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Worst Flight in the Country [USA]?

Worst Flight in the Country [USA]?

Old Mar 26, 2017, 6:39 pm
  #1  
cmx
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Worst Flight in the Country [USA]?

I came across the following 3 flights, which have to be in the running for worst three flights in the US--each for a different reason. All flights "redeyes" on Spirit.

SEA-BWI. Departs at 10:40pm, arrives at 6:48am. 5h8m in the air.
OAK-BWI. Departs at 4:45pm, arrives at 1:00am. 5h15m in the air.
SAN-BWI. Departs at 8:59pm, arrives at 5:00am. 5h1m in the air.

Each a similar length in the vaunted Spirit seat. The arrival times are what makes this so hard to gauge. Is 1am worse than 5am? Do you really want to arrive at the start of rush hour at 6:48am? But can that be worse for a human than either of the first 2 options?
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Old Mar 26, 2017, 6:48 pm
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Since the flights move 3 time zones the arrivals are probably not as bad as they could be.

Last edited by Jeannietx; Mar 26, 2017 at 6:49 pm Reason: spelling
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Old Mar 26, 2017, 8:30 pm
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Is #2 technically a redeye? Arriving at 1am I'd go to a hotel (or home) and go to sleep, whereas I'd likely be ready to start the day with the other options -- certainly at 6:48am, maybe even at 5am. If BWI was my home I'd probably go to sleep a bit after arriving at 5am, but if traveling on my own dime I probably wouldn't pay an extra night for a hotel room. I might stretch out in the airport (ideally in a lounge) and sleep an hour or two, though.

The 1am arrival would be the worst of the three, in my opinion, but more because it cuts too much into the day of departure, not (necessarily) because the arrival time is so awful. And if I'm coming home and can go to my bed, it's not too bad. I would find a 5am departure worse than a 5am arrival.

Seth
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Old Mar 26, 2017, 9:22 pm
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Of course, being on Spirit makes this flights bad. But, the timing seems pretty common for redeyes. I am BOS based, so I see types of flights a lot. On SFO-BOS:

UA 16:58 - 01:41 +1 5h43m
B6 20:46 - 05:21 +1 5h35m (SJC-BOS)
UA 22:58 - 07:44 +1 5h46m
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Old Mar 26, 2017, 9:48 pm
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AS just "promoted" their LAX-BWI by an hour: it was 10p departure/6a arrival but now operates as 9p departure/5a arrival

haven't flown this new timing yet but am not looking forward to it
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Old Mar 26, 2017, 9:52 pm
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Anything on a CRJ-200
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Old Mar 26, 2017, 10:08 pm
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I'm thinking anything on Spirit to/from LAS (based on the clientele on this route)
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Old Mar 26, 2017, 10:12 pm
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Originally Posted by cmx
I came across the following 3 flights, which have to be in the running for worst three flights in the US--each for a different reason. All flights "redeyes" on Spirit.

SEA-BWI. Departs at 10:40pm, arrives at 6:48am. 5h8m in the air.
OAK-BWI. Departs at 4:45pm, arrives at 1:00am. 5h15m in the air.
SAN-BWI. Departs at 8:59pm, arrives at 5:00am. 5h1m in the air.

Each a similar length in the vaunted Spirit seat. The arrival times are what makes this so hard to gauge. Is 1am worse than 5am? Do you really want to arrive at the start of rush hour at 6:48am? But can that be worse for a human than either of the first 2 options?
I flew on Alaska Airlines from SEA-DFW departed at 11:50 PM arrived DFW at 5:20 AM in First Class bad times yes but I slept some during the flight and had a few drinks and the midnight snack provided.
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Old Mar 27, 2017, 12:13 am
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It seems your "worst flight" experience is based going to BWI, however Spirit has many longer flights from the West Coast or close to the east coast like LAX-FLL, LAS-FLL, or even some International Flights from South America to FLL.

My worst flight experience was flying MNL to WNP. It's only a 45-55 minute flight, but with the high winds aloft and only being serviced by turbo props (up to 3 different airlines), it is not something I look forward to when I visit my son as WNP is the closest airport to where he lives. I still have close to an hour drive from the airport to his house.
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Old Mar 27, 2017, 12:22 am
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Originally Posted by cmx
SEA-BWI. Departs at 10:40pm, arrives at 6:48am. 5h8m in the air.
OAK-BWI. Departs at 4:45pm, arrives at 1:00am. 5h15m in the air.
SAN-BWI. Departs at 8:59pm, arrives at 5:00am. 5h1m in the air.
My body dislikes 3-4 hour redeyes much more than the 5 hour variety.
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Old Mar 27, 2017, 12:58 am
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DPS-TIM (not in US), departs 01:50 arrived 06:30
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Old Mar 27, 2017, 5:30 am
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Originally Posted by moondog
My body dislikes 3-4 hour redeyes much more than the 5 hour variety.
This. The routes that come to mind for me are the 3-4 hour red-eyes like:

SFO/LAX - ORD/IAH/DFW
LAS - ORD/IAH/DFW
SEA - ORD

Also any red-eye that leaves before 10-11pm is tough for me since it's before I usually go to sleep. Even if a flatbed seat is available its tough unless I'm exhausted.

I'd rather spend an extra night than take one of the above (and often have when in LAS for conferences and work is willing to pay the extra hotel night).
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Old Mar 27, 2017, 7:01 am
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Originally Posted by Madone59
Anything on a CRJ-200
Here's a nightmare thought: Spirit CRJ-200. I know they don't have any CRJ-200's but I can only imagine they would have one with an extra row or two crammed in.
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Old Mar 27, 2017, 7:47 am
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Originally Posted by moondog
My body dislikes 3-4 hour redeyes much more than the 5 hour variety.
Originally Posted by Duke787
This. The routes that come to mind for me are the 3-4 hour red-eyes like:

SFO/LAX - ORD/IAH/DFW
LAS - ORD/IAH/DFW
SEA - ORD
DL's midcons (SEA/PDX/SFO/LAX-MSP) are the worst ... I've experienced 2+50 on the the 1400-mile SEA-MSP one night when the tailwinds were close to 100 kts
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Old Mar 27, 2017, 8:12 am
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Originally Posted by cynicAAl
I'm thinking anything on Spirit to/from LAS (based on the clientele on this route)
Rivaled only by Allegiant to/from Sanford (central Florida) with a bunch of fake service animals in the cabin.

Actually, overnight transcon on Spirit is probably the worst thing I can think of. Unless I booked it so far in advance that the larger front seats were available...I imagine those get booked fast on the redeyes.
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