Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Spirit, the worst airline in the world.

When Spirit first started flying, I heard a number of my friends saying it was the way to go. The fact that I have not heard anyone say that recently should have warned Me that all was not well.

For Christmas, I decided to go to Florida, but my credit card started acting up, so I asked my daughter in law Michelle to check out a good rate and book me a ticket.

Well, she chose Spirit, and I did not have a problem with that until I arrived at the airport.
To begin with, my luggage quota said 2 bags and when I arrived with my two bags, the attendant said it meant one to go to Florida and one to return home! Wow. 

I had never seen that version of 2 bags before.

Anyway, since my luggage was light, I decided to combine the bags. Six pounds overweight. Would you believe the attendant wanted me to pay $50 for the 6 lbs!

Well since my travelling companion's bag only weighted 25 lbs, I told the clerk that we would combine bags. No, she said, that bag had gone through already so I must pay for the overweight. Only when we asked her to call the supervisor did good sense prevail and since our combined weights were far short of the 80 lbs, she decided to let it go through.

Fight one over.

Then we boarded and I could not adjust my seat, so I asked the flight attendant how to do it. Oh, the seats are pre-adjusted for maximum comfort she assured me smilingly. In other words, passengers had no option to adjust their own seats. See me there with my long legs curled up in a seat that felt like a minibus.

Fight two lost.

I pledged all the way up that I would never fly Spirit again and have been pledging that every time someone mentions flying. I had planned to complain to the authorities about the baggage deception but what they heck, been having a wonderful time here so can't bother.

 After all, I will never have to have anything to do with Spirit again after I return home next week. Thank God for choices. No wonder Jamaicans have been referring to Spirit as the "duppy airline", (a spirit in Jamaica is a duppy. ie. ghost!)

Then to add insult to injury, when I returned to Jamaica on the 6th January 2012, it was without one of my checked-on bags as Spirit had tagged it to Mexico City instead of Jamaica!  Who knows, maybe I will get it by the 11th January (so they say) or maybe I am going to have to make a claim for lost luggage and spend the rest of my life waiting for compensation.

 What next with Spirit?

 I won't be able to tell you, as that airline will never get my business again.

1 comment:

  1. I think you were lucky with Spirit Joan, because they always charge me for every bag. I had already accepted it that charging for every bag was standard with Spirit. They must have slackened off for you.

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