Spirit Airlines- Never Again MCI-DTW-LGA

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After an hour delay in Kansas City MO, for no real reason. Weather was fine. Spirit finally got the plane up. We arrived in Detroit MI where another delay happens. By the time where are ready its 5:30PM to take off, we should have been in NYC by this time. Saying at first we should be off the ground any minute. Then go to saying we should be off the ground in 15. Then 30. Then just keep going on until they finally cancel it. Citing the weather is too bad, even though it would have been fine if they where on time to begin with. We ended up sitting on the plane till 8PM before they finally canceled the trip.

Spirit gave us no knowledge of what was going on. They told us to get off the plane and talk to customer service. By the time I got to customer service (long line) it was 9:30PM. Spirit said the soonest they could get me anywhere was 5PM the next day. That couldn't happen as I already was loosing hundreds in dollars in reservations. I asked how much a refund was. They couldn't tell me, it was gonna be prorated even though I did not want to even be in Detroit. I finally ended up taking an AM flight from United for $400 dollars. At least I actually got there! Spirit wouldn't offer me anything, not even a hotel room. I was forced to sleep in Detroit airport since I didn't have enough money left over.

I was pretty upset in the whole deal. I couldn't even imagine the parents with multiple kids that where with us. I have never seen so much chaos in my life. People screaming, kids crying, I saw a women dry heaving cause she apparently couldn't afford a hotel room with her three kids no husband. She ended up staying in the airport with us with very upset kids. There was also a 14 year old girl with us that couldn't afford a room since she was flying alone. I just remember her crying a leaving as fast as she could.

After arriving in NYC the next day. I got an email from Spirit saying that the flight bound for NYC was delayed again, even a day later. I'm glad I did not take that plane because it ended up arriving at 7:37PM on Wednesday. It was suppose to be there in NYC at 5:37 on Tuesday. 26 Hours late.

The Delta plane left after ours and still made it. It would have been so much cheaper just pay for a nonstop flight from a name brand reputable company. After everything (complaining on social media and talking to customer service) Spirit offered me a $50 voucher that expires in two months.

I guess you live and learn. My parents have never heard anything like it. My grandmother who flies multiple times a year couldn't believe it.
 
Sorry your flights turned out badly. Unfortunately you got caught up in a weather delay that, by contract of carriage (that no one reads) is not the airline's fault and they owe you nothing, literally. Your problem was exaggerated by the fact that Spirit has no agreements with other airlines to get you to your desination when issues like this arise.

My brother in law flew once with Spirit from Denver to Houston Intl, and even though the flight went fine, he will never fly Spirit again.

Now that I am retired, I very carefully choose the airline to get to my intended destination. Due to previous bad experiences, I don't fly Frontier, Spirit or any of the really cheap discount airlines. In general, they are not worth the lower prices they offer.
 
Originally Posted By: JayhawkRoy
Sorry your flights turned out badly. Unfortunately you got caught up in a weather delay that, by contract of carriage (that no one reads) is not the airline's fault and they owe you nothing, literally. Your problem was exaggerated by the fact that Spirit has no agreements with other airlines to get you to your desination when issues like this arise.

My brother in law flew once with Spirit from Denver to Houston Intl, and even though the flight went fine, he will never fly Spirit again.

Now that I am retired, I very carefully choose the airline to get to my intended destination. Due to previous bad experiences, I don't fly Frontier, Spirit or any of the really cheap discount airlines. In general, they are not worth the lower prices they offer.
I have no problem with the weather delay. The way they handled it was the problem. They where late from the beginning. I would have rather just drove if I knew what was coming up. The discount they offer was totally lost and ended up cost me way more time and money. I could have taken first class from United originally and it would have ended up cheaper.
 
I'm old enough to remember when flying was fun, easy, affordable and people dressed & behaved appropriately. I even remember checking my guitar inside with no issues. Further, I only encountered one drunk. He was in my seat. I looked at him square-in-the-eye and told him to leave. He did without incident.

Those days are long gone unfortunately....never again.
 
My brother flew Alaska Airlines last year from Eugene, OR to Phoenix with a plane change in Seattle. They too delayed the flight for no reason, causing him to miss the flight to Phoenix in Seattle. There were no flights left, it was late at night. He flew back the next morning after sleeping in the airport. They gave him a decent voucher after it all though, but he complained on social media.

The cheap comes out expensive. I just flew for the first time in 6 years today with American Airlines, no problems.

I’d suggest disputing the charge on your card, as you didn’t get the services you paid for.

You paid for a flight at X time and didn’t get anywhere near it.
 
Sorry to hear that.

We have taken Spirit a few times, from Atlantic City.

It could be so good, not just on price, but use of small simple airports.

But it’s not. Haven’t used them in years.
 
Originally Posted By: CKN
The Walmart of airlines......


Spirit is the dollar store of airlines.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: CKN
The Walmart of airlines......


Spirit is the dollar store of airlines.


Southwest is the Walmart of airlines. Maybe sun country.
 
Sometimes you get what you pay for. You decided to fly a cut rate low frills nickle and dime you airline with few options when things go bad. They have the right to essentially refund your money and say sorry, you figure it out.

Call it a lesson learned, though delays and cancellations can happen on airline. Just had a 7 hour delay cause me to miss a family funeral today. It happens. Trip insurance would cover hotel cancellations, etc, but since Spirit was chosen I'm guessing that wasn't considered either.
 
Originally Posted By: hatt
If I can't drive I don't go.


So...that trip to a Hawaii... waiting for the bridge to get done?

grin.gif
 
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It's Spirit....you get what you pay for. In my opinion, the only time I would consider Spirit would be on a non-stop flight....give them only one chance to mess up. With connections, it just compounds itself. On the other hand, I hear people flying from Minnesota to Florida for ridiculously low prices.....like $50...
 
Americans... I guess all folks globally ... want cheap ticket prices. Airlines run at the teetering cusp of profitability at least I think they do. Add to that all the variables of aviation and keeping it safe, and this sort of story is just going to happen from time to time. I should have also said add in millions upon millions of passenger boardings annually. Actually, I don't know how the airline employees put up with the flying public, either. Our whole society-- it's like everyone is at everyone else's throat, everything has to be a confrontation anymore. To the OP, I'm not saying this on you, you paid for a service expected to be provided in a pre-agreed manner, to wit: Flight schedule. The realities of running a no frills cut rate airline (air crew scheduling, etc) along with flight safety decisions all came together into a perfect storm of screw-over for you and the rest of passengers. Sorry it happened to you !!

P.S. I want the Captain of my flight to err in favor of not going when the go/no-go decision needs to be made on account of some weather or safety related situation that is borderline. I don't a Coroner team and NTSB team sorting through wreckage picking up charred pieces of what used to be me ... in general aviation we used to call the number one disease that kills pilots "Get-there-itis." Going when you shouldn't go, because you "have to get there." I'm no expert just a lowly private pilot (vfr) who once flew but don't anymore.
 
My best guess is that the Spirit crew timed out during the ground delay and the airline had no reserve crew to take the flight.
Certainly if the airline intended the plane to be at LGA for its next flight they wouldn't have cancelled your flight from DTW without good reason.
To be stranded at an airport one is connecting through is an irritation and we've only had this happen once years ago. I had wife and kids with me and was more than happy to whip out the plastic and spend the night at an airport hotel after a decent meal and a couple of tall glasses of Bass.
That we were also on our way home from a cruise from SJU made the delay a lot more palatable than it would have been we been on our outbound journey as you were.
Anyway, with careful planning and airline selection a lot of these delays can be avoided, so consider this a learning experience.
 
There has been quite a bit of weather in the NE the past fews weeks. My family and I have gone through both LGA and JFK on 3 separate occasions on 3 different airlines with 2 cancellations and (1) 3 hour delay. The challenge with LGA is there are only 2 runways, they are both shorter than most and there are sometimes high winds, add to that all the flights that are tightly scheduled in and out of there. Any rain causes longer braking distances and delays that affect other airports across the country. Even on clear days you'll notice how hard the pilots need to get on the binders once the plane hits the runway at LGA. I have never flown Spirit so I cannot speak to their capabilities.
 
I never hear anything good about Spirit. Have not flown in over 15 years. Just drive everywhere. If I have to fly it would be Delta or Jet Blue. Everyone I know seems satisfied those airlines.
 
My brother's family couldn't make their flight out of the D.C. area to Detroit Thursday night. So American put them up in a nice Marriott hotel in the Crystal city area of DC. Since their flight was early the next morning. He travels 50% of the work week and has a million frequent flyer points. Not just with the airlines but with the hotels and rental car companies. So they probably look at that when they decide on what to do.
 
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