Spirit Airlines @ Atlantic City - Horror Story!

[mieuxmew]

OK - I have flown Spirit Airlines a few times and have had no serious problems
(other than SPirit assigning my 7 year old twins to sit in an exit row and employee seeing nothing wrong with that). Spirit has been increasing fees for seemingly everything but using the bathroom. There have been horror stories reported to this DIS board. I will share another unfortunate horror story my friends had on Spirit a couple of weeks ago at Atlantic City Airport.

My friends (family of 4) arrived 2 hours before their flight to Ft. Meyers, FL. The plane was well over an hour late arriving from another destination. Once the plane arrived, my friend and his wife went to use the bathroom at the airport (Spirit has a history of not servicing bathrooms between flights). Spirit unloaded passengers from the arriving flight and within 5 minutes called for all passengers/zones to board. My friend's two daughter got at the end of the line and entered the boarding tunnel and yelled to their parents to hurry up. As my friend and his wife arrived towards the entrance, the Spirit employee slammed the door shut and refused to allow my friend and his wife to board the plane (although there were still many passengers who were in the tunnel and still not yet on the plane). My friend stated that his daughters were right there on the other side of the door (they are both college kids) and to please allow him to board the plane with his family. The employee was rude and refused to allow them on the plane! He and his wife tried to handle the situation with the employee, but she was apparently very rude and told them they would have to come back tomorrow and he could meet up with his daughters tomorrow in Florida! Keep in mind the plane was not fully boarded yet!! The situation apparently escalated and my friend grabbed the door (which was unlocked and no code had been entered) to get his daughters out. The Spirit employee set off an alarm and a bunch of NJ state troopers came running over and threatened to arrest my friend and call the FBI!! It was quite an embarassing scene and the Spirit employee was lying and told the police that my friend attempted to physically harm her! He and his wife were taken away and interrogated by the police who threatened to call the FBI, stating it was a criminal offense to open the door! To make a LONG story short, the police reviewed the entire video tape, agreed with my friends' side of the story and let them go. Spirit allowed him and his family to fly the NEXT day, so they missed their only day at Disney and a day of their vacation. NOT a good way to start a vacation.

Needless to say, my friend has hired a lawyer and has filed a complaint with the FAA!

I guess the moral of the story is don't ever be a minute late for boarding a Spirit plane! Unfortunately, Spirit has horrible customer service and doesn't really care about it's customers.

 

[Lewisc]

I suspect your friend violated rules when the opened the door, locked or not, particularly after being told not to.

Clearly your friend wasn't ready to board the plane 15 minutes prior to the original scheduled departure time.

The Spirit employee was probably acting within policy. I think your friend is wasting his time with a lawyer, unless he needs a lawyer to make sure there aren't any residual charges pending.

I suspect almost any other airline would have allowed the parents to board. Spirit isn't known for customer service. People who carefully consider the extra costs, are willing to accept uncomfortable seating and horrible (or no) customer service should have no issue booking Spirit. The rest of us have no interest

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

This story has a few flaws.

Spirit can't off load and reload in 5 minutes. Not sure how long your friends were in the bathroom, but...... They were wrong here

And what your friend did is illegal. Which is why the cops detained him. There is no "get out of jail free card" because Spirit was rude. (which is the Soirit norm).

Your friends funds would be better spent on buying a ticket on a real airline then hiring attorneys to try to explain why an airline should pay him for what he did.

The FAA may fine Sprint for not alarming the door, but.....

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Who knows what really happened? Another story repeated by someone who heard it second hand. I don't understand the point of posting this.

If true, why on earth would you leave the gate area to use the bathroom when the plane was about to board, especially if you had ample opportunity to do so earlier? If your friend really did hire an attorney, that's another mistake and waste of a retainer fee. He has no case.

You would think after such a horrible experience, your friends would have flown a different airline home.

OP - I thought you loved Spirit:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2965227&page=2

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Sorry OP, your friend is in the wrong here. Planes are meant to keep on schedule, and if there is a delay, it's even more important to load and unload in a quick and efficient manner. Your friends were not in the loading area, the gate attendant had no way to know which people the daughters were calling to, and had every right to close the door and not allow them to board. Perhaps a little harsh but the employee followed the rules. In the wake of any attempted attacks, are you really surprised that said friend trying to open the tunnel's door was met with the reaction that it was? The gate attendant had no way of knowing if this person was drunk, violent, or what the intentions really could be no matter what they said they were trying to do. If anything the daughters should have requested to deboard, not the other way around.

 

[kaytieeldr]

What's odder still is that they proceeded a maximum of four gates away to use the facilities, after the plane landed but (apparently) before anybody got off the plane. Even a relatively empty plane would take ten minutes to empty, and a light load would take ten minutes to board. Without getting into the TMI zone, there doesn't seem to be much of a reason for them to have missed the flight.

 

[aubriee]

Sorry OP, your friend is in the wrong here. Planes are meant to keep on schedule, and if there is a delay, it's even more important to load and unload in a quick and efficient manner. Your friends were not in the loading area, the gate attendant had no way to know which people the daughters were calling to, and had every right to close the door and not allow them to board. Perhaps a little harsh but the employee followed the rules. In the wake of any attempted attacks, are you really surprised that said friend trying to open the tunnel's door was met with the reaction that it was? The gate attendant had no way of knowing if this person was drunk, violent, or what the intentions really could be no matter what they said they were trying to do. If anything the daughters should have requested to deboard, not the other way around.

I agree! A couple of years ago I was supposed to be on the last Air Tran flight that night out of MCO to DFW. Due to thunderstorms our plane was delayed coming in from Atlanta. The gate agent finally announced that the plane was about five minutes out and if anyone needed to go to the restroom to go now, because they had a very narrow window to get us out (due to more storms approaching). She said that as soon as they could get the plane unloaded that we would need to board very quickly and take our seats. Once the other passengers got off, the gate agent said "all zones are boarding now, repeat business class and zones 1,2 3,4, 5, 6 and 7 board now. Board quickly and store overhead and underseat items quickly. Our window to get you out of here is very narrow". There was a mad dash as everyone rushed to the gate. It was the first time I have seen such an unorganized free for all boarding. Everyone just rushed the gate to get their boarding passes scanned. Even so it took alot more than 5 minutes for everyone to load and get situated, for them to refuel the plane and load our luggage underneath.

 

[Hannathy]

Wrong for leaving the area, wrong for taking so darn much time in the bathroom! and wrong for breaking the law to get to 2 adults who would have been perfectly able to go to Florida on their own for Heavens sake.

And in this day and age of cell phones 2 adults who could have been in contact immediately with their parents.

In this scenario the entire fault lies with the Father.

 

[goofy4tink]

Everyone has brought up excellent points here....there are some things that just don't sound right.
And since we all know where this is headed, I'm shutting it down now....sorry.

 

[goofy4tink]

Okay..upon further reflection, I think there is room for education here. So, as long as things are kept polite, and not snarky, go for it.

 

[Lewisc]

Thank you for removing the lock.

What's interesting is a Spirit "fan" is now seeing a different side of the airline.

I think the parents probably waited until the passengers were deplanning, maybe even waited until boarding started. How many times has a family member made a final "pit stop" before boarding? At least once my wife asked the GA if she had time to go to the bathroom first. The GA looked at her watch and said yes.

Yes the parents were wrong to cut it that close.

Yes they were wrong to open the door.

Yes they're wasting their time with an attorney. BUT

There were passengers still in the Jetway. Does anyone have any doubt a GA for a customer service oriented airline would have seen the couple coming to the gate area and would have left the door open? Would have opened the door since the plane wasn't close to pushing back.

Passengers were wrong in expecting any customer service.

Everyone has their price. Many DIS would do almost anything to save $5. I wouldn't fly Spirit if the total cost was 50% that of "real" airlines.

Add this to the list of "issues" with Spirit:
charge for bin bags
charge for first checked bag
40 lbs weight limit
charge for drinks
charge to print BP at the airport
extremely low pitch on aircraft with new configuration
zero recline on such aircraft
no customer service.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I want to associate myself completely with Lewis... Maybe even go a step farther..

I won't fly Spirit if they PAID me to fly them!

I fly a lot. Airlines today don't do good customer service. We wanted "cheap" fares and something had to give. Safety vs. Customer Service. The FAA makes them maintain the planes. No one makes them be "nice" LOL!

So in an industry known for poor service. Spirit is the US bottom feeder. Flying them supports that model. I put my money where my mouth is in this case.

And in a customer service airline model they do the "last call" and even hunt for folks by name. I hear that every time I am in the airport "Passenger X please come to gate Y for immediate boarding"

 

[DebbieB]

Did they make a "last call" announcement? They should know by the count that they had people checked in but not boarded. The gate agent was being a jerk. If the last person had actually boarded I could see it but the fact that there were people still lined up in the jetway there was no reason he could not reopen the door.

 

[yoopermom]

I was a part of 7 families that needed to get from the UP to Atlantic City last month.

In order to "save money", most drove all the way to Chicago, in order to fly Spirit directly into AC.

Two of us drove.

After hearing the horror stories from the fliers, none of them will ever fly Spirit again. I had warned them (being a good DIS Transportation Board lurker), but all they were thinking of was $$$ saved (not).

At least they all got there, but it wasn't pretty...

Terri

 

[keishashadow]

Spirit Airlines has horrible customer service going all the way up to corporate as to any issue outside the normal flight experience. Unfortunately, they're the only option we have to fly into MYR, but haven't made the trip since our experience with them last summer and not sure we will in the future either.

Airlines and the TSA have so many rules in place that don't leave room for interpretation it seems.Still shaking head to the below who's minding the fort gem.

http://news.discovery.com/human/man-swims-to-jfk-airport-dnews-nugget-120813.html

compare it to the OP's story and it seems security priorities are askew.

OT but reminds of of something: When flying on SWA out of MCO, we often receive the text/email notifications that our flight has been delayed and a new departure indicated; certainly not unexpected with the pop up thunderstorms in the area.

Our last flight we received the text while still in the park. We decided to stay a bit longer but still allow the 3 hours my DH insists upon to drive to airport/gas up rental car.

I was shocked to be told 'hurry' when we checked our bags, just making the time allotment. They had moved the departure back not too far from the original time. No text, call or email was received. I complained at the gate and was told 'the rule' is passengers are still expected to report at the original time

 

[Lewisc]

I complained at the gate and was told 'the rule' is passengers are still expected to report at the original time

Several posters, on various boards, have reported the same experience. I guess it's nice the airline was able to significantly reduce the projected delay but that kind of eliminates the value of your earlier notice suggesting you're flight will be delayed hours. What good is knowing your flight is likely to be delayed 3 hours if you're still expected to be at your gate at your original time?

 

[keishashadow]

Several posters, on various boards, have reported the same experience. I guess it's nice the airline was able to significantly reduce the projected delay but that kind of eliminates the value of your earlier notice suggesting you're flight will be delayed hours. What good is knowing your flight is likely to be delayed 3 hours if you're still expected to be at your gate at your original time?

and you're not able to check your luggage that early either

I thought it was a random thing, thanks (i guess) for verifying that it's not.

 

[bumbershoot]

Our last flight we received the text while still in the park. We decided to stay a bit longer but still allow the 3 hours my DH insists upon to drive to airport/gas up rental car.

I was shocked to be told 'hurry' when we checked our bags, just making the time allotment. They had moved the departure back not too far from the original time. No text, call or email was received. I complained at the gate and was told 'the rule' is passengers are still expected to report at the original time

On my first flight with Virgin America from SEA, we had a stop in SFO. The flight was delayed a long time because of "weather" there. They finally sort of gave up, and told us that we could leave the gate and go get food, that it would be more than an hour.

My friend and I got to a nearby restaurant, ordered nachos and beer. The beer got to us, and the nachos were being carried by the server to us, when a LOUD and frantic message came over the PA, telling us to get back to the gate instantly, as a window had opened in the weather and we had to board NOW. The server had reached us and just told us to go, no need to pay as we hadn't eaten a thing, so we went. (tipped a bit though) It was THAT quick that the weather had changed. It's not just Spirit, it's not just MCO.



When people mess with airline employees it always boggles my mind! The employees have all the control. Well before 9/11, in '95 or '96, a neighbor of my mom's got drunk and rowdy on a plane, yelling at a flight attendant. He was arrested, he was tried and convicted of a pretty heavy felony for that (I do not have the specifics in my head, sorry, but it wasn't something he would have gotten in THAT much trouble for, if he weren't in an airplane at the time). And that's BEFORE 9/11. (and it was the last straw for his wife, who divorced him after he went to prison, so it destroyed his whole life to that point) Don't act up around airline employees!

 

[Greysword]

Kids could have told the FA they wanted to deplane, as their parents were not allowed to board (or just stay on and party in Ft Meyers ).

Spirit would have had to open the door for them if they didn't want to be on the plane, which would have delayed the flight longer and caused the Gate Agent more angst

As for boarding a delayed flight, there are quite a few stories regarding this on FlyerTalk boards, even on the legacy airlines. The same result is to be at the gate 15 minutes before your assigned departure time, especially if the plane is on the ground, as the automated notification systems are not as reliable as we hope. In addition, it seems a plane can board early and close the door, as long as it is within a certain window, so go to the gate immediately to get a status update from the GA.

Finally, don't fly Spirit!! Why would someone do that to themselves and their family? This isn't a secret, so heed the warning now. Pay the extra $150-300 for the group to fly a better airline.

 

[LisaS]

OT but reminds of of something: When flying on SWA out of MCO, we often receive the text/email notifications that our flight has been delayed and a new departure indicated; certainly not unexpected with the pop up thunderstorms in the area.

Our last flight we received the text while still in the park. We decided to stay a bit longer but still allow the 3 hours my DH insists upon to drive to airport/gas up rental car.

I was shocked to be told 'hurry' when we checked our bags, just making the time allotment. They had moved the departure back not too far from the original time. No text, call or email was received. I complained at the gate and was told 'the rule' is passengers are still expected to report at the original time

We had a similar experience on our last flight out of MCO. We received a text/email notification earlier in the day that our flight would be delayed a couple of hours. DH called Southwest and asked when we should arrive at the airport and was told to come as if our flight would depart on schedule, in case they resolved the problem earlier than expected. That left us wondering why they bothered to notify us of the delay since we were expected to show up on time anyway.

We arrived at MCO, saw that the delay was still in effect so we had a leisurely dinner (DH kept an eye on the departure time on his phone). We went to the gate and the departure time kept getting pushed out further and further. I think we were about 5 hours late by the time we actually boarded the flight. I kept thinking how much fun we could have had with those five extra hours at WDW instead of MCO!

Once the plane arrived at the gate, boarding proceeded very quickly. I would not have risked leaving the gate area at that time.