[wtwo3]

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/07/10788...irlines-merger



I've flown Frontier but never Spirit. Frontier actually used to be a decent airline, then they went to shit. And Spirit? I absolutely refuse to fly them. The "Walmart" of airlines gets thrown around a lot when describing them.

[shiftdnb]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/07/10788...irlines-merger

Attachment 2807152

I've flown Frontier but never Spirit. Frontier actually used to be a decent airline, then they went to shit. And Spirit? I absolutely refuse to fly them. The "Walmart" of airlines gets thrown around a lot when describing them.

Oof, I fly Frontier every once in awhile for work. It's the only non stop flight I can get to where I go. The seats are garbage but it's A to B the fastest and generally it's the originating flight so usually no issues. It'll be interesting to see what happens to my flight at the end of the month.

[leopard print]

I tried Spirit once. Never again. Don’t care how cheap their airfares are.

[Tommy-G]

I used to fly Frontier to Wisconsin from NJ or NJ from Florida but now I don't fly soooooo......soooo I have nothing useful to add to this conversation. Except I have never flown Spirit

[erickonphoenix]

well, Spirit Air did start as a delivery trucking company.

I think they should just offer to put you under before you board then stick you in a gurney for the trip. Saves space, amenities and when the plane crashes you're non the wiser until you find yourself in line to check in to your afterlife of preference.

[Lucky John]

Their new slogan could be, "We are the Greyhound of the Skies"

[shiftdnb]

If anyone watches F is for Family on Netflix, it sounds like Spirit is Mohican Airlines

[Topcarbon]

Spirit sucks and frontier is ass

[vreihen16]

2 wrongs don't make a right...

...but two Wrights do make an airplane!!!!!

[Joe T]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

2 wrongs don't make a right...

...but two Wrights do make an airplane!!!!!

but 3 lefts do...

[e90335e36m3]

I've flown Spirit 3 times. All were pretty good experiences.

[Alfisti]

I have never done a LCC US airline. Question is, how low cost are they really given the huge fees for even carry on?

[JDMSteven]

I've flown both several times. I PREFER to pony up and spend a little more on a Delta/JetBlue/American/Southwest etc. but other than a somewhat tight cabin it's not as terrible as most people make it out to be. I see this to be a pretty good move.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I have never done a LCC US airline. Question is, how low cost are they really given the huge fees for even carry on?

I flew on one (not involved in this merger) last summer. We drove to our destination, flew home with no luggage, and flew back the next weekend to drive home. Backwards from most people.

The first flight home was OK, despite taking off in a tropical storm. Gladly paid the on-board fees for a non-alcoholic beverage and snack. The plane (A319) was clean, and seemed well-maintained. Definitely no frills, though. No seat-back video, overhead screens, USB charging ports, etc.

The return flight was a completely different experience. The plane (also a Scarebus A319) had two different color temperature LED lighting in the cabin, seemed like the cabin had seen better days, and creaked like a 1980's Chevy plastic interior even on the taxiways. When the takeoff roll started, I was praying that all of the plane's parts all stayed together long enough to get off the ground! The cabin crew was fine, and I gladly paid for non-alcoholic beverages and snacks again.

When we arrived back home after our drive, I did a web search and discovered that this airline apparently borrows planes from a sister airline in South America to cover some of their seasonal routes. That probably explains the wear/tear differences between the two planes.

We have a huge (land area) international airport that's only 5 minutes from home, and the only reason why we flew at all was because this flight dropped us off practically at our front door and not two hours away at another airport. This LCC was the only airline still flying out of our local airport, and I figured that I should support them when the schedules lined up.

With that said, a new LCC with a hub in Iceland and onward connections all over Europe just announced $109 flights starting in a few months. I've always wanted to visit Iceland.....

[BMWGUYinCO]

Just my quick story regarding a round trip flight on Frontier airlines from Denver to Las Vegas a few years back.

Wife and I wanted a quick trip in summer of 2018 so we booked roundtrip on Frontier to Vegas for about a 1 hour flight.

Trip to Vegas was non-eventful....but for the return back to Denver, the plane loaded all passengers, then was stuck at the gate due to a technical error. Bear in mind, it's summer and 117 F outside. We stayed like that for an hour, before they finally made an announcement and disembarked all passengers. We were told to stay in the terminal.

About an hour later, they re-boarded us. We pulled back from the gate, then upon taxiing to runway, the error returned. We got parked on some spot near the runway and sat there....for nearly 3 hours. Did I mention the 117 F heat? Plane was not running AC either.

The attendants didn't even offer to hand out water, but the worst part was, right in front of us sat an elderly couple...one of them was clearly in distress from the heat and tried to ring the flight attendant bell....we could see the attendants just cancelling the call every time it came in without even investigating, and carried on in a pretty casual manner.

Pretty soon, other passengers started to use their cell phones to record video of this and were posting to social media in real time. They were also yelling at the attendants to come and administer help to the elderly person....to no avail.

After the 3 hours, the plane was brought back to the gate, and we were told to get off. We were also told there were no more planes, so Frontier was booking a hotel for the passengers to stay overnight, whereupon we were told to come back next morning at 4:30 a.m.

At this point, my wife and I decided we were heading back to the Wynn for another night - Fuck Frontier. We got back to the Wynn who provided us another room, and booked a flight next day on Southwest Airlines.

I have travelled frequently enough to know that shit happens, on any airlines. But Frontier's handling of that situation, especially the elderly couple, made me swear to never fly that airline again. They ended up sending my wife and I two free, round trip vouchers for another flight to be used within 12 months. I deleted those emails immediately.

Oh, and out of morbid curiosity we tracked that early morning Frontier flight...people arrived by bus at 4:30 a.m. and that flight didn't depart until nearly 10 a.m. So glad we spent extra money and avoided the rest of that nightmare.

For me - it's worth the extra money to fly United, Delta or Southwest.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by BMWGUYinCO

Just my quick story regarding a round trip flight on Frontier airlines from Denver to Las Vegas a few years back.

Wife and I wanted a quick trip in summer of 2018 so we booked roundtrip on Frontier to Vegas for about a 1 hour flight.

Trip to Vegas was non-eventful....but for the return back to Denver, the plane loaded all passengers, then was stuck at the gate due to a technical error. Bear in mind, it's summer and 117 F outside. We stayed like that for an hour, before they finally made an announcement and disembarked all passengers. We were told to stay in the terminal.

About an hour later, they re-boarded us. We pulled back from the gate, then upon taxiing to runway, the error returned. We got parked on some spot near the runway and sat there....for nearly 3 hours. Did I mention the 117 F heat? Plane was not running AC either.

The attendants didn't even offer to hand out water, but the worst part was, right in front of us sat an elderly couple...one of them was clearly in distress from the heat and tried to ring the flight attendant bell....we could see the attendants just cancelling the call every time it came in without even investigating, and carried on in a pretty casual manner.

Pretty soon, other passengers started to use their cell phones to record video of this and were posting to social media in real time. They were also yelling at the attendants to come and administer help to the elderly person....to no avail.

After the 3 hours, the plane was brought back to the gate, and we were told to get off. We were also told there were no more planes, so Frontier was booking a hotel for the passengers to stay overnight, whereupon we were told to come back next morning at 4:30 a.m.

At this point, my wife and I decided we were heading back to the Wynn for another night - Fuck Frontier. We got back to the Wynn who provided us another room, and booked a flight next day on Southwest Airlines.

I have travelled frequently enough to know that shit happens, on any airlines. But Frontier's handling of that situation, especially the elderly couple, made me swear to never fly that airline again. They ended up sending my wife and I two free, round trip vouchers for another flight to be used within 12 months. I deleted those emails immediately.

Oh, and out of morbid curiosity we tracked that early morning Frontier flight...people arrived by bus at 4:30 a.m. and that flight didn't depart until nearly 10 a.m. So glad we spent extra money and avoided the rest of that nightmare.

For me - it's worth the extra money to fly United, Delta or Southwest.

And more than any other airline I've heard stories like these for both Frontier and Spirit (especially Spirit). Our last flight on Frontier was uneventful, but the plane just seemed old and crappy with terribly uncomfortable seats and the flight attendants just didn't seem to care about anything. I don't expect world class service, but is it too much to ask for some basic politeness?

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I have never done a LCC US airline. Question is, how low cost are they really given the huge fees for even carry on?

It's smoke and mirrors... They lure you in with the super low cost flight, only to nickel and dime you for literally everything. Oxygen might be an optional extra for all they're concerned with.

The US already has some of the worst airlines in the developed world, these happen to be the worst of the worst.

[vreihen16]

One thing that I did find odd on my LCC flights was that the seat-back emergency cards were generic multi-lingual Scarebus, with no airline branding whatsoever. I don't know if this is common in the 21st century, but branded emergency cards were the norm 20+ years ago.....

[CTinline-six]

Frontier and Spirit are the greyhound bus of the skies, actually that's giving them too much credit, they are the downtown city bus of the skies.

I've grown to hate air travel, it's such a pain in the ass. All of the airlines DGAF about how they treat their customers. I own a BMW, if I can drive somewhere within a reasonable amount of time instead of fly, I will.

3 years ago I had a conference in MD. I decided to drive as I wanted to make a few stops on the way home. It took me 7 hours, and my company actually agreed to reimburse my mileage. My co-worker decided to fly, and he had to get to the airport a few hours early, sat on the plane while it was delayed, then fought with the rental car company once he landed because they somehow screwed up his reservation. I got to the conference early, checked out a few restaurants, and took a nap in the hotel with my GF before the first meeting. He ended up missing the first meeting.