For the uninitiated, Spirit Airlines is a U.S.-based ultra low cost carrier (airline) commonly referred to as an ULCC. Their planes are easily identified by their bright yellow livery and earned the nickname "flying bananas" by aviation enthusiasts. Fares for flights on ULCCs are generally cheaper than mainline airlines like Delta and United, and somewhat cheaper than low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines, though there is much debate within the airline and business community as to whether Southwest Airlines is really still a low-cost carrier, but that's a topic for a different discussion.
Fares for flights on Spirit Airlines, are kept low by offering no-frills flights. There is no free drink, no free snacks, and customers are encouraged to perform tasks themselves, such as reservation check-ins and baggage check-ins. Additionally, the planes are packed with as many seats as possible with little to no pitch in the seats, so the more paying customers that they can get on the plane, the more money they can make per flight. What they don't make in per ticket revenue, they can make up for in volume of ticket sales. The lack of amenities and comfort are not necessarily bad things. To the contrary, ULCCs have opened air travel to a group of people that previously had not been able to fly. Lower income families can now fly to Orlando, for example, for much less than $1,000.
Much to Spirit Airlines dismay, they have earned a sordid reputation due to fights and disruptions on their planes. Thanks to cellphones, you can find numerous videos of arguments, shoving matches, and outright brawls on the planes. Click here to view some.
I had never flown on Spirit Airlines, but in September my wife said she wanted to go to Las Vegas. While reviewing fares, Southwest was about $270 per person one-way. Spirit Airlines, on the other hand, was about $79 per person one-way. I convinced her that we could survive on an ULCC for 5 hours and we would save a lot of money. Plus, as an aviation enthusiast, I want to fly on all airplanes on all airlines!
As my wife's and my 25th anniversary was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic, we decided that this trip would be our celebration. My wife, my 22 year old daughter, and I flew Spirit Airlines flight NK691 on Spirit Airlines Airbus A320 N923NK from BWI to Las Vegas on Monday September 19th.
The first 4 hours of the flight were uneventful. With my window seat, I was enjoying the view of middle America, identifying the Mississippi River, Oklahoma City, then the American Southwest desert.
On the flight, there was a large muscular middle aged man sitting in the row diagonally behind us who was loud and obnoxious the entire flight. He then ordered 3 party platters (is that the right name?). The flight attendant (FA) brought the drinks and the passenger started consuming them immediately. Then the FA returned a few minutes later saying the credit card wouldn’t go through, it was declined. The passenger said he didn’t have another credit card, but would give him $100 cash. The FA said they couldn’t take cash. The passenger said he’ll have to settle it with Spirit when we land. Overhearing this, I thought the situation to be awkward, but given the circumstances, having the passenger settle it with Spirit after the flight lands seemed like the only reasonable option.
The FA said the bill needed to be satisfied NOW. The passenger then got LOUDER and told the FA to get out of his fucking face (his words). He repeated it 2 more times with increasing loudness and more profanities including homophobic slurs. There were 2 sets of gay couples in the row in front of us. The FA held his position and the large burley passenger put his hand on the FA’s chest and forcefully shoved him away knocking him into other passengers, including my 22 year old daughter who was sitting in the aisle seat. The FA then left and there was no further intervention from the flight crew.
The entire plane was aware of the situation and there was an uncomfortable sense of awareness. Some passengers were requesting male passengers to rally and be ready to subdue the passenger, who was easily the largest passenger on the flight.
My family talked about repositioning ourselves as I was in the window seat, but we decided against that as it would be obvious to the drunk raging passenger about what we were doing, and we didn’t want to draw any response from him, but we gave my daughter instructions to get out of her seat immediately and climb onto us or over the seats if it got worse. I overheard the lady in front of us asking the same questions to her partner.
All flight service was immediately suspended as was announced over the intercom. I fully expected an immediate landing, but the flight continued. The next 45 minutes of the flight were anxious, scary, and stressful as the passenger continued to angrily rant about how Spirit sucks, how the FA is a fucking dick-sucking bitch, and the passengers were all a bunch of fucking pussies. This rant never ended for the remainder of the flight. Mind you there are several small children on the flight, as well. We were certain things would get worse when the plane landed - the guy was BIG, like a weight lifter, and tall.
Finally the plane landed and he starts soliciting passengers to get his back if push comes to shove. We waited anxiously expecting the police to board the plane. The flight attendant instructed all passengers to remain seated. We knew what was coming. The flight attendant and pilots disembarked the plane. What was going on? When were the police coming? But after about 10 minutes a flight attendant finally informed us we could deplane. As we were in front of him, we scurried off of the plane as fast as we could. Other passengers outright ran off of the plane.
We finally made our way down the aisle and onto the jet bridge were we were met by 10-15 police officers in tactical gear waiting to board. As we made our way up the jet bridge and into the terminal, there was another set of police officers waiting, along with a crowd of well over 100 people. I can imagine their curiosity as they see lots of police running to the gate. We decided to wait a while so we could see the passenger get arrested and brought off of the plane, but alas, after 20 minutes we gave up and decided to get our baggage and head to our hotel.
This could have been prevented. First, stop selling alcohol. I know selling alcohol is profitable, but I’m confident that these in-flight issues are ALL alcohol-related. Secondly, NEVER give the alcohol to the passenger UNTIL the charge is processed. Finally, though the passenger was abusive and obnoxious the entire flight, the FA should have de-escalated IMMEDIATELY. Once that passenger raised his voice and told the FA to get out of his face, LEAVE. Further intervention needs to be done on the ground for the safety of the passengers and the crew.
Now comes my rant. I'm calling this a "Fine or Whine?", as is used on the aviation podcast Airlines Confidential, which, coincidentally, is hosted by former Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza. People can send in a complaint and Ben and his cohost determine if it's a passenger whine, or if the complaint is legitimate (a fine).
When we got to the hotel, I posted on Twitter that we never expected to be on one of the Spirit Airlines flights where a fight broke out. Very little time elapsed before I got a response requesting more information. after which I sent them what I typed above.
In response, Spirit Airlines offered us three $50 vouchers for a future flight, a voucher which would expire on December 21st, 2022. I thought that was a generous response from them.
My wife said hell no, she was never flight Spirit Airlines again. She was more than willing to pay more money NOT to fly on Spirit Airlines. I, on the other hand, was more than willing to fly on Spirit Airlines again given the cheap fares, so I took them up on the offer.
After talking with my 20 year old son, he said that he hasn't been to too many states, so I asked which state he wanted to go to and he said Texas. I decided on December 21st (the deadline to use the voucher) to book a flight from BWI to Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW). I booked the flight online and entered my voucher number, but to my surprise, it only reduced the flight cost by $8.90, not the $50 value of the voucher. I tried several times, switching from my laptop to the Spirit Airlines app, then having my wife try herself, all with the same results.
I then called Spirit Airlines. After 20 minutes or so, a customer service representative (CSR) answered my call. Unfortunately, you could tell she was working from home as you could hear a child in the background, and the call suffered from an intermittent echo. I explained my predicament and the CSR vowed to help me. She attempted to book the flight on her system and got the same results. Only $8.90 was taken off. She told me I wasn't going to be able to use the full value of the voucher, but she had no idea why. Well, this isn't an acceptable answer. I then took to Twitter.
I sent message indicating that I was unable to book a flight using he full value of the voucher and informed them that when I called Spirit Airlines directly, they were unable to solve the issue. The response from Bonnie was to review the voucher policy, which I read, and I found no restrictions about using the full value of the voucher that would seem to apply to this situation. I was then asked to provide information about the flight I booked, including the reservation confirmation number, the pairing cities, intended dates, and the voucher number. I replied that I hadn't yet booked the flight, so I didn't have a reservation confirmation number, but provided the details of the intended flight. As it was already late in the day, I also requested an extension of the deadline as they were unable to explain why I was unable to use the full value of my voucher.
The next response asked me please provide the reservation confirmation number and they assured me that they were going to help me resolve the issue.
I followed-up that I was confused, because I already informed them that I did NOT book a new flight, but requested an extension of the deadline and assistance in determining how I could use the full value of my voucher.
The next response was from Sage on the 24th, and she requested confirmation of the email address used on the original flight when we went to Las Vegas, which I provided.
The next response was from Yasmin on the 26th, and she asked me to provide the 6-digit confirmation code from the flight from my new flight booking. I replied that there was some ongoing confusion. I re-emphasized that I was given a $50 voucher, but was unable to book a flight using the full value of the voucher, and that I had requested an extension of the deadline as Spirit Airlines has yet to determine why I was not able to use the full value. I re-iterated that I had NOT booked a new flight yet and would not do so until the issue was resolved.
The next response came from Nics on January 1st and informed me that they were experience higher than normal customer requests, but assured me that he would help me if I could provide him the reservation number of the flight in question.
<Sigh>
My next response was: "So clearly no one is reading what I wrote. I’ve provided the information 5 separate times. NO NEW flight has been booked as I have not been able to determine why the full value of the voucher is not being used."
I then got another response from Nics on January 4th. He assured me again (assuming it is the same Nics) that he would help me resolve the issue, and asked me to provide the reservation confirmation number. At this point, I'm thinking that all responses are automated responses.
I performed a copy and paste from my previous message. "So clearly no one is reading what I wrote. I’ve provided the information 5 separate times. NO NEW flight has been booked as I have not been able to determine why the full value of the voucher is not being used."
Later that same day I got another response, though with no name on it. I was asked to provide the reservation confirmation number. It's like Groundhog's Day!
On January 6th, I received a response from Jessa and she said she located my voucher number, but informed me that unfortunately it has expired, but asked if there was anything else she could do for me. She then politely asked me to complete a survey to let them know how well they are doing. Blahahahaha!
As you can tell, dealing with Spirit Airlines is a losers' game. You will NOT get an appropriate response. I firmly believe the system is designed to be aggravating so that you eventually give up.
What are your thoughts? Have you ever had any bad experiences dealing with Spirit Airlines?
