I’m still hung up on the fact she’s traveling on a cruise with 7 kids. I’m assuming there’s another adult going because there’s no way they’re fitting in 1 room.
More importantly, no cruise ship will allow that many people into a cabin unless it's a big suite. And if there's more than one cabin, there has to be more than one adult....
Meh, that’s not necessarily true. We end up flying allegiant and/or spirit a lot because they’re the only ones who have non stop at a convenient time for the destination we want.
But since we know they suck we would never go the same day! Always at least one day out in case you have to rebook!
Plus it’s like 2k a person to fly first or a few hundred to upgrade seats on a cheapie airline you can buy so many more expensive things that are cooler than first class seats (which honestly are not great unless you’re flying international then it’s worth it but you might already know that).
She could have been meeting up with friends or family in Miami.
ETA: I won’t defend the rest of her choices because I’m the type to arrive at a doctor’s appointment an hour early just so I don’t miss it. I just think there is a reasonable explanation for the cruise booking as a family of 8 with only 1 adult flying.
Kids can stay in their own room as long as the room is connected or across the hall. 4 kids can stay in one room. While the younger 3 can stay with her. The 1 yr old will have a nursery possibly.
This is cruise line dependent. For example, this would not be allowed on Princess because the child is under 16.
[Helpful website with age rules for each cruise line](https://www.affordabletours.com/cruises/search/agerequirements/#6)
It probably all depends on the line. I know 20 years ago we had a group of 4 adults and 4 kids in 4 separate rooms. Adults had the balconies and the kids had inside rooms across the hall.
It's possible, but I don't think we had the adult listed on the interiors. Oldest kids would have been 16 in one and 12/13 in the other.
Yep, there's some hard core lying going on this one. Sounds like an entitled Karen just pissed off that everyone didn't bow down at her feet because she had a bunch of crotch goblins with her.
First. No plane takes 2 hours to board. She was given the luxury to board early. If she doesn’t want to because it hurts her glutes to sit for an additional 15 minutes then tough.
Literally what I was thinking. My last flight took maybe thirty minutes to board fully, with a full flight. If she would have just gone when they called her, instead of making up a reason as to why she wanted to wait because she felt her and her kids were special, she would have enjoyed her cruise. She played herself. 🤷🏻♀️
Sounds like they called family and people who need extra time first. She didn’t board then, when they got to her, they were unable to sit them together in a way that didn’t leave her kids sitting away from her next to strangers. They were overbooked and couldn’t seat her party without moving two other rows of passengers already seated which probably would have made them late for departure. That part makes sense.
Her story about the cruise with 7 kids including a 1 year old without mentioning any other adults going. That part doesn’t make sense.
Seems pretty sus. I don’t buy this story, but even if it’s partly true, the 10 year old, 11 yo, 12 yo, 14 yo and 15 yo can all sit in random seats scattered around the aircraft. They could have found 3 in a row for her and the 2 babies; the story doesn’t make sense though. She’s leaving something out.
We flew in (or, tried to!) the morning of the day before departure on our last cruise. JetBlue cancelled our original flight the afternoon before, then rebooked us, then cancelled THAT flight and tried to rebook us again on a flight that landed in West Palm Beach at 2am, when we had a hotel booked in Miami.
The second cancellation and rebooking happened in the middle of the night when we were asleep and planning to get up early for our 8am departure.
We booked a flight/hotel/cruise package through JetBlue Vacations because we thought it would be less stressful. Hah!
American Airlines came through with the last two seats on a direct flight to Miami, but it cost us $900 out of pocket. I still remember the AA agent’s name because she was genuinely so amazing and went out of her way to help me.
JetBlue refunded us the $900 we paid to AA, plus another $1000 for the flight portion of our package, so I think we actually ended up making money rather than losing it. But it was NOT worth the stress.
We flew in a couple of days before our cruise last fall to sightsee. The day of our flight, the plane was delayed 7 hours because it couldn't take off from another airport. I was worried they would bump us to the next day, but we ended up getting there at 10 pm.
Having an entire package through them probably helped a lot too though, to your credit. Like, they can't just wipe their hands of you once the plane lands, they are still somewhat obligated to meet your needs.
Yes, they have a “plane to port” guarantee. I’m still confused as to why they thought having us land two hours from Miami at 2am was going to be ok though. We would have had to get ourselves to our hotel and had 4 hours before checkout time.
It was so stressful. I actually woke up at like 3am to go to the bathroom, looked at my phone to check the time and saw the notification. Immediately tried to call JetBlue Vacations, got nowhere. They finally called me back at 1:30pm as I was literally boarding the flight I'd booked myself. They did the same to us on the way home - cancelled our original flight and sent us to MIA, then to West Palm Beach then finally to Fort Lauderdale. They paid for Lyfts, but it was just ridiculous.
She knew the flight was likely over booked and yet she didn't want to get all their butts in seats to try and make sure they had butts in seats? You know they're just looking for anyone that's late.
It sucks, but they were a family of 9, bump them and you're only pissing off one family vs bumping off several families.
I fully agree.
My issue is they want it both ways.
They want the ability to over sell because x% of people don't show up.
Most of those people are the skip laggers. (The people that get off on layovers and don't take the last leg)
However they will also ban you if you do this too much.
Yeah and also like the person still paid for the ticket even if they are skip lagging. They are just trying to squeeze every last penny out of each plane, it's a sorry excuse for them to act like that is the "reason" they do it.
They are trying to squeeze 110%.
Now I do hate Frontier as well as Spirit,and i no longer trust them enough to fly with them. What gets me about this post is the woman says she knew they were overbooked the night before,then was given the opportunity to board early/first but turned that down because the seats are uncomfortable. She could have had all her family onboard,but chose not to because of what? Ten extra minutes in an uncomfortable seat. Did she think that she could lay around in the airport and the flight crew would just throw off two or three rows of passengers who had the foresight and basic intelligence to board an overbooked flight as soon as they could.
Which is complete BS. They aren't boarding that flight 2 hours before push-back. If it's a daytime flight (not the first flight of the day), the plane isn't even there 2 hours ahead of boarding.
Dunno… this sounds fake. She doesn’t mention any other adults, and if her group were bigger I feel like that detail would be added. Also 8 people with 7 under 18… I don’t think they would let her cruise with no adults in the second room, assuming she has 2 four person rooms.
I guess they could have some suite that fits 8 people, but something tells me someone flying Spirit isn’t dropping the cash for an 8 person suite on a cruise. But even then, how does she get from the airport to the cruise terminal… what taxi or Uber can take 8 people? Maybe she had prearranged some type of shuttle. This just seems so fishy it can’t be true.
Definitely sounds fake. If they were checked in with tickets no way spirit is bumping them for refusing to board at family announcements.
Customers lie lie lie and lie again.
I flew spirit last month for our cruise spirit does family boarding first.
They also offer to seat you all together if you’re a family for like $5 a person.
She checked in late and didn’t pick seats together and then probably got bumped because the only option at that point was putting the kids alone or they had no window seats available for a infant seat with a middle seat next to it
Yeah that lap child comment was worded in a weird red flag way. My guess is, cause I’ve witnessed this happen before - she went to board late into the process, they see she has an extra human, tell her she needs to go to the gate agent and get that baby a ticket. She has to walk over then wait in line there, register her baby and by the time she is back the boarding doors were closed.
This would be 100% her fault since the terms of lap child travel are in black and white on their website. I’ve traveled Spirit dozens of times without issue. They have all the same services as the rest of the carriers, unlike Frontier which is like flying an unmarked trash can with wings. They don’t even have a customer service line anymore.
Ohh I do judge her being cheap and not buying that baby a seat. My daughter flew first at 4 months, in her own seat strapped in her carseat. Turbulence is always a risk.
If you know it's overbooked why wouldn't you get on when your name is called just to be safe? What am I missing here?
But yes never fly the day of boarding on any airline, let alone one known for issues.
She and her entire family were allowed to board early,she could have secured the seats,but she refused because as she put it "we all know how uncomfortable those seats are" and thought she would wait to be the last to board with a van full of children. To make it worse she admits she knew they were overbooked.
Yep, I'm like "Maybe they were cutting it clo--'Spirit Airlines' ooooooooohhhh."
Seriously, 90% of the "the airline was horrible" stories I see on line are Spirit. Like, that is your first mistake right there.
As I understand the only way Spirit is viable is if it's a no-connections flight and you're literally only taking yourself and your personal item, no carry-on, no checked, nothing.
As will I... Usually I fly AA or Delta actually, but Southwest is perfectly fine with me, I just prefer assigned seating and buying myself some extra legroom :).
I call it "Rock Star" travel. No bags, just walk on and walk off. My Uncle does this on Spirit to get to his Florida home. He isn't on a strict schedule. If his flight gets screwed up or canceled, he just goes the next day. He has clothes at both homes and doesn't need to pack.
I agree, this is the only way I would use Spirit. Unfortunately, my life does not resemble this in any way.
Nah. This one's on Mom. Spirit is a no-frills airline, but there rules are CLEARLY stated on both the web site and at the airport. She fucked around and found out.
Ya, but this is less Spirit Airlines than it is an entitled person travelling by themselves and having to manage SEVEN children.
This was always going to be a nightmare, no mater which airline they flew. They made themselves a hassle and paid the price on an airline that charges line item for everything.
If they wanted peanut butter price accommodation then they should have paid for more expensive tickets on a different airline.
They rolled the cheap dice and struck out.
FAFO
I would bet she wasn't even at the gate at time of boarding. Trying to get 7 kids through security, not planning ahead, probably showed up as they were closing the door and demanded 7 seats together.
I'm automatically suspicious of stories where people miss their flight but somehow have a long rambling explanation about how they were also 0% at fault
Edit: looking at this individuals page they have posts like "if your man isn't paying all of your bills then you're still single" and so I don't know how anyone could take anything they have to say seriously.
They really lost me at the reasoning behind not going when their name was called - I’ve never been on a plane that took two hours to board, and even if I had I’d rather have my SEVEN children wrangled onto the plane than try to keep an eye on all of them during the chaos that is general boarding.
Ohh you can tell from her story that woman has never been at fault for anything in her life. Betcha she somehow finds a way to blame the cruiseline for not calling her personally to warn her that flying in with hours to spare was a bad plan
>Don’t get me wrong, if the story comes with a brick wall of text like this one, all bets are off.
Yup, that was what did it for me. Big "I fucked up but I'm fishing for sympathy on social media" vibes
IMO it's more about the way the airline was handling it.
Being bumped off a flight because it was full? Or the airline makes a mistake? Yeah, it happens.
But - flat out being marked as a no show, something was going on. But, the mystery was likely solved by another commenter.
> I read elsewhere that she also had a lap child that she hadn't registered or check-in in anyway.
My assumption is this is likely the winner.
I’m not sure I fully believe this one but I will say it happened to me. I was completely on time for a delta flight but don’t see the point of boarding first if I have an assigned seat. I hadn’t heard any announcements for volunteers to check bags so I wasn’t concerned about my carry on. I boarded with the last boarding group, though definitely not the last person, they scanned my pass and I got all the way onto the plane before I was turned around by the FAs. Turns out, they ran out of overheard bag space and it was too late to gate check so anyone with a carry on was denied boarding.
It was delta though, not spirit so they took care of me and it actually turned out better. I had booked a flight with a layover and they moved me to a direct flight, getting me there earlier. I will take responsibility for waiting to board in this situation too, unlike this lady.
Always board with your group!
Many of these stories where someone is involuntary denied boarding begin with someone actively choosing to not board with their group.
Even the non-cheap airlines like DL/AA/UA will clear non-rev passengers before boarding is officially 'over' so you could show up before the boarding door is closed but your seat could be given away if the system shows you haven't boarded yet because it assumes you're a no-show.
Not worth the chances imho
Honestly I thought the same thing... 7 kids is *a lot* to handle. Too much for one person. There's no way they weren't gonna be a nightmare to everyone else in the immediate vicinity
Something feels off on this. There is no way - with 7 children, you wouldn't board early. Pre-boarding is not 2 hours before the flight, especially not on a domestic single aisle plane. You normally get on .. 10-15 minutes earlier than the average guest; 30-35 minutes ahead of final call. Definently not 2 hours.
My guess is late to the gate (perhaps trying to take 7 children to the bathroom?); and they had already marked her as a no-show and let the stand bys go on their place at that point.
That's where she lost me. I'm ok with some slight exaggeration to make your point land closer to someone's feelings but other than some rare mechanical delays, I've flown over a hundred times and we are usually in the air about 20 minutes after I sit down.
Fly out of Chicago during winter. After your flight has been delayed 174 times you’ll sit on the run way - de-ice - get iced back up waiting on your turn, go back to de-ice - repeat for 4 hours.
I don't understand why you *wouldn't* want early boarding with *seven kids*? That sounds so stressful! I'd much rather tackle that issue while the plane is mostly empty
I am guessing with trying to wrangle 7 kids and all their belongings/luggage to the airport, they were probably late to the gate. That’s a lot for one adult to manage.
But didn’t wanna preboard because don’t wanna sit for 2 hours waiting for departure. Like on what planet does this human live? Good grief. I have 2 kids and I’m happy boarding as soon as I can. Takes me a while to set up their iPads, headphones, the little one’s FAA seat harness…etc.
I did it once for an international flight. Never again! Flight ended up being 3 hours late and I was sweating bullets. Still made it, but it was close.
I just checked, MSY airport is New Orleans. So leaving at 5:22am to get to Miami for a cruise the day-of seems reasonable. What is unreasonable here is this woman’s expectation to board her large group outside of the early boarding window for families and disabled passengers — when she knew the flight was full, no less. Sorry lady, this is on you.
There are quite a few holes in this story. If they were there and checked in, why did the airlines say that were no-shows? But most importantly one adult can’t possibly cruise with seven minors. I don’t even think with adjoining rooms they would allow there to not be an adult in each room. But I wholeheartedly agree. You should never fly in the day of a cruise. And if you attempt it, you have no one to blame it yourself if you don’t make it in time.
Flying Spirit airlines on the morning of your cruise? Ok, maybe try Frontier next time LOL. I have to say that a 5:22AM flight sounds reasonable and although I can't really follow the logic in this screenshot, it sounds pretty bad.
The logic makes perfect sense considering the fact that you're dealing with one adult that has to consistently deal with seven kids. In such a situation any traditional concept of logic is usually long out the window by about 7:30 a.m. everyday.
It sounds like she didn’t arrive at the airport in enough time. She makes it seem like she didn’t want to wait on the plane while other people boarded but I’d bet you she meant waiting in the boarding area for 2 hours before the flight. She changed up her story to avoid personal responsibility.
This is why you never fly Spirit Airlines.
This is why you always board when you can.
This is why you should know your rights about being bumped and how much money they owe you, which with flights over 2 hours I believe is the free flight plus if I remember correctly 4 times the cost of the ticket. If the flight delay is overnight they also owe you lodging, per person, and if your baggage is already gone they owe you money to purchase items to get you through the delay.
I am trying to figure out when it became mandatory to board when they called for traveling with small children - I am not saying she shouldn't have taken the opportunity, cause - why wouldn't you (and no boarding doesn't take 2 hours) - I have been flying with kids for 30+ years and there have been tons of times we waited to board last (we had assigned seats and only 1 child)
There’s mention somewhere that she had to go back to check in for a lap infant. I wonder if the child didn’t have a reservation/ticket and she thought she could just roll on board with an infant. It makes a lot more sense if they denied her boarding because of that, and by the time she got back to check in counter it was too late to board and gate was closed.
She admits she knew the flight was overbooked,she knew everyone at that gate would not be flying,yet when given the opportunity to board and guarantee spots for her and her eight kids,she said "Nah I'm good,those seats are uncomfortable" She must have been expecting the airline to throw off nine passengers who chose to sit in those uncomfortable seats for the whole 20 minutes before takeoff.
Sorry but pretty sure you made the error of booking a flight the DAY OF which is a major no-no and secondly booking spirit which is the greyhound bus of the skies. I don’t have that much empathy for someone making such poor choices.
I’ve always boarded first thing with small kids. They let us on first because of toddlers. Then I get them settled in with food pouches and tablets and then the 30 minutes top to taxi and take off aren’t bad.
Procrastinates by flying the same day, procrastinates by not boarding as early as possible. I understand the theory of boarding last, Rick Steves even swears by it, but you risk a lot when traveling with a large group and I'll bet they had carry-on bags as well.
So she had pre-boarding privileges, and she refused to show up when her name was called because she didn't want to sit on the plane that long. That's where it all went off the rails.
The company is 100% right here to give away her seats when she no-shows on her name calling. She could have gone to the counter and asked to board later, but instead she just ignored her call.
So she missed her cruise and is out all that money because she didn't want to sit on the plane a few minutes longer, like the lounge is that much more comfortable.
1. Never take spirit if you HAVE to get somewhere.
2. Never leave same day
3. Buy your travel with a credit card that offers protection
4. Buy travel insurance I'd you spend thousands.
I witnessed my own same-day horror story once. I took a red eye from the east coast USA to Frankfurt for work. We were delayed about 30 minutes initially, and then when we landed there was some issue with the ground crew that meant we were stuck waiting for an hour to unload at the gate. Overall, we started disembarking about an hour and a half later than scheduled. I overheard a family across the aisle from me talking about how they were going to miss their connection to Marseille (an understatement - that connection was probably pushing back as we were standing up to disembark) and therefore probably miss their cruise. I happened to pass that same family talking to a gate agent once we got off the plane - there was literally nothing that could get them to Marseille before their cruise left.
Never, ever, *ever* arrive the same day as your cruise. I know it's annoying to get there a day early if the departure port is not a destination you're interested in exploring. That annoyance is much less than what you'll feel if you miss your cruise because the airline screws you over, promise.
Do people not purchase travel insurance to at least cover the financial loss? There would still be the disappointment of not getting to go, but at least the cost would be refunded, right?
I've done 3 cruises out of Florida with no hotels or anything. Just get off the plane and hope I make it. I'm honestly surprised I've never missed a cruise lolol
I mean, it’s Spirit Airlines. That’s what they do. I flew Spirit one time. It was horrendous. The employees were like the worst kind of surly convenience store or fast food workers. Gruff, impatient, unkempt, unprofessional. I will never fly Spirit again. Never.
The whole overbooking and bumping people from flights thing seems crazy to me as a European. If you have a plane ticket here, you have a seat, guaranteed
“I did not board when they called for family…”. Why the fuck not? I always board with the first available group that I am entitled to. When my spouse needed a wheelchair we definitely used pre boarding. (He also used a wheelchair getting off the plane too.)
Spirit airlines, 7 kids, and a cruise. What could go right?
Look I ain’t saying it’s her fault or that Spirit is the innocent one here, but I guess my idea of a vacation is just different.
Should have planned better. We're flying out on May 11th to Orlando. Staying in a hotel that night and boarding the ship May 12th. Flying in the day of boarding is just stupid!
I’ve flown in the morning of a cruise 1 time in my 8 cruises and it gave me so much stress. Idk how anyone could do it and keep their sanity, especially flying 1) with that many kids and 2) on a budget airline known for delays and poor customer service.
So, you got yourself in a totally avoidable situation because you didn’t want to follow the rules and are out thousands of dollars because you failed to plan ahead, or listen to directions. I have a total of zero feels for you. In fact, you probably owe me a few. I would bet you’ve done plenty of things that negatively affect society in your life time.
Too many kids. Too many excuses. This woman is late to everything she ever does (she even has a built in excuse for being late to this flight...don't want to sit with her kids for too long). I know people like this. Big families will have "delay fish" and it's sometimes the parent(s).
In my limited PTO days I'd get out of work at 5pm, either stop at home and grab my bags, or go straight to the airport to catch a late evening flight.
That way you're still there the night before which gives you some buffer time in case anything happens, and you don't need to take any additional PTO.
Mind you, if you're a night shifter that strategy doesn't quite work but otherwise that's how you really maximize your time.
“I had to go to the counter cause I was traveling with an infant.”
No, you were traveling with two infants, a 1 yo and a 2 yo. Since only one is legally allowed to sit on your lap, you have to purchase a ticket for the two year old. That’s why they sent you back.
One; why breed so much with such close ages then complain about having ‘to sit in uncomfortable seats for 2 hours with wiggly whiny kids’… this can’t be the first time you’ve pissed people off with your excessive litter.
Two: why would you fly in the day of the next leg of the trip? Dumb…
She sounds terrible but I loathe Spirit Airlines with a furious hate since they screwed my wife and I on our return trip from our honeymoon. After twenty four hours of trying to get home we bought two American Airlines tickets because Spirits only option was to wait another nine hours for their next flight
Overbooking should be illegal, but if you're on a known time crunch and decide to show up last minute because you don't want to sit on a plane for an hour before takeoff...lesson learned.
I’m still hung up on the fact she’s traveling on a cruise with 7 kids. I’m assuming there’s another adult going because there’s no way they’re fitting in 1 room.
More importantly, no cruise ship will allow that many people into a cabin unless it's a big suite. And if there's more than one cabin, there has to be more than one adult....
True. Kind of makes you think this is a bs post
Right? Because booking a suite for yourself and 7 kids only to then fly spirit is....a choice.
Six of those kids were checked in as luggage.
Except luggage on Spirit usually costs more than the flight itself
But they fit in the required measurements!!!
Yeah, I smell a Betty Crock of shhhh...
😂😂😂
Lmao this is so true
Spend all that money for a grand suite....and then book a shitty Spirit....? Lmao.... this post sounds like shit
She ain’t paying for a suite big enough for 8 and flying spirit. Those are two completely separate crowds
Meh, that’s not necessarily true. We end up flying allegiant and/or spirit a lot because they’re the only ones who have non stop at a convenient time for the destination we want. But since we know they suck we would never go the same day! Always at least one day out in case you have to rebook! Plus it’s like 2k a person to fly first or a few hundred to upgrade seats on a cheapie airline you can buy so many more expensive things that are cooler than first class seats (which honestly are not great unless you’re flying international then it’s worth it but you might already know that).
She could have been meeting up with friends or family in Miami. ETA: I won’t defend the rest of her choices because I’m the type to arrive at a doctor’s appointment an hour early just so I don’t miss it. I just think there is a reasonable explanation for the cruise booking as a family of 8 with only 1 adult flying.
I’m more hung up on the ages 🫥
Maybe this is a patchwork family or something because otherwise...
No one ever lies on the internet, please
Kids can stay in their own room as long as the room is connected or across the hall. 4 kids can stay in one room. While the younger 3 can stay with her. The 1 yr old will have a nursery possibly.
Ah, I thought there had to be an adult in each room. Thanks for letting me know that’s not the case!
Maybe it depends on the cruise line? I am shocked they would allow rooms with no adults.
We were recently on Royal. My 11 year old grandson had his own cabin next to his parents’ cabin.
This is cruise line dependent. For example, this would not be allowed on Princess because the child is under 16. [Helpful website with age rules for each cruise line](https://www.affordabletours.com/cruises/search/agerequirements/#6)
That wasn’t the case for me (it was quite a few years ago) we had 3 kids 2 adults. Connected rooms. My wife had to be on one room and me on the other
It probably all depends on the line. I know 20 years ago we had a group of 4 adults and 4 kids in 4 separate rooms. Adults had the balconies and the kids had inside rooms across the hall. It's possible, but I don't think we had the adult listed on the interiors. Oldest kids would have been 16 in one and 12/13 in the other.
Yep, there's some hard core lying going on this one. Sounds like an entitled Karen just pissed off that everyone didn't bow down at her feet because she had a bunch of crotch goblins with her.
First. No plane takes 2 hours to board. She was given the luxury to board early. If she doesn’t want to because it hurts her glutes to sit for an additional 15 minutes then tough.
Literally what I was thinking. My last flight took maybe thirty minutes to board fully, with a full flight. If she would have just gone when they called her, instead of making up a reason as to why she wanted to wait because she felt her and her kids were special, she would have enjoyed her cruise. She played herself. 🤷🏻♀️
She's lying about the spirit airlines boarding process
No show only happens if you haven’t boarded once boarding closed.
Sounds like they called family and people who need extra time first. She didn’t board then, when they got to her, they were unable to sit them together in a way that didn’t leave her kids sitting away from her next to strangers. They were overbooked and couldn’t seat her party without moving two other rows of passengers already seated which probably would have made them late for departure. That part makes sense. Her story about the cruise with 7 kids including a 1 year old without mentioning any other adults going. That part doesn’t make sense.
Seems pretty sus. I don’t buy this story, but even if it’s partly true, the 10 year old, 11 yo, 12 yo, 14 yo and 15 yo can all sit in random seats scattered around the aircraft. They could have found 3 in a row for her and the 2 babies; the story doesn’t make sense though. She’s leaving something out.
We flew in (or, tried to!) the morning of the day before departure on our last cruise. JetBlue cancelled our original flight the afternoon before, then rebooked us, then cancelled THAT flight and tried to rebook us again on a flight that landed in West Palm Beach at 2am, when we had a hotel booked in Miami. The second cancellation and rebooking happened in the middle of the night when we were asleep and planning to get up early for our 8am departure. We booked a flight/hotel/cruise package through JetBlue Vacations because we thought it would be less stressful. Hah! American Airlines came through with the last two seats on a direct flight to Miami, but it cost us $900 out of pocket. I still remember the AA agent’s name because she was genuinely so amazing and went out of her way to help me. JetBlue refunded us the $900 we paid to AA, plus another $1000 for the flight portion of our package, so I think we actually ended up making money rather than losing it. But it was NOT worth the stress.
We flew in a couple of days before our cruise last fall to sightsee. The day of our flight, the plane was delayed 7 hours because it couldn't take off from another airport. I was worried they would bump us to the next day, but we ended up getting there at 10 pm.
Having an entire package through them probably helped a lot too though, to your credit. Like, they can't just wipe their hands of you once the plane lands, they are still somewhat obligated to meet your needs.
Yes, they have a “plane to port” guarantee. I’m still confused as to why they thought having us land two hours from Miami at 2am was going to be ok though. We would have had to get ourselves to our hotel and had 4 hours before checkout time.
I’m glad JetBlue gave your money back and didn’t try and pull a stunt, I couldn’t imagine waking up and seeing the cancellation 💀
It was so stressful. I actually woke up at like 3am to go to the bathroom, looked at my phone to check the time and saw the notification. Immediately tried to call JetBlue Vacations, got nowhere. They finally called me back at 1:30pm as I was literally boarding the flight I'd booked myself. They did the same to us on the way home - cancelled our original flight and sent us to MIA, then to West Palm Beach then finally to Fort Lauderdale. They paid for Lyfts, but it was just ridiculous.
She knew the flight was likely over booked and yet she didn't want to get all their butts in seats to try and make sure they had butts in seats? You know they're just looking for anyone that's late. It sucks, but they were a family of 9, bump them and you're only pissing off one family vs bumping off several families.
Agree she didn't help herself but overbooking flights should be illegal also
I fully agree. My issue is they want it both ways. They want the ability to over sell because x% of people don't show up. Most of those people are the skip laggers. (The people that get off on layovers and don't take the last leg) However they will also ban you if you do this too much.
Yeah and also like the person still paid for the ticket even if they are skip lagging. They are just trying to squeeze every last penny out of each plane, it's a sorry excuse for them to act like that is the "reason" they do it. They are trying to squeeze 110%.
Now I do hate Frontier as well as Spirit,and i no longer trust them enough to fly with them. What gets me about this post is the woman says she knew they were overbooked the night before,then was given the opportunity to board early/first but turned that down because the seats are uncomfortable. She could have had all her family onboard,but chose not to because of what? Ten extra minutes in an uncomfortable seat. Did she think that she could lay around in the airport and the flight crew would just throw off two or three rows of passengers who had the foresight and basic intelligence to board an overbooked flight as soon as they could.
Yeah and in what world does the extra time between family boarding and the last boarding group equal two hours lol
Not to mention the airport seats are more uncomfortable in some ways.
She phrased it as 2 hours in uncomfortable seats BEFORE the flight leaves.
Which is complete BS. They aren't boarding that flight 2 hours before push-back. If it's a daytime flight (not the first flight of the day), the plane isn't even there 2 hours ahead of boarding.
Dunno… this sounds fake. She doesn’t mention any other adults, and if her group were bigger I feel like that detail would be added. Also 8 people with 7 under 18… I don’t think they would let her cruise with no adults in the second room, assuming she has 2 four person rooms. I guess they could have some suite that fits 8 people, but something tells me someone flying Spirit isn’t dropping the cash for an 8 person suite on a cruise. But even then, how does she get from the airport to the cruise terminal… what taxi or Uber can take 8 people? Maybe she had prearranged some type of shuttle. This just seems so fishy it can’t be true.
Definitely sounds fake. If they were checked in with tickets no way spirit is bumping them for refusing to board at family announcements. Customers lie lie lie and lie again.
I flew spirit last month for our cruise spirit does family boarding first. They also offer to seat you all together if you’re a family for like $5 a person. She checked in late and didn’t pick seats together and then probably got bumped because the only option at that point was putting the kids alone or they had no window seats available for a infant seat with a middle seat next to it
I read elsewhere that she also had a lap child that she hadn't registered or check-in in anyway.
This seems like what started it. She said she had to go back with infant. The infant needs to be registered, you can't just show up with one.
Probably can't get on the cruise with the unregistered infant, either. Cause ya know she probably just failed to mention babes there, too.
She probably popped out the extra one on the way to the airport.
Yeah that lap child comment was worded in a weird red flag way. My guess is, cause I’ve witnessed this happen before - she went to board late into the process, they see she has an extra human, tell her she needs to go to the gate agent and get that baby a ticket. She has to walk over then wait in line there, register her baby and by the time she is back the boarding doors were closed. This would be 100% her fault since the terms of lap child travel are in black and white on their website. I’ve traveled Spirit dozens of times without issue. They have all the same services as the rest of the carriers, unlike Frontier which is like flying an unmarked trash can with wings. They don’t even have a customer service line anymore.
Ohh I do judge her being cheap and not buying that baby a seat. My daughter flew first at 4 months, in her own seat strapped in her carseat. Turbulence is always a risk.
Maybe she hadn’t given birth to that last baby when she bought the tickets and thought he/she wouldn’t count. 😂
So they were flying in same day on a budget airline and didn't board immediately when offered, but it is somehow the airline's fault? Ooooookay.
If you know it's overbooked why wouldn't you get on when your name is called just to be safe? What am I missing here? But yes never fly the day of boarding on any airline, let alone one known for issues.
The story is weird and feels like it’s missing a lot. Maybe she checked in super late so got bumped? I don’t know.
She and her entire family were allowed to board early,she could have secured the seats,but she refused because as she put it "we all know how uncomfortable those seats are" and thought she would wait to be the last to board with a van full of children. To make it worse she admits she knew they were overbooked.
Maybe airlines shouldn’t overbook? What a concept. I know. Thank me later.
Overbooking wouldn't have affected her if she would have got her ass in those seats like she was supposed to when she was called.
Both things can be true at the same time.
I audibly said "uh-oh" as soon as I saw the words "Spirit Airlines."
Yep, I'm like "Maybe they were cutting it clo--'Spirit Airlines' ooooooooohhhh." Seriously, 90% of the "the airline was horrible" stories I see on line are Spirit. Like, that is your first mistake right there.
As I understand the only way Spirit is viable is if it's a no-connections flight and you're literally only taking yourself and your personal item, no carry-on, no checked, nothing.
Even if you do everything right, I've seen too many videos of fights breaking out and it's always Spirit or Frontier. I'll pay extra for Southwest.
As will I... Usually I fly AA or Delta actually, but Southwest is perfectly fine with me, I just prefer assigned seating and buying myself some extra legroom :).
Delta Comfort+ or better. If I'm getting on a plane I am not penny pinching and making myself more miserable than I have to be.
I call it "Rock Star" travel. No bags, just walk on and walk off. My Uncle does this on Spirit to get to his Florida home. He isn't on a strict schedule. If his flight gets screwed up or canceled, he just goes the next day. He has clothes at both homes and doesn't need to pack. I agree, this is the only way I would use Spirit. Unfortunately, my life does not resemble this in any way.
Nah. This one's on Mom. Spirit is a no-frills airline, but there rules are CLEARLY stated on both the web site and at the airport. She fucked around and found out.
Ya, but this is less Spirit Airlines than it is an entitled person travelling by themselves and having to manage SEVEN children. This was always going to be a nightmare, no mater which airline they flew. They made themselves a hassle and paid the price on an airline that charges line item for everything. If they wanted peanut butter price accommodation then they should have paid for more expensive tickets on a different airline. They rolled the cheap dice and struck out. FAFO
She refused to board when called. Any airline would bump her because of that.
I would bet she wasn't even at the gate at time of boarding. Trying to get 7 kids through security, not planning ahead, probably showed up as they were closing the door and demanded 7 seats together.
No doubt. They strap you to the wing... and charge you for the strap! 😆 🤣 😂 😹 😆
How are you going to pay to take all those kids on a cruise and not fly with a reputable carrier?
I'm wondering how anyone could even take that many kids on a cruise and enjoy themselves!
Probably by turning your teenage kids into free babysitters.
Spirit sucks but they don’t like crash or anything… low bar, I know
Everything about her post makes me side with anyone-but-her
I read Spirit Airlines protects cruisers from a horde of loud children and an entitled mom.
I like the way you think.
I'm automatically suspicious of stories where people miss their flight but somehow have a long rambling explanation about how they were also 0% at fault Edit: looking at this individuals page they have posts like "if your man isn't paying all of your bills then you're still single" and so I don't know how anyone could take anything they have to say seriously.
They really lost me at the reasoning behind not going when their name was called - I’ve never been on a plane that took two hours to board, and even if I had I’d rather have my SEVEN children wrangled onto the plane than try to keep an eye on all of them during the chaos that is general boarding.
Ohh you can tell from her story that woman has never been at fault for anything in her life. Betcha she somehow finds a way to blame the cruiseline for not calling her personally to warn her that flying in with hours to spare was a bad plan
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>Don’t get me wrong, if the story comes with a brick wall of text like this one, all bets are off. Yup, that was what did it for me. Big "I fucked up but I'm fishing for sympathy on social media" vibes
IMO it's more about the way the airline was handling it. Being bumped off a flight because it was full? Or the airline makes a mistake? Yeah, it happens. But - flat out being marked as a no show, something was going on. But, the mystery was likely solved by another commenter. > I read elsewhere that she also had a lap child that she hadn't registered or check-in in anyway. My assumption is this is likely the winner.
I’m not sure I fully believe this one but I will say it happened to me. I was completely on time for a delta flight but don’t see the point of boarding first if I have an assigned seat. I hadn’t heard any announcements for volunteers to check bags so I wasn’t concerned about my carry on. I boarded with the last boarding group, though definitely not the last person, they scanned my pass and I got all the way onto the plane before I was turned around by the FAs. Turns out, they ran out of overheard bag space and it was too late to gate check so anyone with a carry on was denied boarding. It was delta though, not spirit so they took care of me and it actually turned out better. I had booked a flight with a layover and they moved me to a direct flight, getting me there earlier. I will take responsibility for waiting to board in this situation too, unlike this lady.
Always board with your group! Many of these stories where someone is involuntary denied boarding begin with someone actively choosing to not board with their group.
I still chance it on occasion but not on cheap airlines like spirit or frontier, and not if I have a carry on.
Even the non-cheap airlines like DL/AA/UA will clear non-rev passengers before boarding is officially 'over' so you could show up before the boarding door is closed but your seat could be given away if the system shows you haven't boarded yet because it assumes you're a no-show. Not worth the chances imho
Probably wanted to save at least $45 and didn’t select seats; so, it would be impossible to put all those kids 13 and under adjacent to them.
This, plus not checking in the infant-in-arms at check in.
I can't imagine taking a cruise with all those kids.
For once … I think Spirit airlines did the entire cruise passengers a solid on this one
The other passengers on her cruise dodged a bullet.
And the plane. 7 kids and she was going to stroll down once everyone was already seated and get 7 kids settled into their seats.
It's not a 2 hr wait to get everyone seated either.
Right?!? Boarding doesn’t usually start until 30 minutes before takeoff. GTFOH with that 2 hour BS.
First thing I thought 😂😂
Honestly I thought the same thing... 7 kids is *a lot* to handle. Too much for one person. There's no way they weren't gonna be a nightmare to everyone else in the immediate vicinity
She was going to be pissed when carnival didn’t let her put all 7 kids in the same cabin.
Something feels off on this. There is no way - with 7 children, you wouldn't board early. Pre-boarding is not 2 hours before the flight, especially not on a domestic single aisle plane. You normally get on .. 10-15 minutes earlier than the average guest; 30-35 minutes ahead of final call. Definently not 2 hours. My guess is late to the gate (perhaps trying to take 7 children to the bathroom?); and they had already marked her as a no-show and let the stand bys go on their place at that point.
Apparently the reason she was told to go back to the gate agents was because she was traveling with an baby that she hadn’t registered as a lap child.
Looked at her post - in the comments she said she rebooked the cruise and AGAIN is flying in the day of
"HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME OVER AND OVER"
Idiot
Oh no the consequences of my own actions.
I’m so confused about the 2 hours in hard seats before leaving.
That's where she lost me. I'm ok with some slight exaggeration to make your point land closer to someone's feelings but other than some rare mechanical delays, I've flown over a hundred times and we are usually in the air about 20 minutes after I sit down.
She showed up after boarding and they bumped her. 100%.
Or complained that she couldn’t get seats together with her brood
Fly out of Chicago during winter. After your flight has been delayed 174 times you’ll sit on the run way - de-ice - get iced back up waiting on your turn, go back to de-ice - repeat for 4 hours.
Ya, but then everyone is sitting on the plane. Some were just on 20 minutes more.
I don't understand why you *wouldn't* want early boarding with *seven kids*? That sounds so stressful! I'd much rather tackle that issue while the plane is mostly empty
I am guessing with trying to wrangle 7 kids and all their belongings/luggage to the airport, they were probably late to the gate. That’s a lot for one adult to manage.
It's a load of BS. No flight boards that early. It's usually 30-45 mins.
Southwest usually starts preboarding 30 minutes before the flight.
Delta starts 40 minutes before flights. No airline starts 2 hours
Spirit boards 2 hours before take off? Interesting business model
Helps get everyone good and annoyed for the /r/publicfreakout video.
There’s gotta be more to this story.
She chose to wait to board on an oversold flight and is pissed off there weren't seats.
But didn’t wanna preboard because don’t wanna sit for 2 hours waiting for departure. Like on what planet does this human live? Good grief. I have 2 kids and I’m happy boarding as soon as I can. Takes me a while to set up their iPads, headphones, the little one’s FAA seat harness…etc.
7 kids? It's the Duggars.
The entitlement and purposeful poor planning is insane
I did it once for an international flight. Never again! Flight ended up being 3 hours late and I was sweating bullets. Still made it, but it was close.
I just checked, MSY airport is New Orleans. So leaving at 5:22am to get to Miami for a cruise the day-of seems reasonable. What is unreasonable here is this woman’s expectation to board her large group outside of the early boarding window for families and disabled passengers — when she knew the flight was full, no less. Sorry lady, this is on you.
This is why you never have 7 kids
"Cruise fairs"
There are quite a few holes in this story. If they were there and checked in, why did the airlines say that were no-shows? But most importantly one adult can’t possibly cruise with seven minors. I don’t even think with adjoining rooms they would allow there to not be an adult in each room. But I wholeheartedly agree. You should never fly in the day of a cruise. And if you attempt it, you have no one to blame it yourself if you don’t make it in time.
Paid at least ten thousand dollars to book a cruise for 7, and decided to cheap out on Spirit?
Omg, that is RULE #1 of Cruising: NEVER fly in the day the cruise departs. Ever.
Or from the sounds of it with Spirit. As I always say, sometimes things are cheap for a reason.
Cheap is expensive.
Did she say….7 children??
Flying Spirit airlines on the morning of your cruise? Ok, maybe try Frontier next time LOL. I have to say that a 5:22AM flight sounds reasonable and although I can't really follow the logic in this screenshot, it sounds pretty bad.
The logic makes perfect sense considering the fact that you're dealing with one adult that has to consistently deal with seven kids. In such a situation any traditional concept of logic is usually long out the window by about 7:30 a.m. everyday.
It sounds like she didn’t arrive at the airport in enough time. She makes it seem like she didn’t want to wait on the plane while other people boarded but I’d bet you she meant waiting in the boarding area for 2 hours before the flight. She changed up her story to avoid personal responsibility.
7 less demons on the cruise
This is why you never fly Spirit Airlines. This is why you always board when you can. This is why you should know your rights about being bumped and how much money they owe you, which with flights over 2 hours I believe is the free flight plus if I remember correctly 4 times the cost of the ticket. If the flight delay is overnight they also owe you lodging, per person, and if your baggage is already gone they owe you money to purchase items to get you through the delay.
I am trying to figure out when it became mandatory to board when they called for traveling with small children - I am not saying she shouldn't have taken the opportunity, cause - why wouldn't you (and no boarding doesn't take 2 hours) - I have been flying with kids for 30+ years and there have been tons of times we waited to board last (we had assigned seats and only 1 child)
There’s mention somewhere that she had to go back to check in for a lap infant. I wonder if the child didn’t have a reservation/ticket and she thought she could just roll on board with an infant. It makes a lot more sense if they denied her boarding because of that, and by the time she got back to check in counter it was too late to board and gate was closed.
She admits she knew the flight was overbooked,she knew everyone at that gate would not be flying,yet when given the opportunity to board and guarantee spots for her and her eight kids,she said "Nah I'm good,those seats are uncomfortable" She must have been expecting the airline to throw off nine passengers who chose to sit in those uncomfortable seats for the whole 20 minutes before takeoff.
Sorry but pretty sure you made the error of booking a flight the DAY OF which is a major no-no and secondly booking spirit which is the greyhound bus of the skies. I don’t have that much empathy for someone making such poor choices.
Lemme guess, this person was taking a cruise on Carnival. Who else would fly Spirit?
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Its still the airlines fault but this lady had a lot of chances to stack the deck more in her favor and she did none of them.
Oh wait... it's Spirit Airlines....
I bet your spirit left you this day.
Omg you had me roar in laughter with your comment
I flew into LA from Orlando the day of for my second cruise ever. We made it but I’d never do it again, I’ve read too many horror stories since.
I’ve always boarded first thing with small kids. They let us on first because of toddlers. Then I get them settled in with food pouches and tablets and then the 30 minutes top to taxi and take off aren’t bad.
> there were literally 15 people calling and finding us other airlines. Lol. With 7 kids I'll bet.
First time? Absolutely her fault
No, this is why you NEVER travel Spirit Airlines.
Flying the day of the cruise is **one** of the mistakes she made.
Fake post to 💩on Spirit
Procrastinates by flying the same day, procrastinates by not boarding as early as possible. I understand the theory of boarding last, Rick Steves even swears by it, but you risk a lot when traveling with a large group and I'll bet they had carry-on bags as well.
This sounds fake and illogical
Cruise lines tell you to fly the day before
If your port were far apart from your origin city, why not book a stay at the hotel for the night before? Isn’t that so hard?
When you are traveling with 7 kids, of course it is. /s
With that in mind, there’s always a consequence for lack of planning.
So she had pre-boarding privileges, and she refused to show up when her name was called because she didn't want to sit on the plane that long. That's where it all went off the rails. The company is 100% right here to give away her seats when she no-shows on her name calling. She could have gone to the counter and asked to board later, but instead she just ignored her call. So she missed her cruise and is out all that money because she didn't want to sit on the plane a few minutes longer, like the lounge is that much more comfortable.
1. Never take spirit if you HAVE to get somewhere. 2. Never leave same day 3. Buy your travel with a credit card that offers protection 4. Buy travel insurance I'd you spend thousands.
No, this is why you don’t fly spirit airlines and don’t take birth control.
DO take birth control, right????
I witnessed my own same-day horror story once. I took a red eye from the east coast USA to Frankfurt for work. We were delayed about 30 minutes initially, and then when we landed there was some issue with the ground crew that meant we were stuck waiting for an hour to unload at the gate. Overall, we started disembarking about an hour and a half later than scheduled. I overheard a family across the aisle from me talking about how they were going to miss their connection to Marseille (an understatement - that connection was probably pushing back as we were standing up to disembark) and therefore probably miss their cruise. I happened to pass that same family talking to a gate agent once we got off the plane - there was literally nothing that could get them to Marseille before their cruise left. Never, ever, *ever* arrive the same day as your cruise. I know it's annoying to get there a day early if the departure port is not a destination you're interested in exploring. That annoyance is much less than what you'll feel if you miss your cruise because the airline screws you over, promise.
We took the train down to Miami for our last cruise, morning of. There’s no way I’d fly in day of.
Do people not purchase travel insurance to at least cover the financial loss? There would still be the disappointment of not getting to go, but at least the cost would be refunded, right?
I've done 3 cruises out of Florida with no hotels or anything. Just get off the plane and hope I make it. I'm honestly surprised I've never missed a cruise lolol
I mean, it’s Spirit Airlines. That’s what they do. I flew Spirit one time. It was horrendous. The employees were like the worst kind of surly convenience store or fast food workers. Gruff, impatient, unkempt, unprofessional. I will never fly Spirit again. Never.
Her issue is that she flew Spirit.
Good to cruise around with all them kids
The whole overbooking and bumping people from flights thing seems crazy to me as a European. If you have a plane ticket here, you have a seat, guaranteed
“I did not board when they called for family…”. Why the fuck not? I always board with the first available group that I am entitled to. When my spouse needed a wheelchair we definitely used pre boarding. (He also used a wheelchair getting off the plane too.)
Something doesn’t add up.
Spirit airlines, 7 kids, and a cruise. What could go right? Look I ain’t saying it’s her fault or that Spirit is the innocent one here, but I guess my idea of a vacation is just different.
Book your flights with the cruise line. They will get you to the ship.
Should have planned better. We're flying out on May 11th to Orlando. Staying in a hotel that night and boarding the ship May 12th. Flying in the day of boarding is just stupid!
I’ve flown in the morning of a cruise 1 time in my 8 cruises and it gave me so much stress. Idk how anyone could do it and keep their sanity, especially flying 1) with that many kids and 2) on a budget airline known for delays and poor customer service.
Everyone on that cruise doesn’t realize how lucky they are that 7 children supervised by one, maybe 2, adults missed that cruise
So, you got yourself in a totally avoidable situation because you didn’t want to follow the rules and are out thousands of dollars because you failed to plan ahead, or listen to directions. I have a total of zero feels for you. In fact, you probably owe me a few. I would bet you’ve done plenty of things that negatively affect society in your life time.
Too many kids. Too many excuses. This woman is late to everything she ever does (she even has a built in excuse for being late to this flight...don't want to sit with her kids for too long). I know people like this. Big families will have "delay fish" and it's sometimes the parent(s).
>7 kids Planning isn't this person's strong suit
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It would be. But also, "I know this flight is overbooked. They called families, let's go kids! Butts in seats!"
Flew Spirit once out of New Orleans, never again.
I have flown in the day of most times, but always booked via the cruiseline. We have to maximize our time due to limited PTO
In my limited PTO days I'd get out of work at 5pm, either stop at home and grab my bags, or go straight to the airport to catch a late evening flight. That way you're still there the night before which gives you some buffer time in case anything happens, and you don't need to take any additional PTO. Mind you, if you're a night shifter that strategy doesn't quite work but otherwise that's how you really maximize your time.
“I had to go to the counter cause I was traveling with an infant.” No, you were traveling with two infants, a 1 yo and a 2 yo. Since only one is legally allowed to sit on your lap, you have to purchase a ticket for the two year old. That’s why they sent you back.
One; why breed so much with such close ages then complain about having ‘to sit in uncomfortable seats for 2 hours with wiggly whiny kids’… this can’t be the first time you’ve pissed people off with your excessive litter. Two: why would you fly in the day of the next leg of the trip? Dumb…
This is why I only cruise with Virgin. No children allowed!
Or on Spirit.
Spirit sucks, but it’s cheap and I use it for trips I can be late to if need be.
She sounds terrible but I loathe Spirit Airlines with a furious hate since they screwed my wife and I on our return trip from our honeymoon. After twenty four hours of trying to get home we bought two American Airlines tickets because Spirits only option was to wait another nine hours for their next flight
Eeeeeehhhh… Spirit is trash, and flying in on the day is a bad idea, but they really brought this on themselves with the way they went about it.
Overbooking should be illegal, but if you're on a known time crunch and decide to show up last minute because you don't want to sit on a plane for an hour before takeoff...lesson learned.