A man was arrested at Punta Gorda Airport after refusing to pay Allegiant Air’s $5 boarding pass printing fee. What makes this so absurd is not the fee itself; it’s the man’s overblown response, which included threatening staff and police officers. His behavior left little choice but to take him into custody.

Allegiant Passenger Arrested After Refusing To Pay $5 Boarding Pass Printing Fee

The incident took place at Allegiant’s counter in Punta Gorda, Florida (PGD) on August 3, 2025. Allegiant charges $5 to print a boarding pass at the airport, a fee clearly disclosed on its website. The man objected, arguing he had not been charged last year and demanding that the agent admit he was being denied boarding because he wouldn’t pay.

• He refused to follow instructions and accused the agent of lying about company policy.
• When police arrived, he insulted the officer, grew belligerent, and threatened to sue.
• He threw $5 in cash at the agent, but Allegiant does not accept cash at check-in counters, only debit or credit cards.
• After being warned he could be trespassed, he escalated further, leading to his arrest.

It’s all so comical and all recorded on police body cam:

My Take

This is not a case of an airline scamming a customer or slipping in a hidden fee. Allegiant’s $5 boarding pass printing fee is well-documented and I’m sorry…it’s not unreasonable in 2025 to expect folks to download the mobile app or print out their boarding pass at home. While all this bickering over a $5 fee may feel silly, it is part of the ultra-low-cost model and has been for years. The passenger was wrong to expect an exception (even if one was indeed granted last year), wrong to throw cash at an agent who could not accept it, and completely out of line to threaten the police officer.

It’s very simple: if you cannot handle the rules of an ultra-low-cost carrier, don’t fly one. This man had no basis for complaint and made his own situation infinitely worse by escalating. Getting arrested over $5 is ridiculous, but the blame here lies squarely on him.

As One Mile At A Time rightly noted, this guy would have been a risk once he got on the flight as well.

“Imagine if a flight attendant told him he needed to put on his seatbelt or store his carry-on bag. I’m sure they’d also get a ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about’ response, and he’d accuse them of lying and would threaten to sue them.”

I concur…he was not fit to fly.

CONCLUSION

Allegiant’s fees are not always popular, but they are transparent. This was not a case of consumer abuse, it was a case of a passenger behaving badly and refusing to follow simple instructions. Threatening police over $5 is a fast track to handcuffs. The lesson? Pick your battles wisely…this was not the hill to die on.