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?

Since the flights move 3 time zones the arrivals are probably not as bad as they could be.

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

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

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

Anything on a CRJ-200:(

I'm thinking anything on Spirit to/from LAS (based on the clientele on this route)

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.

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.

My body dislikes 3-4 hour redeyes much more than the 5 hour variety.

DPS-TIM (not in US), departs 01:50 arrived 06:30

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).

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.

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

Rivaled only by Allegiant to/from Sanford (central Florida) with a bunch of fake service animals in the cabin. :p

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.