I recently had a terrible experience wtih Spirit Airlines, and want share it with everyone who may be considering flying on board Spirit anytime in the future.

I was flying from Cartagena, Colombia to Fort Lauderdale, and arrived 55 minutes before scheduled takeoff. Spirit customer service refused to let me check in, claiming there was not enough time to get through security, as the policy was for check-in to take place an hour before takeoff. I pointed out to them that I only had carry on baggage, the security line was empty, and that it was only 100 yards to the gate, yet they refused to listen.

Two members of airport security came into the Spirit office to inform the agents that they were able to easily get me to the gate without any problems, clearly refuting the claim of Spirit agents who insisted we didn't have enough time.

Later, when two more passengers with the same problem asked to be allowed to board, the Spirit customer service representative said that they would have allowed me to board because I only had carry on, but they were going to deny all three of us because the last two people had luggage to check. This is absolutely unacceptable service for several reasons: First, when I was the only passenger involved, they refused to allow me to board. Secondly, why tell me that they denied me boarding access because other passengers have luggage? There is no justification for these excuses.

Because of this completely unnecessary delay, I lost a full day of travel, and had to pay for a hotel as my rescheduled connecting flight was for the following morning. All for no stated reasons that were proved to be false, and because of 5 minutes which made no difference at all to anyone other than the unhelpful people at Spirit Airlines.

To add further insult to injury, my original flight from LGA to FLL was delayed for hours, costing me another hotel stay as I was unable to stay with friends as planned due to the late arrival. Even better, the 5:10am flight back to New York the next morning was delayed for mechanical problems. Did they really not know about these mechanical problems when the plane arrived the night before?

For anyone who may be considering traveling on Spirit Airlines, I strongly urge you to spend the extra money to travel with an airline who actually cares about their customers, and will do even the bare minimum to assist you should the situation arise.