Is This the End of the Budget Airlines?
I read the other day the Spirit Airlines had filed for bankruptcy, AGAIN, for the second time this year. As part of the reorganization effort 1,800 flight attendants were laid off. What a shame. They had such a promising start too! I don’t recall ever traveling on a “budget” airline. Most of my travel was corporate and our travel department basically avoided all but the big three airlines. Even when I wanted to fly on a low-cost carrier to Las Vegas, for their direct flight (and at a lower fare), it was always a battle to get it approved! 😅
By sticking with one airline for those trips to the same city every other week for 2½ years I racked up lots of Frequent Flier miles. When it came for a personal trip to Hawaii, I was able to score two business class tickets! Even in my personal travel I shied away from budget carriers. I just viewed them as too unreliable and realized that those promised low fares came at the cost of cramped seating and lots of hidden fees.
Do you travel mostly on the big three or are you a fan of budget carriers?
What is your best ( read “worst” ) airline travel nightmare story?
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I drive.
For me, if I fly thru Denver, my flight will be delayed and or canceled. That town is jinxed for me flying
I've had pretty good luck there, though the most recent trip included hiking the length of the terminal to make a 30 minute connection.
Would you consider "Allegient" a "budget airline"? That's what daughter and I took to Vegas last May. I don't fly often, but it was nice to fly out of the Springfield airport after her graduation and Allegient has cheap-ish direct flights from there to a handful of destinations. I think we were on United when we went to Houston from Springfield (again direct from SGF) a couple years before. I typically don't even check the "jet blue" type carriers as you hear so many horror stories of cancelled flights and I usually need to GET there and GET HOME. But the big carriers (especially Southwest) aren't all that dependable anymore either. And they all charge way too much for luggage - thus my learning to pack light/put the must have stuff in a backpack I put under the seat. I have had a couple times of running through the airport or being the last one on before the door closes because flights got changed and I didn't know it until I got to the gate. The worst was when I traveled with hubs and son in 2002 so not only was I stressed about the last minute flight change, I had already been super stressed about traveling with my one-year-old for the first time.
I absolutely consider Alli-giant a budget airline. I've done more than my share of running through airports. Back during the 2.5 years of bi-weekly trips, my scheduled connection time in Dallas on the return leg was 45 minutes, but I still made most of them.
I don't remember the last time I flew anywhere. Wait...was it 2019? I went to visit my sister in Cali. Flew into LAX, missed my connecting flight to Santa Barbara, and had to sit in a van with too many people for 3 hours. Ugh.
Oh man. I bet that van trip was the true low point for the trip!
All I wanted to do was sleep, and these people wanted to talk!
When I did travel for business, companies I worked for handled all the travel arrangements. Thus, I was delegated as frequent flying freight on major carriers regional puddle jumpers from major airports, even if the site was in reasonable driving distance. Once, my manager commented that I was going to spend a whole non-billable workday, flying on three different flights to two airports, before getting on the third airplane to a site in OKC, but had to pay me for that one way day. Repeat process for the return trip. I could of driven to that SITE in four hours. Against the rules they said, but they got all the those travel points, rental car, plane tickets and hotel, to use for Upper Management to fly to various Golf Course's for business deals.
The fly/drive decision was basically left to us, as so many factors there. I did like to drive if it was within reason, most because when I was done, I could leave!
I've used budget carriers in Japan. Sure, you don't get the same level of service you'd get from ANA or JAL, but they get the job done. Flight delays happen, but cancellations don't happen all that much.
It's a balancing act for sure.
Delta has more or less of a monopoly at MSP, so that's what I fly most of the time. My travel company booked me on Icelandic to Iceland, which made sense since it was the only nonstop option from MSP. I would say Icelandic has a bit more of a budget feel to it than Delta.
For my trip to Mexico in January, there's a good chance I'll take Sun Country. Delta doesn't even go to Ixtapa.
Once Delta bought Northwest, MSP became a big hub for them, and it is one of about 7 places I can fly nonstop.
Sun Country - Adventure ahead! 😂
I has been years since I've flown but when I do, my airline options are limited by where I live, where I want to go and the fact that I want a direct flight. Budget carriers are seldom as budget-y as people think.
I've only had two bad flying experiences and neither was the fault of the airline. Both involved low pressure systems and my mom.
Sooo many ways for flights to go bad.
Could bring back this type of service
That might spike ridership!
I've never flown a budget airline. I am not against it, but it's more the destination and schedule that makes my choice. My worst travel story was on a return trip from Luxembourg City. I was with a group of friends, we had all booked through the same tour company. At the counter, I was told my ticket was not valid. They could see it, but it was not good. Well, damn. The flight was leaving soon. I went to the airline office and they were not able to sort it out. The tour company office wasn't open yet. Plane leaving in a few. I had to by another ticket and barely made it. The tour company made good and reimbursed me for the new ticket, but never could explain what happened.
Glad it all worked out for you!
As a former airline employee it depends which version of bankruptcy Spirit has filed for. Don’t remember the Chapter but most likely one for restructuring. This allows the airline to reduce costs. Unfortunately employees are being laid off.
Yes, Chapter 11 (reorganization) versus Chapter 7 (liquidation). I think in this case it was 11( x2, guess the first one was not a success).
I have travelled on budget airlines but rarely have been a good experience. I guess you get what you pay for?
Those stewardesses look as if they have something stuffed down their pants!
Full bushes?? 😂
I'm questioning if that photo wasn't "adjusted" (though not by me). Hard to believe those were actually their uniforms, but it was just too fun an image to pass by.
Mmmmm!
No joke!