Allegiant Bets on Card Revenue After $1.5B Sun Country Expansion

Allegiant Air wants its co-branded credit card and loyalty program to become a bigger part of its business after completing the Sun Country acquisition in May 2026.

CEO Greg Anderson said credit cards now make up about 5 percent of Allegiant’s revenue, which is still far below the level reached by larger US airlines.

A co-branded credit card is issued by a bank but connected to an airline. Customers use it for daily spending and earn travel rewards. The airline earns money from the bank partnership, even when the customer is not buying a flight. For Allegiant, that makes credit cards a useful way to grow revenue without adding more seats.

Allegiant enters the next phase with stronger results

Allegiant reported $39.3 million in co-brand credit card remuneration in the first quarter of 2026, up 8.9 percent year over year. The company also posted $168M in adjusted EBITDA and a 22.9 percent adjusted EBITDA margin, giving it a stronger base as it expands after the merger.

Its business model also gives it flexibility. Allegiant often flies leisure routes with lower frequency, especially between smaller cities and vacation destinations. This lets the airline reduce flying when demand is weaker or costs rise, instead of keeping aircraft in the air just to maintain a busy schedule.

Sun Country gives Allegiant more scale

Allegiant completed the Sun Country acquisition on May 13, 2026. The combined airline will serve about 22M annual customers across nearly 175 cities, with more than 650 routes and a fleet of 195 aircraft.

The deal also gives Allegiant a more diversified business. Sun Country adds scheduled leisure flights, charter operations, and cargo services. A larger customer base could make Allegiant’s loyalty and credit card programs more valuable, especially if the airline can turn more occasional leisure travelers into repeat customers.

Merger strategy now moves from scale to spending

This follows Allegiant’s broader push to build a larger leisure-focused airline. Earlier, Allegiant agreed to buy Sun Country Airlines in a deal valued at about $1.5 billion, creating a combined network of more than 650 routes. The credit card and loyalty push now shows the next part of that strategy: Allegiant does not only want more routes and customers, but also more ways to earn from them beyond the base airfare.

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