Spirit Airlines They screw up -- You pay. No concern for unaccompanied minor. Phoenix Arizona Nationwide

Spirit Airlines wouldn't allow my niece to board her flight because she was 8 minutes too late for  their arbitrary deadline -- almost a full hour before the plane left. . . yet they boarded two groups that arrived AFTER her, who didn't even have boarding passes.  The gate agent told her she wasn't checked in, even though I had done it on line twenty-four hours previously, and she had a boarding pass and seat assignment to prove it.  The gate agent that denied my niece entry to the plane personally escorted one of these groups onto the plane.  They very "generously" offered to put her on stand by for another flight -- 24 hours later!  This was, by the way, an unaccompanied minor.  The gate agent then told her she had to leave the area or he would call security because she was crying, and it was irritating him.  The customer service agent, supervisor, and manager I spoke with were a joke -- offshore and barely able to comprehend English.  They told me I shouldn't worry about her being alone in the airport for 24 hours because it was a public place.    This at 2:30 in the morning.  Nice people you have, Spirit.  Luckily, she was able to make her way over to Southwest, where they accommodated her with a seat on a flight only four hours later than her original flight and assured me that she would be taken care of until the plane boarded.  Pretty nerve wracking for me, too, because the kid was in Phoenix, and I"m in Chicago.  Oh, they also refused a refund because they have a "no refund" policy -- even if their personnel screw up.  DON'T EVER FLY SPIRIT!  THE SOUTHWEST FARE WOUND UP BEING CHEAPER THAN THE FLY BY NIGHT SPIRIT FARE AND THEY ARE MUCH MORE PLEASANT TO DEAL WITH!