Nearly one year ago, I booked an international flight for my son (15 years old at the time) and I to travel to the Caribbean to attend a graduation. We expected to be there for approximately 3 days. I thoroughly reviewed the information on Spirit’s website, and it indicated that minors 13 years of age or younger must provide additional documentation if traveling out of the country. I relied on the information on the website, and I reported to the airport only to have a representative advise that I cannot board the plane because my son and I do not have the same last name and because he is a minor (i.e. less than 18 years of age). I was then told, for the first time, that I must either present a notarized letter from my husband (who is deceased) or my son’s birth certificate. Either way, I was simply not getting on my flight. I ended up missing the flight and the graduation.

I complained to the Department of Transportation, and my complaint was eventually forwarded to Ms. Harvey, who, in what appeared to be a CYA letter, essentially failed to acknowledge that Spirit made a mistake. Spirit did, however, change its website in this regard. Ultimately, Ms. Harvey gave my son and I two vouchers to travel on Spirit. Against my better judgment, I attempted to use the voucher last Sunday. I entered the information on the website, and I received information identifying the fees and taxes that I had to pay (nearly $100). I authorized Spirit to deduct only this amount from my account For some unknown reason, Spirit subsequently charged my credit card the entire amount of the fare–despite the fact that I never authorized them to do so.

When I called to complain, I was blamed for not calling the customer service line before and/or after booking my flight (for a fee of course). Again, the website makes no mention of this alleged requirement. I was also told that it would take 7 to 10 days for Spirit to return the money that it misappropriated. In the meantime, I am incurring overdraft fees because Spirit took my money without my permission. This is truly criminal!!!

I haven’t gotten any $9 Fare deals. What’s up with redeeming my rewards without a charge prior to 180 days of booking? $15 = 21-179 days, etc…

Who made up these rules?

I’m so regretting with Spirit Airlines…you’re gonna charge carry-on luggage too starting Jul/Aug 2010??? What the hell???

While I have cut back on using Spirit for the most part, there are still times when they come up with some decent fares. Yet, for my last few trips from the New York area to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Costa Rica, I paid less on Continental. There was no charge to check my one suitcase, and, no charge for a decent seat. Also, the attitude of the flight attendants was a whole lot better. That is probably because they are treated better by their employer.

Spirit claims it has refunded the cost for two of the four purchased tickets, with no credit for the pre-paid baggage, but it has not shown up on our credit card statement. With consistently delayed and cancelled flights, you’d think an airline would be more attune to their customer service. Since they do not, we are now required to take legal action to get our money back (since when is it legal for a company to take your money, not provide the paid for services and then not refund the money paid for such services??) .

Royal Palm Beach, FL

IF YOU THINK ABOUT all of the many economic categories which constitute the American flying public, a collage starts to emerge in relation to who complains about a given situation and the degree in which they perceive of, or are in fact being cheated and generally treated badly by not only Spirit Air, but also in every single instance of shoddy treatment with every major U.S. air carrier today. Yes, a segment of our society has “Walmart mentality”, but it is certainly small, and most of those folks, I would wager, have very limited resources and of necessity will try to ‘save a buck’ when flying is their main, or only, option. Additionally, with todays sorry economy, more and more of us are having to go for the cheapest possible, or not go at all.

GENERALLY, THOUGH, I would think that most of us who fly occasionally are in the majority of, as a guess, 80% of the ‘middle class’ flying public. We fly coach for the most part, try to get the cheapest rate but will pay a bit extra as our situation might benefit, e.g. in my own case, I will fly to Europe this year on Iceland Air, even though it takes longer and is a bit higher priced than a more direct flight with Delta ($850 two years ago, now $1100) because, I try to stay away from the Airbus – “if it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going” – after having been associated with the aviation industry for close to 50 years, I do not trust the Airbus computerized fly-by-wire system (ironic that so much of our U.S. commercial fleet is European built, even our Coast Guard flies mostly French built and has contracted to re-fleet with Spanish built in 2015). Also, Iceland Air personnel are friendly and efficient and the whole experience is generally more pleasant than with any U.S. air carrier I’ve tried, and that’s most.

THE MAJORITY OF US FLY HERE AND THERE, the kids off to see Grandma, visit family, take the 3 day special to Vegas, vacation to Paris or Bahamas, on occasion, and mostly coach. We endure the misery and necessity of long lines, security check-in, having to now pay for all checked bags, snotty agents, delays, missed connections, lost bags, ill-mannered flight attendants, little food, over priced on-board drinks, stuffy air and cramped seating, and now soon to pay for carry-on, with talk in the air of charging for restroom use – where will it end? And for most of us, it’s not something we do very often, but it’s a large number of us that comprise that 80%, often or not.

SOME OF US TAKE THE TIME to get on these sites, these blogs, and complain about all of the crap that the airlines dump on us. But only SOME of us, most don’t. And those that complain here or on other sites could have just as easily sent an email to their reps in Congress or the Senate. We could form better coalitions for flyers rights. There is http://www.flyersrights.org which focuses mainly on ‘tarmac delays’ and did help in getting voluntary implementation of minimums – a real law not getting passed when it was cut off at the knees by the lobbyists – and in any case reporting and compliance only works with the airlines that wish to provide information for public dissemination. Spirit Air does not participate and is not listed. The main point is, we, the great majority, if we could come together, have the power to initiate laws and regulations and fair treatment policies, past the airline objections and threats of raised fees, past the lobbyists. But we don’t, and we won’t, because we are – too busy, and apathetic. And the airlines and the lobbyists know this. That we are getting screwed, we have only ourselves to blame.

SO, WHILE WE CONTINUE TO WHINE and moan on blog sites and to individual airlines, to no avail, the airlines will continue to pull us around by the short hairs. And make no mistake, no matter how short your short hairs are, they will get you anyway, sooner or later, more and more. Now, with Spirit Air charging for carry-on, it is just one more step in the passenger airlines march towards making air travel even more of an expensive and miserable mode of travel than it now is, and, they don’t give a hoot – that is, for most of us, but not all of us…

FIRST CLASS DON’T WHINE. Not on these sites in any case. If you take a good look around, as I have, read all of the various complaints about almost every U.S. air carrier, you will not be able to identify a single complaint coming from someone who flew business or first class. Especially first class. Now, of course those who can afford to travel first class get a much nicer deal – broad seats, tons of leg room, no charge for food, drinks, pillows & blankets etc., etc., and as well they should for 200 to 300% more than coach class for a ticket. More power to those who can afford it, you get what you pay for and all that. And while this inflated cost must also include an unwritten offer of ‘better treatment’, does that translate into extra deference and pointed individual respect? Of course it does, money talks and those who can afford it are assumed to be not only IN first class, but also OF first class – they must be better people than the cattle in the back. Ever heard of “asmallworld.net”?

I DON’T WANT TO SOUND LIKE A SOCIALIST, but if you can afford to pay $3700 instead of $1100 for the same flight, then I think you could afford to sue the hell out of an airline if they mistreated you, not to mention how a given wealthy/celebrity/influential individual could affect how poor publicity might come to bear on this. So no matter how hard you look, you won’t find a First Class complaint posting on any of these sites. Consequently, and unfortunately the conclusion we can take from this is, First Class passengers posses inherent ad hoc rights bestowed by the airline on the basis of real or supposed wealth and/or individual importance – and not to be confused with the extra amenities of their surroundings, IT’S PERSONAL. The unfortunate part of this is that those of us in Coach Class are generally assumed to be of Low Class, as least financially, and therefore cannot assume to receive more than a semblance of deference or personal respect as compared to those in First Class.

BEYOND BASIC FEDERAL REGULATIONS, those who fly Coach Class HAVE NO RIGHTS. Take the example of the flight attendant screaming at a mother because her child made too much noise, or hollering at the owner of a dog because it barked once. Think that would happen it they were in First Class? Not on your life. From the moment you step up to the counter to buy a basic Coach Class ticket you are assumed to be in a class not worthy of any more than basic tolerance, bordering intolerance. You do not have enough money and are not important enough to pose a threat due to any airline impositions you may incur. Are the airlines and their personnel deliberately mean, nasty and rude with Coach Class travelers? No, of course not, but in relation to First Class, they don’t really care all that much, and it happens all too often. Remembering, that beyond the basic rules and regulations of the Government, YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS, and very little if any recourse when being treated badly on a personal basis.

FEAR, THE AIRLINE TRUMP CARD, and we all know it’s there, hovering around us, and if played by some dirt bag flight attendant, big trouble. They can scream at us, ignore us, say rude and unpleasant things, with almost total impunity. But try screaming back at them, try ‘making a fuss’, even if you’re in the right, and you risk being labeled an ‘unruly passenger’ a ‘trouble maker’, with the possibility of getting kicked off the plane and having to answer to the police, or worse, the dreaded Homeland Security. These glorified ‘attendants’ posses way too much power, and they know it. In Coach Class you are automatically considered dirt if you come into any kind of confrontation, automatically, by the attendant and by the authorities. And, counting on your fellow passengers to back you up is a no-starter, we are all under the power of the FEAR FACTOR and I’d be very surprised if a witness would have the courage to step forward to back-up any wrong done to a fellow passenger. If you are in coach, then you do not have any power. YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS!

THE STINKING WEALTHY will continue to fly First Class and don’t give a damn about those in Coach – and it’s true, they do not want your lower class carry-on touching their Gucci. The filthy stinking rich 2% usually fly on private jets, and in any case care even less. Inequities, mistreatment, rudeness and underhanded ploys to skin an extra buck from Coach Class by the airlines will continue and intensify, without opposition it would seem. Do not doubt, that while the whole real scenario of the airlines seeing us as just a bunch of low-life cattle will never get written in company policy, it is, and we are, in any case, talked about in precisely those terms of derision, behind closed doors.

U.S. AIRLINE COMPANIES ARE OUT OF CONTROL, and it’s only going to get worse. No one seems ready to stop them from simply taking the middle class occasional flyer to the cleaners, ‘dollar-ing’ us to the breaking point. The executives continue to receive huge bonuses and hefty bail-out packages and the wealthy just go, ‘ho-hum’. So, all of you Coach Class hobo’s can just bite the bullet if you can’t find a way to coalesce in a way that might generate a realistic and comprehensive flyers bill of rights – or, you could try to save up for a First Class ticket. Vent your anger and frustration on blogs and sites such as this if it makes you feel better, but it doesn’t count for spit.

Looks like Spirit Airlines has announced that it plans to charge passengers $45 for carry on luggage. They will only get away with it, if you let them. They will have some reasons about cutting wait times and other nonsense, but if it succeeds all the airlines will follow. Let’s face it, this is a money grab and should be stopped. So start boycotting this airline now.
Happy travels,
devin