Herb687

Great post!

spongenotbob

If being on-time is important, he should be booking Delta. AA, NK, WN will all get him there eventually, often with drama & frustration.

Delta will get just him there on-time, in coach, no drama.

FlyDeltaConnection

It's 2020, not 2009, the ULCC's, while not perfect nor my first choice by any stretch, are not the same old "we'll cancel this flight for the heck of it and stick you on a flight a week from now" types they used to be. Sure, you might wait a day but they'll probably get you there at some point. AA and UA are in the same boat as them. WN might be a bit better but I've had random cancellations on them as well, but they are large enough where you can connect somewhere else to get to where you're going same day usually.

Now if timing is important, I recommend Delta, less cancellations/delays than AA or UA and you get a decent experience every time. Plenty of options too if IRROPS happens and they don't play games like the other 2 legacy carriers.

Blumie

While DL's performance is better than the other three, it still managed to be late nearly 15% of the time in 2019 (based on data available through October), with an average delay of almost 65 minutes (a longer average delay than AA and WN). WN experienced delays on 17% of its flights, only slightly worse than DL, with an average delay of 53 minutes (12 minutes less than DL), further calling into question the cockiness of your assertion.

VegasGambler

I think arrival delay is a better indicator than departure delay.

But we are talking about small differences here so it's not that relevant.

Herb687

Huh?

If I am to consolidate the data in the two posts and assume it to be accurate, I see delay percentages of:
DL 15%
WN 17%
NK 19%
AA 21%

In what alternate universe is that anything other than a giant FAIL for AA?

JDiver

Spirit: one flight a day, cancellation means reaccommodation the next day if there’s available space. No endorsement of ticket to other airline is possible.

AA: Eleven flights a day, much more likely reaccommodation, endorsement to other carrier is possible.

Winter. If you like gambling, go for Spirit. If you prefer to mitigate risk, go with AA, WN / Southwest etc.

VegasGambler

Why is no endorsement to another airline possible? Is that just their policy around cancellation?

In the case of overbooking they certainly do it. I was sitting in OAK once (waiting for an AS flight) and they (Spirit) were offering a voucher and a flight on another airline. I remember thinking that that was a good deal; the bumped pax should pay them for the ability to take another airline.

Herb687

Possible? Sure. Probable? Absolutely not.

MarkOK

It's been about a decade, but the last time I took a ULCC I was going through DEN. At DEN, the flight went maintenance, then a storm/tornado warning happened that shut down all air traffic for an hour, I had to argue after three hours in a customer service line that I was entitled to something, and yet all I was offered was a seat on a plane literally one WEEK later or a $100 voucher (what a joke, not sure how any of this was even legal, but since I was flying on OPM I didn't follow through). I rented a car and drove the next day to my final destination, and my voucher lost it's ink in about three weeks, not that I was likely to use it anyways. I haven't seen any real evidence that ULCC is all that different nowadays with service recovery.I have had a handful of delays/cancellations with AA, but to their credit, it has never delayed my arrival to my final destination more than about 6 hours (and usually it's much less), and I've been treated rather well when delays are mechanical.

Another reason I won't fly ULCC like NK, is have you seen the numbers of children at a Spirit airlines gate? I am quite at ease with a handful of children on a plane, and babies crying don't really bother me much, but holy smokes, the average age of passengers on some NK flights are probably less than 15 years old.

Herb687

My worst screaming toddler flight was on AA. In first class. The offending screaming/shrieking (not merely crying) toddler was also in first class. The kid was so disruptive that he should have been denied boarding. But he wasn't.

Blumie

I'm not sure where in my post you see me defending AA's performance.

Cledaybuck

I would take NK. Everything will most likely go fine. In the small chance that it doesn’t, you might have to cough up a few hundred dollars to buy a same day ticket on AA, UA, or DL. If you are not up for that risk, then book AA. JMO.

writerguyfl

You're only quoting half of JDriver's sentence. Here's the full text:

Given the huge number of daily flights, the likelihood that endorsement to another carrier is necessary is not really necessary.

Don't forget, there will also be many one-stop options that American can use to get passengers where they need to be on the same day. If your canceled flight is in the morning, one of the legacy carriers should still be able to get you to your domestic destination.

It's worth noting that if your flight is canceled on a legacy airline, you should get automatically rebooked. As far as I know, Spirit never invested money in automated rebooking software. That means you'll be in limbo until you can talk to a person at the airport or get an agent on the phone.

guv1976

Given that it is now possible to insure against IRROPS on Spirit (or other domestic carriers) for a relatively small amount of money, booking Spirit need not be as risky as it was in the past. Details here:

https://www.getfreebird.com/travelers/