Ryan Ludtke’s family vacation in Fort Myers, Fla., ended on a bad note when they flew back to Chicago on Spirit Airlines.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking: Of course it did. He was flying on Spirit Airlines.
But consider what happened to Spirit last week, when the carrier made two decisions that drew an immense amount of publicity, much of it unexpected.
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Noreen Ismail seemed to have an airtight case against Spirit Airlines. Its transgressions against her, her husband, and 11-month old included overcharging her for her carry-on luggage abandoning her in Boston and making promises it never intended to keep.
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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.
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Basili Alukos spent almost a month in the hospital this summer and his doctor told him he couldn’t fly. He had several trips planned, including one on Spirit Airlines.
Could Spirit refund his nonrefundable ticket if he showed it proof that he was sick?
Now before you say, “Of course not!” consider what would happen if the roles were reversed. If a Spirit flight couldn’t operate because a crewmember got sick, and there were no available flights for Alukos, the airline couldn’t just keep his money.
So there are exceptions to every rule.
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Spirit Airlines’ “$9 Fare Club” is probably one of the most controversial legal travel clubs in the country. Scratch that. It is the most controversial travel club in the country.
The problem isn’t that customers are offered lower fares in exchange for joining the club ($59.95 a year) but that they’re automatically renewed, as per the club’s terms. That’s often a surprise, and it seems to be a scam, at least to some customers. Even scammier: Spirit is reluctant to refund the autorenewed $59.99, even though the customer no longer wants to be part of the club.
Rules, says Spirit, are rules.
Meet Judi Breinin, one of the club’s “victims.” Rather than narrating her story, I’ll just replay the correspondence between her and Spirit.
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Dana LaRue says she was sexually assaulted on a Spirit Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Chicago.
Her story may sound familiar because LaRue publishes a popular bridal blog, and it’s been picked up by several other media outlets. What you might not know is that, at the urging of my readers, I’ve been trying to help her get in touch with Spirit to resolve her complaint.
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