Spirit Airlines @ Atlantic City - Horror Story!

[Lewisc]

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

Kids were college age, almost certainly over 18 and possibly over 21. Asking to deplane could have created other issues including forfeiting their ticket and possibly being put on a Spirit "no-fly" list.

 

[mieuxmew]

I am the OP. I wasn't looking to start a big fireworks here!

Yes, I used to be a Spirit fan and had flown them a few times in the past. I have never had a problem with Spirit, but I, along with other DISers, are aware of Spirit's ever changing rules and fees. I have seen too many posts of people who have had problems with Spirit airlines. Spirit keeps on raising and adding extra fees, hoping to catch others not as aware of their rules and these people pay.

I have recently flown on Continential, United, and JetBlue. What a difference. I have not flown Spirit for a year and wish to keep it that way. I consider myself fortunate I have had other choices.

My friends are reasonable people and I feel badly that their trip got off to such a horrible start. I was not there, but my friends are reasonable people. My friend is a clean freak and went to the bathroom because he knew Spirit was not going to service/clean the bathroom on the plane and he really felt he had enough time. There was no final boarding call. My friend said the gate agent saw him and his wife approaching the gate and as he arrived, she closed the door and said they were too late, should've arrived at the airport earlier and would now have to wait until tomorrow. According to both of them, the gate agent was rude and not accommodating. There were still many people in line to board the plane and were not close to pushing off. GA knew their daughters were right on the other side of the door. She refused to open the door to allow either boarding or deboarding. I agree he probably should not have opened the door, but he felt backed into a corner and at the moment felt he had no other choice. Yes, they were adult age women, but to a dad, they are his little girls and he wanted to protect them.

The point of my post was not to start controversy, but to give a heads up to other DISers flying Spirit to not leave the gate area and be ready to immediately board as soon as the plane lands, as you most likely will NOT get a warning. I have small kids and it would not be too hard to imagine as we were about to board the plane one of my kids would need right then to go to the bathroom. Granted, this is a very different scenario, but I would no way take a chance now. Spirit employees are not Disney cast members. We all look forward to spending time with our families at Disney and no one wants to start their vacation off on a bad note. Please know Spirit's rules and fees. Arrive at the airport in plenty of time so if you encounter problems checking in you will still get to gate in time to board. Once the plane is in sight, do not leave the gate area.

 

[keishashadow]

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.

yes, i kept thinking of the delay as lost 'disney' time too

I don't dig deeply on the travel forums other than a few specific topics but wonder if the delay notification might be stated just to skirt the issue of providing possible compensation as to diverted planes

OP i've found this thread to be informative

 

[Lewisc]

My friend said the gate agent saw him and his wife approaching the gate and as he arrived, she closed the door and said they were too late, should've arrived at the airport earlier and would now have to wait until tomorrow. According to both of them, the gate agent was rude and not accommodating. There were still many people in line to board the plane and were not close to pushing off. GA knew their daughters were right on the other side of the door. She refused to open the door to allow either boarding or deboarding. I agree he probably should not have opened the door, but he felt backed into a corner and at the moment felt he had no other choice. Yes, they were adult age women, but to a dad, they are his little girls and he wanted to protect them.

The agent offered the kind of customer service Spirit prides itself in offering.
Sounds like the agent enjoyed closing the door before the adults could board.

The GA was under no obligation to open the door to allow the kids to deplane or to allow the adults to board.

NOT PROBABLY Your friend had no right to open the door. The kids could have simply refused to board the aircraft. Spirit would have been under no obligation to honor the ticket the next day.

 

[duffy]

Yes, they were adult age women, but to a dad, they are his little girls and he wanted to protect them.

It would be wiser for your friend to stop "protecting" his daughters, and teach them how to be self-sufficient.

At their age, they should certainly be able to fly unattended. Don't they all have cell phones? All else aside, there was no reason for your friend to be grabbing doors and trying to force himself on the plane, just to "protect" grown adults.

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

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.

I added the bolding...I just flew Spirit on Friday from MCO to ACY and printed 2 boarding passes at the airport for no charge. I used the kiosk to print them myself.

 

[Lewisc]

I added the bolding...I just flew Spirit on Friday from MCO to ACY and printed 2 boarding passes at the airport for no charge. I used the kiosk to print them myself.

The $2 charge to print BPs at a self service kiosk starts on October 31. Spirit got tired of freeloaders not paying for paper and ink.

People who fly Spirit have to be diligent in keeping current with fees.

 

[Tess'smom]

We had such a horrible experience with Spirit Airlines two years ago that I filed a complaint with the FAA and the BBB in Florida. It would take me an hour to go through the whole story. Spirit did give us all free vouchers to fly again with them and we will NEVER use them. In fact we let them all expire. Both my husband and myself have flown frequently for business and pleasure trips on many carriers but Spirit takes the worst airline award in every category.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

OP again, not trying to be argumentative but you have to remember you're getting a skewed version of what happened. No one can tell a story objectively when they're emotionally involved.

-The daughters are big girls and if they can handle college, they can handle asking to deboard.
-The GA had no obligation to open that door once it's closed, and it doesn't matter if people are still on the jetway or not.
- And like PP said, not PROBABLY, your friend should never have touched the door. Backed into a corner doesn't not justify what can be viewed as a major security threat. He made the situation way worse than it ever needed to be.

Consider it a lesson learned I suppose, and another reason that I'll never fly Spirit.

 

[aubriee]

OP again, not trying to be argumentative but you have to remember you're getting a skewed version of what happened. No one can tell a story objectively when they're emotionally involved.

-The daughters are big girls and if they can handle college, they can handle asking to deboard.
-The GA had no obligation to open that door once it's closed, and it doesn't matter if people are still on the jetway or not.
- And like PP said, not PROBABLY, your friend should never have touched the door. Backed into a corner doesn't not justify what can be viewed as a major security threat. He made the situation way worse than it ever needed to be.

Consider it a lesson learned I suppose, and another reason that I'll never fly Spirit.

I'm one of those people who are always early for everything. I can't stand to be late or to be rushed, so always arrive everywhere early. When flying I'm always at the gate a couple of hours early and just sit next to the desk and watch the planes leaving. Anyway a few years ago I was flying American Airlines from DFW to MCO and as usual was a couple of hours early for my flight, so was sitting right next to the desk waiting. The current flight out of that gate boarded and the GA made the announcement that it was final boarding call for all zones. A young college age girl ran up to the GA and frantically explained that while going through security one of her friends was told by the TSA agent that her carry on was obviously too big and would have to be checked and sent her back out so she could go to the desk to do so. She had called her friend's cell as soon as they started boarding but her friend told her that the line to check the bag was really long, as was security and she was still in the security line, but was trying to get people to let her through. She insisted they had to hold the plane. The GA waited a minute or two then again announced final boarding, then made another anouncement asking for three other passengers (including the young lady's friend and another friend who had apparently accompanied the first when she went back to check her bag). She then told the young lady waiting that she had to close the door and if she wanted on the plane to board now. The young girl was on her cell yelling at the other girls to get there quickly because they were closing the door. She then again frantically insisted that the GA wait just another few minutes, because they had just made it through security and was running toward the gate. The GA apologized, but said they could not wait any longer and for her to either board or she was going to miss the flight too. The girl refused to board without her friends and the GA closed the door. The other two girls came runnning up just a few minutes later and of course demanded the GA open the door because the plane had not yet left the gate, but the GA refused, saying once the door was closed she was not allowed to reopen it and for the girls to go to the customer service desk. Again this was on American, not Spirit. I wonder if maybe the GA could not legally open the door after it had been closed? All three girls were crying, but the GA refused to budge and just sent them over to the service desk to see what could be done.

 

[rewok]

Like many, I always try to go to the bathroom at the last minute before boarding a plane (#1 you never know at what point you’ll be able to go because of take-off queue, turbulences, ... #2 I hate to use them on the plane).

That means, on a busy airport with the arriving plane later, go when that plane gates. This way, I get to the bathroom before the rush of the incoming plane, and have plenty of time while it unloads to even make it back before boarding starts. If the flight is on time, then I go 5 minutes before the official boarding time.

On the little regional airport where I fly out from (BTV), I go when the gate attendant announces that boarding will start in X minutes. It’s small, attendants are relaxed, and unless another plane just unloaded (very unlucky), no wait in the bathroom!

Now I don’t fly very low cost airlines like Spirit & Allegiant for many reasons, one of them being that they have such limited schedules that if a flight is cancelled, I’d lose a lot of valuable vacation time! At least JetBlue, even if they sometimes have issues with weather cancellation & no interline agreement, has several flight outs a day out of the airports they service! And with all the fees, it doesn’t save all that much for no flexibility!