[pamelajane2003]

My grandchildren were minutes late to the gate, the airplane was still there, they were denied boarding. They were treated horribly by staff at gate, left in tears with absolutely no recourse or sympathy. This is two children 8 and 13 who had no control over the situation, they are from a single family home and don't have alot as it is. Spirit has no spirit, no customer service and I believe they were denied boarding as Spirit had already sold their seats to someone else. We had paid extra for seats to be sure they were together on the plane and extra for luggage. What kind of a business can sell you something and if you are five minutes late sell it to someone else, and you get no money back or credit for anything. We need some regulations back in the airline industry. Do we have any recourse here or are we just out of luck.
No customer service here thats for sure. When ever I can I will travel any other way then this airline and will tell everyone I know of this experience. We as a flying public deserve better.

[jimworcs]

Spirit should re-name themselves mean-spirit, but sadly you have no recourse. They make it clear they will do this....and seem to enjoy their notority as a result. You can only resolve never to fly them again.

[Matt_FLL]

Pamela,
I always feel badly for anyone who is denied boarding. This is especially true when it’s a minor. And for the record I am no fan of Spirit Airlines. I never fly them despite being based out of my home airport, Fort Lauderdale.

You sound like a loving and caring grandmother. Logically you see this from your grandchildren’s point of view. However, I invite you to put yourself in the shoes of the other 120+ passengers. Your grandchildren were five minutes late--probably for a very good reason. But a good reason or good intentions does not regain five minutes. It’s still five minutes lost. I don’t think it would be fair to make over so many people five minutes late to their final destination as well. Every flight is given a tight takeoff window. A slight delay from gate pushback can cause the flight to miss the window. Now you’re talking about forcing people to be stranded in a connecting city overnight. These are real people. You mentioned that your grandchildren have a difficult home life. There were other people on that flight in similar situations. Some people flying to see dying relatives, sick children, funerals, weddings, and even young and ambitious men and women engaging in their first business venture. That five minutes can mean making it to point B or not.

Don’t get me wrong—your complaint is valid. There is never an excuse if the gate agent was unsympathetic. But there is also never an excuse to risk losing a takeoff window for a single passenger or party. I’m sorry to hear about this mishap. I sincerely hope that this never happens to you or your family again. Best of luck and safe travels.

Matt

[Ratitong]

I recently bought a round trip ticket LA-SD-LA online at American Airline website for my 17 year old son. It is a no-cancellation or no refund tickets. Any changes after purchase might incurr cost. That's what I understood. We called to find out how much we have to pay because of a change of schedule. The additional cost is very high so he took a train instead for the LA-SD leg without teling American Airline (i.e no show). On his return trip, when he was at the SD counter a few hours before the flight time, he was told his ticket was automatically cancelled. He again was forced to take the train to catch up with his international flight. My question is, is it a rule that American Airline reserved the right to cancel the ticket if he didn't use the first leg? I tried to search such rule but can't find it any where. Does anyone has this experience before? I tried to contact AA customer service but unable to talk to any human. Can anyone give me any suggrstion? Thanks.

[azstar]

This has been discussed many times on this, and other forums. When you buy a ticket between point A and point B it's a contract. When you don't fulfill the terms of the contract, it's a breach of contract and the airline can, and will, cancel the remaining flights and value of the ticket. Also, when you simply don't show up for the first leg of a multi-flight itinerary, the airline has no idea whether you are planning to travel, or not. So, the airline feels they have the right to make those seats available to other passengers. Every airline, without exception, has the same policy. No show for a flight and you lose the remaining seats you were holding.

[Ratitong]

Why can't the airline include the contract on the ticket confirmation sheet or point of sales so the customer knows exactly what the term or condition? That will eliminate a lot of discussion or complaint about this. Most people won't know it unless they face the same problem. How is it fair that the airline can give your seat away when you have already paid for it? It may be fair for them to do it if the customer doesn't show up on time on that particular leg, how is it fair for them to make an assumption that one didn't make it on one flight means they will not take the return flight? I think the airline can improve by stating the roundtrip ticket condition clearly so no wate of time in expalining over and over again. I am not even asking for a refund, I merely want to know how they can cancel ticket without informing the customer in advance? They expect customer to tell them when he/she cannot fly (fair enough), likewise the customer expects the airline tell them when they cancel a ticket the customer already paid for. isn't that courtesy? if I am one of the mangement team of the airline, I will do that to improve communication and reduce misunderstanding.

[azstar]

I agree with you. The terms and conditions of the fare should be readily obtainable and prominently displayed rather than buried in the website somewhere under "condition of carriage". And there are some airlines whose fares are all one way so if you don't take the outbound flights, you can still use the return flights. Those airlines are mostly Southwest, Frontier, Jetblue and the other lower cost airlines. Whenever you buy an airline ticket you have to do "due diligence" and make an effort to find out as much information as you can. Don't ever go by what an airline employee tells you either. Many, if not most, do not know their own policies and will tell you anything just to get you away from them. Look everything up on the airline's website.

[Mota]

I had i flight booked with IBERIA on the 16th of december, i got on the airport on time, done my check in but had to pay for a over weight luggage.... unfortunatly the person that served me at the desk was so lazy that by the time she finished she realised that it was too late to board.
Right now no one is takin any responsability for anything, they say there is nothing they can do about it.
Iberia's customer service is very bad, they employes are very rude,they have no manners.
I lost £1566 and no one is interested in solving this problem.