Favorite airline rant copy/pasted from reader comments

wheelsup

wheelsup

Well-Known Member
So this has to take the cake for me. I'm not the biggest fan of 'nickle and diming', and honestly really don't care much for the business model, however it is what it is.

reader comments said:
I flew on Spirit Airlines for the first time in March to Jamaica. The ticket price seemed to be reasonable at the beginning of the ticketing process, but after they charged you for the seat $18 each way and luggage $33 each way, the ticket was not so competitive.

Once at the airport, I incurred a $50 charge for my luggage being overweight by a couple of pounds. I addressed correspondence to the CEO of Spirit Airlines and to the CEO of their parent company. To date, I have not received any form of communication from either company. I will never fly them again. They sent me emails about their sales. I unsubscribed myself. We all should boycott them.
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So this guy paid $102 ROUND TRIP from somewhere in the US to Jamaica. He then has to pay $50 for his bags, which was his own fault for over packing (pretty much everyone owns a scale at home) so just over $200 EVEN WITH the excess bag fee, and the ticket wasn't competitive? To what? Swimming?
 
wheelsup said:
So this has to take the cake for me. I'm not the biggest fan of 'nickle and diming', and honestly really don't care much for the business model, however it is what it is.



So this guy paid $102 ROUND TRIP from somewhere in the US to Jamaica. He then has to pay $50 for his bags, which was his own fault for over packing (pretty much everyone owns a scale at home) so just over $200 EVEN WITH the excess bag fee, and the ticket wasn't competitive? To what? Swimming?
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I think it is just the business model that people object to. Tell me what the ticket costs - don't entice me with teaser rates and then load me up on extra fees - just sell me the damned ticket. That is the incredibly irritating part for me. A long time ago, when you bought a new Mercedes (or BMW) there weren't a whole hell of a lot of options. Color and interior color, etc. That was a beautiful business model - You are buying an expensive car, M-B made the car they wanted to sell you at "x amount" and that was it. It was much better than picking Corinthian leather or whatever else - and that was truly when buying a Benz was a different kind of experience. Still good - not like it was though.
 
Wow. Someone has an over developed sense of entitlement. We live in a Wal-Mart world with a, everything should be as dirt cheap as possible, Wal-Mart mentality. I doubt a Greyhound bus fare, not to Jamaica of course :), on a trip with equivalent miles across 4 or 5 states would be that cheap.
 
Henry Ford had the best business model ever. Yes sir you can have your Model T in any color you want.....as long as it's black!!!
 
wheelsup said:
So this has to take the cake for me. I'm not the biggest fan of 'nickle and diming', and honestly really don't care much for the business model, however it is what it is.



So this guy paid $102 ROUND TRIP from somewhere in the US to Jamaica. He then has to pay $50 for his bags, which was his own fault for over packing (pretty much everyone owns a scale at home) so just over $200 EVEN WITH the excess bag fee, and the ticket wasn't competitive? To what? Swimming?
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The VLCCs depend on sucking you in with a low sticker price and then gouging your eyes out with fees. This is their model. This is how it has always been and how it always shall be, but for some reason, people will put up with it and convince themselves they got an awesome deal. Which may or may not be the case.

Not commenting on the model, merely stating "yep, that's how it works".
 
Autothrust Blue said:
The VLCCs depend on sucking you in with a low sticker price and then gouging your eyes out with fees. This is their model. This is how it has always been and how it always shall be, but for some reason, people will put up with it and convince themselves they got an awesome deal. Which may or may not be the case.

Not commenting on the model, merely stating "yep, that's how it works".
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In other news the sky is blue
 
This story of a local guy is what's causing a lot of recent animosity.

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_n...nes-no-refund-policy?chromedomain=usnews&lite

I like the people who say "well I'll never fly Spirit again!" Yes, but please show me the airline that simply refunds your ticket because you can't go on the trip. Spirit even offered him a credit for another flight, but since he's dying, he says that isn't good enough. Isn't this what trip insurance is for? And why does being a veteran somehow change it?
 
Murdoughnut said:
This story of a local guy is what's causing a lot of recent animosity.

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_n...nes-no-refund-policy?chromedomain=usnews&lite

I like the people who say "well I'll never fly Spirit again!" Yes, but please show me the airline that simply refunds your ticket because you can't go on the trip. Spirit even offered him a credit for another flight, but since he's dying, he says that isn't good enough. Isn't this what trip insurance is for? And why does being a veteran somehow change it?
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People try that all the time and it bothers me. I have nothing but respect for veterans, but vet status doesn't somehow exclude you from basic social rules.
 
It's the airline business' own fault that they've fostered unrealistic expectations amongst passengers in terms of ticket costs.

Either that, or many Americans are self-entitled idiots.
 
I don't think it's just Spirit. I've seen numerous times where people are screaming about how they paid X amount of $ and think they own the plane. "Well security held us up, that's why we are late." Gate agent(s) calmly explain, "Sorry you missed you're flight but 150 other people made the flight on time."
 
contactground.9 said:
People try that all the time and it bothers me. I have nothing but respect for veterans, but vet status doesn't somehow exclude you from basic social rules.
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Ironically, people in the military often have such a sense of entitlement. I'm in the Navy and I see it all the time.

Yes, the occasional discounts are nice... but I don't expect or demand them.
 
Murdoughnut said:
This story of a local guy is what's causing a lot of recent animosity.

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_n...nes-no-refund-policy?chromedomain=usnews&lite

I like the people who say "well I'll never fly Spirit again!" Yes, but please show me the airline that simply refunds your ticket because you can't go on the trip. Spirit even offered him a credit for another flight, but since he's dying, he says that isn't good enough. Isn't this what trip insurance is for? And why does being a veteran somehow change it?
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"I'll never fly [airline name] again!"

"Yes you will..."
 
How great would it be if the airlines had their own "no fly" list. Unruly or rude passengers get added and then can't fly. Ever. Would be hilarious! and good news for Greyhound stock.
 
Hacker15e said:
It's the airline business' own fault that they've fostered unrealistic expectations amongst passengers in terms of ticket costs.

Either that, or many Americans are self-entitled idiots.
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These are not mutually exclusive.

This "bait" business model is effective if irritating. People feel duped because they forget the following phrases:

"If it's too good to be true, it probably is."
"Read the fine print."
"Caveat emptor."

As for that self-righteous sense of entitlement, it is probably the number-one behavior that makes me cringe over our continued survival as a species.
 
I have no problem with the Spirit model.

They're giving the consumer exactly what they're asking for. America wants to click the lowest price and claims no responsibility for reading any of the fine print. Last I checked the website, it's pretty clear that there are a variety of fees too.

Did he really think $18 was "reasonable"? What the hell, that would barely but a beer and a hamburger at the local tavern, but you want to fly 500 miles per hour on a multi-million dollar jet, across an ocean and well, $18 is reasonable.

I don't even work for Spirit but I want to punch that guy in the mouth! :)
 
What drives customers nuts about pricing is that nobody pays the same amount, they don't understand why, and there's little transparency. Passengers in a 140-pax 737 will have paid 140 different fares, even before they check a bag or buy a snack. All they want to know is how much from A to B with a checked bag, a Coke and a bag of pretzels. Instead of maintaining a transparent pricing system, airlines compete based upon the lowest published price, and then add a bazillion fees. I respect and appreciate the crew and employees, but I hate the airline and the industry.

Remember the story earlier this week about appendectomy prices? They ranged from $1,500 to $180,000. You can't simply call a hospital and ask "how much?" Similar to the airlines, I respect and appreciate my surgeon and his medical team, but I hate the hospital and the industry.
 
Soul Brotha' said:
I don't think it's just Spirit. I've seen numerous times where people are screaming about how they paid X amount of $ and think they own the plane. "Well security held us up, that's why we are late." Gate agent(s) calmly explain, "Sorry you missed you're flight but 150 other people made the flight on time."
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We get these people all the time especially at our outstations where the ticket agents are also the gate agents. On the website it says "be at the airport 2 hours prior and at the gate 45 minutes prior." You would be suprised at how few people can read...or how many people think they get get to the LAS airport 30min prior to the flight leaving and actually make it through the security line.
 
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