Spirit Airlines won’t compensate me for flight cancellation

Steve Leadroot was all set to fly from Chicago to Atlantic City for a wedding last September when an airport ticket agent gave him some bad news: The airline had discontinued its service to Atlantic City. As in, it doesn’t fly there anymore.

The company? Spirit Airlines. Now, before you roll your eyes and say, “Good luck with this one, Christopher,” let’s let Leadroot tell his story.

Back in April, he paid $334 for two round-trip tickets through Spirit Airlines’ website. In June, he even received an itinerary confirming his flight.

But when he arrived at the airport, Spirit Airlines started singing a different tune:

The counter-person for Spirit greeted us and informed us that Spirit no longer flew to Atlantic City.

The airline claimed a broadcast email was sent notifying all ticket holders of this change. I NEVER RECEIVED ANY SUCH MESSAGE.

Dismayed and really ticked off, I was left in a bind that required me to purchase tickets on another airline (American) at a price I never would have paid to begin with.

Not wanting to miss the wedding of my niece, I was forced to take the first flight to Philadelphia. My total was $1,142.

Spirit refunded Leadroot’s original ticket while he was at the airport. But he wonders if it shouldn’t cover the cost of the replacement flight, minus the $334 fare he would have paid it.

“Is Spirit responsible in any way?” he asks.

Let’s go to its contract of carriage (PDF).

9.2 Involuntary

In the event that Spirit is unable to provide a previously confirmed seat and is unable to reroute the customer via Spirit, Spirit will refund as indicated below:

9.2.1. If no portion of the reservation has been used, the refund will be equal to the fare paid by the customer.

9.2.2. If a portion of the reservation has been used, the refund will be equal to the amount of the unused portion.

9.2.3. Customers involved in a Spirit Airlines initiated cancellation in excess of two (2) hours will have three (3) options available to them: 1) re-accommodation, 2) Future Travel credit, or 3) a refund.

So according to Spirit Airlines’ contract, the answer to Leadroot’s question is: absolutely not.

But just because the paperwork says you aren’t covered doesn’t mean you shoudln’t be covered. I think Spirit failed to notify him about the schedule change until he got to the airport, and in doing so not only inconvenienced him, but cost him an extra $808.

I agreed to contact Spirit Airlines on Leadroot’s behalf. The airline normally responds to requests like these with either a thumbs-up or, more frequently, a thumbs-down. This time, it pleaded the Fifth; I heard nothing but the sounds of crickets.

That’s too bad. Spirit already has a battered reputation, when it comes to customer service. A small gesture might have helped it score some big PR points. But apparently it just doesn’t care.

Mind you, Spirit didn’t have to do anything. It wrote itself a convenient contract that let it off the hook. And yes, Leadroot should have confirmed his flight before leaving for the airport. But still, this is no way to treat a customer, even when you’re an “ultra” low cost carrier.

Update (7.a.m.): I edited this post to point to the correct part of Spirit’s contract.

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  • Tony A.

    So why do airlines  (and travel agents to create a PNR) require a telephone number if they won’t bother to call the passenger? Isn’t it a reasonable expectation to be called for airline cancellations if someone was asked their phone number?

  • Carver

    My problem with your analysis, though correct, is that it only works in the travel industry.  In most other industries, the breaching party would be liable for compensatory damages which would be the cost the new ticket.

  • Carver

    I dont’ think the onous should be on the passenger to confirm his/her flight.  That seems easy enough unless you are a frequent flier.  I took an unusually low number of flights last year, about 35 round trip flights.  That 70  confirmations for the airlines (RT), 35 for the hotel, and 35 for the car rental company.

    That’s 140 phone calls. That’s too many.  I do agree that confirming travel is wise when traveling during certain challenging times, e.g. holiday weekends, inclement weather, etc.

  • Carver

    I agree in principal that a refund should have been automatically processed.  However, it my experience that many airlines wait until the customer makes a formal request for a refund.  For some reason (sarasm) cancelling a flight doesn’t trigger a refund request.

    Regarding theft by conversion, not applicable here

  • Carver

    That would work in most industries.  For some reason, the travel industry seems exempt.

  • Carver

    “A contract is where both parties abide by the rules laid out, regardless of what they are.”

    Completely untrue

    Within any jurisdiction there is a statutory scheme that contracts must follow otherwise they are void or voidable.

    Some common examples included waiving employee protections such as minimun wage, and wage and hour claims; civil rights claims, etc.

    A contract is voidable if the terms are unconscionable or illusory.  For some reason travel industry contracts appear exempt.

  • Carver

    Unless reaccomodation is a word well known in the travel industry as has been suggested elsewhere.

  • Robert

    Well, yes, contracts can’t do anything illegal or violate rights or the like. However, as far as a monetary transaction for goods/services goes, this one here is not illegal or even that unreasonable.

    And again, it is a bilateral contract that both parties agreed to and either one could have walked away from if they didn’t want to abide by it.

  • Lindabator

    Oh, I heartily agree!  And when I worked for United (many moons ago) they used to have us call on all schedule changes.  But I can’t tell you how many times those phone numbers were no longer in service, either.  Guess it’s just not a perfect world, so CYA by checking up on the booking.

  • Ash H.

    I check this blog often. I find it interesting and a great way to gain a little insight into the travel world.  My comment has nothing to do with the case at hand. It is a simple request to please fix the misspelled word in the article, the word is shouldn’t not “shoudln’t”.

    “But just because the paperwork says you aren’t covered doesn’t mean you ***shoudln’t***
    be covered. I think Spirit failed to notify him about the schedule
    change until he got to the airport, and in doing so not only
    inconvenienced him, but cost him an extra $808.”

    Thanks!

  • http://elliott.org Christopher Elliott

    Actually, that’s what I meant to say: Just because the contract says he isn’t covered does not me he should not be.

    I can see how that’s confusing, with the double negatives. My English teacher would have killed me. I’ll try to write clearer.

  • DavidZ

    Not meant as an authoritative source, but something to get you started:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_of_adhesion

  • DavidZ

    As a tip, read to yourself what you wrote to see if it makes sense. ;)

  • http://elliott.org Christopher Elliott

    Good tip, thanks.

  • http://elliott.org Christopher Elliott

    Good tip, thanks.

  • Joe Farrell

    You know Carver that reaccommodation has several ‘levels’ of meaning – especially in the travel industry.  

    Given the reasonable conclusion that many airlines have interline agreements and Spirit at no location limits its reaccommodation to only Spirit – then what is a reasonable re-accommodation becomes up to whats reasonable in the industry – and what that is is a) prompt personal notification and the b) ability to select another destination on that airline that gets you close to your destination or c) a refund.  

    Depending how close that cancellation is to departure then an offsetting cost additional refund might make sense as well . . . 

  • doctork

    Thanks for advising about Spirit. It will not enter any of my booking plans in the future.

  • Molly

    I hope Leadroot takes Spirit to Small Claims Court.

    I flew on Spirit once, and it was the absolute worst flying experience ever.  (I chose it because it had a better time schedule than my usual airline, and in this instance, time was of the essence. Spirit was a little le$$, but that wasn’t the reason for the booking, timing was – my Dad was dying and I wanted to see him alive for the last hours of his life)  From the check-in process with the rudest ground people I’ve ever experienced, to the downright nastiest FA’s ever who could barely speak english….or any language. They had the communication level of 3 year olds.  They mumbled instructions which prompted call outs by everyone asking  ”What did s/he say?” “Would you repeat that?”  and “axed” us to put our seats up during landing. Before take-off, one FA stormed through the aisles like a tornado opening all the overhead bins and pulling out every single coat and jacket and  threw them down on our heads insisting that we all fly for 6 hours with our coats in our laps because she THOUGHT there was no room in the overhead bins for them.  Of course considering that they were already in there shows her “thought” process to be as evolved as the language skills of her co-FA’s.

     Upon arrival, the baggage conveyer belt broken and the available ones on either side worked fine and when asked why doesn’t Spirit just use one of those, we were told that the other airline would charge Spirit for that and they’re not willing to pay.  When I said I had to leave the airport (remember, I booked this because it would get me in earilier to see my dying father)  and would they please just deliver my luggage to me, they said that if I leave, I’d be considered abandoning my luggage and they take no responsibility and will not deliver it.  So we sat for over 4 hours, after a 6 hour flight,  waiting for luggage on the other side of the wall, which we were not allowed to go and get.

    You’ve got to love abuse to fly that poor excuse of an airline.

  • Bodega

    The airlines disagree with you.  In fact, prior to the internet some international carriers would cancel passengers who did not reconfirm. We use to reconfirm every flight for clients.

    I you get your boarding pass online, you are reconfirming, so no call is needed….but you knew that.  It is your responsibility to check on your flight 24 hours prior as emails and phone calls sometimes don’t reach you.  You should also provide your cell phone number.

  • Psbgsa

    Chris I guess if people were smarter about travel you would be out of a job. When I make plans I check at least weekly for changes. Last year in 3 months the airline changed and rebooked me twice in including a connection that left before I got there. Check, check, check!

  • Michael K

    he sits for 3 months without ever checking his reservation?

    —

    That’s a completely disingenuous comment.  He bought the ticket in April and ORD-ACY service was not discontinued until September 6th–  5 months after he purchased his ticket.

    Do you re-check all your reservations weekly for 5  months?  And then if they are suddenly cancelled in the final days before departure, you accept that shelling out for a last minute full-fare is just the  cost of being a consumer?

  • Michael K

    The guy has no ability to think out of the box

    What do you say about the Spirit Airlines agents who didn’t offer this either?  Either this was never on the table or the employees — who should be the subject matter experts going to bat for their customer — have no ability to think out of the box either.

  • Michael K

    they may have re-routed him if it was feasible

    Then why didn’t they offer him a re-route?

    You can’t have it both ways.  If a re-route was not feasible then there’s no excuse for holding on to his money.  If there was a feasible re-route they were willing to offer then the airport agents messed up.

  • Traveling man

    These cheap airlines need total 100% careful observation. Yes, he is entitled to his original refund, nothing more. This happens all of the time. I have a staff that looks at all of the online booking Airlines 3-4 weeks before flighttime. We have our email in the reservation to know to take action. We read up on flights that being discontinued; things that every good agency does. Normal airlines like Airtran, American, etc. send their schedule changes directly to Travel Agents computers. The online ones maybe send an email, but they do not always come through. I believe the day a the store front ASTA agency is here. We would not have missed this problem. But we would have known about it early enough to re-schedule an alternative trip. The worse travel agents in the world are the same as the worse attorneys – the wons that try to do it for themselves. Paying me $30.00 per ticket against losing $700.00+-hum!

  • Traveling man

    An airline may cancel a route by pushing a button in their computer system. Yes an ASTA travel agent would have been all over this. The flight was probably cancelled 60 days out and that should have been plenty of time to have made new arrangments, not at the original cost, but somewhere in between.

  • Lindabator

    We don’t know if he was offered that or not – just that he wanted to go on another carrier, and since he was at the airport, probably didn’t even want to consider anything else.

  • Lindabator

    I do check several times within that period of time — and of course, you should ALWAYS reconfirm 24 hours prior – he just sat around and ASSUMED that in 5 months there were no schedule changes?  PLEASE!

  • Lisa

    Last time I booked a flight on Spirit, I was required to provide a phone number. I want to know why the passenger was not personally contacted when the supposed email notification was also sent out. I have always received phone calls along with emails for other airlines that have had to cancel my flights.

  • Angry_Passenger

    It’s Spirit Air for crying out loud. I’m to the point that anyone stupid enough to buy a ticket on them should not be helped in anyway. They have been abusing passengers for years and their antics are well known. 

  • Eugene

    This had just happened again to the 150 passengers supposed to be on flight 458 on Nov. 24 from Portland to Dallas.

    It was a late night flight scheduled to depart at 12:05 AM. At the ticketing counter, we were told the fight was delayed because of “bad weather” in San Diego so the flight would be two hours late. This was the only flight to Dallas in the time frame, so all we could do was wait. At the gate, we had to rely on the cell phones with internet access to get update because there were no agents at the counter. People started to question whether the delay was really weather related because San Diego had nice partly cloudy weather all evening and night. Around 1:00 AM came the bad news – flight was cancelled, and still no agents at the gate. Eventually the PA announcement said all flight 458 passengers should pick up the checked in luggage and go back to the ticketing counter.

    We formed a long line at the ticketing counter and there were only two working counter in the first 40 minutes or so and the line moved very slowly. All Spirit did was offering either refund for the unused portion of the ticket, or book the next available flight out of Portland TWO DAYS later. There were no attempts from Spirit to put us on other airlines at all. To add insult to injury, the checked in luggage were neither at the baggage claim or the ticketing counter! Basic what we heard was “Sorry the flight was cancelled, here is your money back and you are on your own and, oh good luck finding your luggage”.

    So we are pretty much helpless in the airport because there was no compensation or assistance from Spirit to make the travel rescheduling less frustrating. Not even a voucher for future travel. People were angry on the phone with Spirit’s customer service and couldn’t even talk to a supervisor. Contacting the media and class action lawsuits were suggested in the conversations I heard.

    I myself had to buy a ticket from another airline at the airport to continue my journey home. Funny the only three flights marked ‘delayed’ on the
    airport flight schedule display that night were all Spirit flights.

  • bodega3

    Why did you buy a ticket on Spirit in the first place? Their tickets are not honored by any other carrier, they have limited flights and they offer crappy service. You got what you paid for and I hope you won’t book them again!

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