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I will Never Fly Spirit Airlines....

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Just issued a memo to my travel department. My company WILL NOT purchase travel on Spirit Air now or anytime in the future. If you can't see the PROBLEM, then you are a bigger DU$HBAG then most. 10 million veterans and their families and friends think differently of this piss poor decision....

I'm waiting for a real company to step up to the plate and offer the family free travel. Can you say Southwest ???
 
As a vet myself I don't see this sad incident as a reason to boycott this airline. It's not like they painted a picture of Jane Fonda on the tail.

Had they made an exception in this case I'd be more likely to fly them though.

ASIDE:

No, I don't automatically pick the cheapest ticket. I prefer airlines that have some kind of humanity and at least slight nod to customer service in their operations and will pay more to avoid the more horrible rides.

For years I wouldn't fly Southwest because I didn't like their Darwinian seat selection policy. You used to have line up a week early like they were selling the new iPhone or something to avoid a middle seat, and even then you had to fight tooth and claw once the cattle gate opened while the gate agents screamed at you to hurry up.

Now that I can pay ten bucks and not have to jump into a scrum to avoid the rearmost middle seat I'm happy to fly Southwest any time.
 
T-1GUY said:
Just issued a memo to my travel department. My company WILL NOT purchase travel on Spirit Air now or anytime in the future. If you can't see the PROBLEM, then you are a bigger DU$HBAG then most. 10 million veterans and their families and friends think differently of this piss poor decision....

I'm waiting for a real company to step up to the plate and offer the family free travel. Can you say Southwest ???
Click to expand...

Its sad that this man is sick and we all thank him for his military service. I don't see how that has any bearing on the rest of this. Those things don't make him any more worthy of a refund than any other customer who wants to refund their non-refundable ticket. What's with all the contrived outrage? Spirit employs veterans too. So by 'helping' this man, you would advocate hurting those in Spirit's employ?
 
this reminds me of when delta changed their policy on waiving baggage fees for military pax. Only delta did the right thing and got a lot of good press for it. I cant see how anyone would buy a spirit ticket unless they had no other choice finically or other wise. poor service in general and almost no leg room
 
JimNtexas said:
As a vet myself I don't see this sad incident as a reason to boycott this airline. It's not like they painted a picture of Jane Fonda on the tail.

Had they made an exception in this case I'd be more likely to fly them though.

ASIDE:

No, I don't automatically pick the cheapest ticket. I prefer airlines that have some kind of humanity and at least slight nod to customer service in their operations and will pay more to avoid the more horrible rides.

For years I wouldn't fly Southwest because I didn't like their Darwinian seat selection policy. You used to have line up a week early like they were selling the new iPhone or something to avoid a middle seat, and even then you had to fight tooth and claw once the cattle gate opened while the gate agents screamed at you to hurry up.

Now that I can pay ten bucks and not have to jump into a scrum to avoid the rearmost middle seat I'm happy to fly Southwest any time.
Click to expand...


Kudos to you if you actually notice an appreciable difference in service or humanity. That would be hit or miss depending on how the agent/FAs days is going (usually never well). They're all about the same, hence seeking the cheapest seat...
 
JustaNumber said:
Spirit's situation is even more clear-cut than your example. They are selling a perishable commodity. That's what so many people are missing. You are purchasing the rights to a seat on a specific flight at a specific time. When you purchase that ticket, the airline can't sell it to someone else (beyond a small percentage of intentional overbooking). If you don't show up for the flight, it takes the same amount of gas to move that seat, which is a loss if a refund is given and nobody fills the seat.

You're not purchasing the right to travel anywhere, anytime; you are buying something that only exists for a short period of time, and if you don't use it, it can't be sold to someone else. It's like trying to return a gallon of milk after it goes bad, saying that your doctor advised you to stop drinking milk. Should the store give you a refund, now that you prevented it from being sold to someone else?
Click to expand...

I agree wholeheartedly. I don't understand why airlines are held to such a higher standard than the company I purchased car parts from who refused to grant me a refund because they were special ordered parts.

In addition, the Audi dealership I bought some other parts from for the same project refused to accept them in return because they were also special ordered. I tried, but it says right there on the receipt that there are NO REFUNDS ON SPECIAL ORDERED PARTS. I'm out 680 bucks because these "mean" companies won't change their policies I voluntarily agreed to and entered into contract with when I thought I needed them.

If I was a veteran, would these companies be just as evil and mean as Spirit? Not only is the dollar amount higher, but the items are not perishable as Justanumber pointed out!!

And by the way...how much of a veteran would I need to be to get this refund? 4 years in the National Guard? 30 years Marine Corpse as a drill sergeant? Special Forces? Would I need to see combat? Kill people? Be injured? I know veterans in all segments and nobody would have payed any attention to my buddy who did 4 years as a weekend warrior firefighter in the Nat Guard, although he's just as much a veteran as anyone.

As I said before, I avoid Spirit at all costs and I fly for free. God forbid I actually had to buy a ticket on their crappy airline. But this argument is so dumb, it's like blaming Obama for not voluntarily paying more taxes than he was required to because he advocates more revenue for the Federal Government.
 
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kf4amu said:
I agree wholeheartedly. I don't understand why airlines are held to such a higher standard than the company I purchased car parts from who refused to grant me a refund because they were special ordered parts.

In addition, the Audi dealership I bought some other parts from for the same project refused to accept them in return because they were also special ordered. I tried, but it says right there on the receipt that there are NO REFUNDS ON SPECIAL ORDERED PARTS. I'm out 680 bucks because these "mean" companies won't change their policies I voluntarily agreed to and entered into contract with when I thought I needed them.

If I was a veteran, would these companies be just as evil and mean as Spirit? Not only is the dollar amount higher, but the items are not perishable as Justanumber pointed out!!

And by the way...how much of a veteran would I need to be to get this refund? 4 years in the National Guard? 30 years Marine Corpse as a drill sergeant? Special Forces? Would I need to see combat? Kill people? Be injured? I know veterans in all segments and nobody would have payed any attention to my buddy who did 4 years as a weekend warrior firefighter in the Nat Guard, although he's just as much a veteran as anyone.

As I said before, I avoid Spirit at all costs and I fly for free. God forbid I actually had to buy a ticket on their crappy airline. But this argument is so dumb, it's like blaming Obama for not voluntarily paying more taxes than he was required to because he advocates more revenue for the Federal Government.
Click to expand...

All due respect, it's not nearly as dumb as you spelling Corps with an 'e' at the end. Look up the difference between the two and you'll see why it may be offensive, especially these days.

Also, for your "edumacation" - there are no drill sergeants in the Marine CORPS. They're called Drill Instructors.

Just sayin'.... ;)
 
kf4amu said:
I agree wholeheartedly. I don't understand why airlines are held to such a higher standard than the company I purchased car parts from who refused to grant me a refund because they were special ordered parts.

In addition, the Audi dealership I bought some other parts from for the same project refused to accept them in return because they were also special ordered. I tried, but it says right there on the receipt that there are NO REFUNDS ON SPECIAL ORDERED PARTS. I'm out 680 bucks because these "mean" companies won't change their policies I voluntarily agreed to and entered into contract with when I thought I needed them.

If I was a veteran, would these companies be just as evil and mean as Spirit? Not only is the dollar amount higher, but the items are not perishable as Justanumber pointed out!!

And by the way...how much of a veteran would I need to be to get this refund? 4 years in the National Guard? 30 years Marine Corpse as a drill sergeant? Special Forces? Would I need to see combat? Kill people? Be injured? I know veterans in all segments and nobody would have payed any attention to my buddy who did 4 years as a weekend warrior firefighter in the Nat Guard, although he's just as much a veteran as anyone.

As I said before, I avoid Spirit at all costs and I fly for free. God forbid I actually had to buy a ticket on their crappy airline. But this argument is so dumb, it's like blaming Obama for not voluntarily paying more taxes than he was required to because he advocates more revenue for the Federal Government.
Click to expand...

I agree and furthermore there is travel insurance you can buy for when you purchase this type ticket for just this type of event. Being a vet myself I fail to see how I am supposed to get a free ride in this kind of situation..
 
Freight Dog said:
All due respect, it's not nearly as dumb as you spelling Corps with an 'e' at the end. Look up the difference between the two and you'll see why it may be offensive, especially these days.

Also, for your "edumacation" - there are no drill sergeants in the Marine CORPS. They're called Drill Instructors.

Just sayin'.... ;)
Click to expand...

LOL fat fingers I guess...unfortunately I cant edit it, but consider me edumacated!
 
It appears the sick gentleman in question drove from Tampa to New York City to talk about this on Fox News' Fox and Friends show this morning. I'm wondering how he can be prohibited by his doctor to fly on a three hour flight, yet can manage a roughly 1500 mile car trip to be on a news show? My gut tells me something isn't adding up with this story.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/0...pport-after-denial-refund-by-spirit-airlines/
 
Didn't they send him a letter with a one word response? "NO" was the reply he got back. The guy is already upset and they send him a letter like that? With all the goofy sales and things they do, it makes me wonder if a group of teenagers aren't running the place.
 
All above comments are true in there respect, but this case is just a symptom of the Wal-Mart mentality the public has demanded.. But would'nt it be nice if prices were on par with the costs so Airlines made money and airline travel was more like it use to be..

But the rose colored glasses were broken along time ago.. I always buy insurance when I purchase tickets..
 
T-1GUY said:
Just issued a memo to my travel department. My company WILL NOT purchase travel on Spirit Air now or anytime in the future. If you can't see the PROBLEM, then you are a bigger DU$HBAG then most. 10 million veterans and their families and friends think differently of this piss poor decision....

I'm waiting for a real company to step up to the plate and offer the family free travel. Can you say Southwest ???
Click to expand...

As a Vietnam and GW1 vet......

<YAWN>
 
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I don't think that veterans are some sort of "super citizen" that somehow deserve different treatment than any other citizen in a situation like this.
 
The correct way to play this would have been to refund the ticket and quietly announce a policy that terminally ill passengers may receive a refund, given suitable documentation.

As it is, Spirit bought themselves more bad will than they could imagine.

Right or wrong, their CEO is a first-class fool for playing this the way he did. If they had given this guy a refund quietly when he first asked, no one would have known a thing about it.

It's the cowardly bureaucrat that always hides behind "policy" rather than recognizing that once in a while you have to be a human being.
 
I would wager that this is one of the smartest business decisions that Spirit ever could have made. A few hundred veterans may not fly on Spirit again, but thousands upon thousands of people who had never even heard of Spirit before this week heard the news reports, and instead of saying "how horrible what they did to that veteran," they said "wait, there's an airline that offers even cheaper tickets to Fort Lauderdale? Sign me up!"
 

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