignment matters to you.

Does the Allegiant 737 MAX 8 have WiFi or seatback screens?

Neither. There is no WiFi and no in-seat entertainment. Every seat does have USB-A and USB-C power, so bring your own screen and charge it in flight.

Is there a row 13 on the Allegiant 737 MAX 8?

No. The numbering runs 12, then 14. There is no gap in the cabin itself — the number is simply skipped, as it is on many airlines.

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