Any major airlines you would pay MORE to avoid?

[mrsgthatsme]

I am an infrequent flyer, and I am currently working on booking flights for our April trip to Orlando. I have had good experiences on SW and Delta in the past, but right now, United is considerably cheaper. My parents fly frequently, and they avoid United completely and are not fans in the least. This could totally be due to a few bad experiences (having several recent flights cancelled and ending up having to wait until morning for a flight, etc...) While I know there are good and bad flights on all airlines, I wondered what your experiences were with the major carriers (our options here would be SW, Delta, AA, and United) and whether you would voluntarily pay $50-100 more per ticket to avoid them. Thank you!

 

[bumbershoot]

United has been 100% fine for me and my family.

Only airline we as a family have had issues on is Jet Blue. Dh has issues on Jazz. Both times involved super-rude flight attendants (and with JB there was also a rude desk agent who decided I was being snotty as I asked her to repeat herself as I have a hearing loss and couldn’t hear her)

 

[gillep]

I usually fly United and Southwest, and have never had major issues, just small hiccups on each, Between DH and myself we usually fly United 15 times a year. I like United because for the routes that we frequent, they usually have the most options, so if something does happen, like a cancelled flight, it is easier to recover if there are lots of other options with your airline. That said, we have status on United, so we board early and get free bags, so I don't have to worry about those types of things. The only airline I will not fly is American, I was forced to use them exclusively for work travel for a couple years, and I cannot even describe the horrible issues I had with them, from cancelled flights, to endless delays due to maintenance issues, and these are things that as a frequent flyer I have not experienced on other airlines, at least to this degree. Many people have great experiences on American too though and have no issue flying them.

 

[linzjane88]

Spirit, Frontier, and United.

Spirit because 28" legroom, getting nickel and dimed, and poor customer service i've witnessed friends running into.

Frontier because the legroom is almost as bad as Spirit and they don't even have full tray tables. Maybe not an issue for short flights but we come from Washington to Florida so that's a long time to be inconvenienced. Our worst flight was when my daughter who was around 2 at the time kept bumping the tray table with her feet (perfect spot for toddler feet) causing it to loudly flop down. All on a red eye flight while everyone was trying to sleep. It was hours of torture.

United because their check in counters at MCO are terrible and understaffed, they changed planes days before our flight and moved my 4 and 8 year olds to two random middle seats in the front of the plane while my husband and I were separated in the back. We tried making two phone calls to customer service when we realized the issue the day before when checking in for the flight and both times got a broken English representative who essentially said 'tough luck, you aren't guaranteed seats'. We then tried asking at check in but there weren't enough reps to handle check ins and luggage so they certainly didn't have time for my issue. We ended up splitting up one adult with one kid, only because of the willingness of fellow passengers to switch. My husband and daughter were towards the front and me and my 4 year old were in the very back row, middle and window seat next to a VERY large woman. That was a long few hours. United did credit me $400 for the trouble after I wrote a letter when I got home. Considering I only spent 650 on the tickets that was nice. But still, no more united.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Do you consider Allegiant a major airline?

We can fly Allegiant to and from Florida for about half of what we pay. But I’m wary of their maintenance record and numerous cancellations.

 

[WonderlandisReality]

United. They have stranded me on the wrong side of the Atlantic more than once.
I also had a attendant yell at me while I was sleeping because I had a blanket over the seatbelt and she couldn't see if I had it on. Same attendant was less than thrilled about my insistence about having my then 2 year old sit in her car seat for the flight.

 

[MrKnight]

Spirit and Frontier.. IMHO I avoid those two airlines at all costs, even if the fare is cheaper.. Any other airline I am ok with including all of the ones you listed..

 

[GingerPilot]

United and allegiant. United canceled my MIL flight for crew scheduling issues but they called it weather so they didn't issue any compensation and she spent the night in the Denver airport. They originally told her she'd be there for 2.5 days but thank goodness I know people and was able to get her on a flight. Allegiant because well... they're allegiant.

FYI I fly enough on Delta to hold mid tier status. Up until the MIL incident I flew united about once a year and I still do fly American and Southwest once a year. Delta is 15-20 times for me. I'm also a pilot but not for a major airline so I'm likely over opinionated.

 

[PatMcDuck]

UNITED. That would be the only one I would REALLY avoid. Personal choice. Some of their planes are just awful, and I mean their NEW ONES. If it has 38 rows, avoid. So tight it is unbearable, the seats are so tight you cannot even stash a water bottle in the seatback. (Ditto for Spirit actually, who use bungee cords instead of pouches). And I am only 5'5". I had a nonstop from LAX to EWR, 5-6 hours on one of these, and almost-- really had to focus-- had my first ever panic attack, in my life.

People say all planes are like that. No. They are not. I am completely ok on Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska Air (who bough out also comfortable Virgin America).

 

[PDXmouse]

Spirit and Frontier. You couldn’t pay me to fly with either.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I've had great and less than great experiences on every airline I've flown more than once. So this is just based on my own experiences.

Of those four airlines, I'd pick Delta first. American Air second. United third. And I don't fly Southwest because I like to pick my seats in advance.

And of those options, I'd pay more to fly Delta over American. But I'd definitely pay more to fly either Delta or AA over United.

 

[AncientSoul]

We haven't flown United for last 5 years because of a few bad experiences. The worst and final one was with a flight attendant who was angry at us because DS who was 4 at the time, sneezed on her while she was serving snacks and drinks. We apologized and DH reprimanded him for not covering his mouth, but this didn't satisfy her one bit. She loudly lectured us on being inconsiderate and getting other people sick (DS was not sick and I told her that). The loud lecturing was unfortunate because DH became defensive and told her that she was off the chain. Then she and DH proceeded to exchange stinging remarks to each other for one good long insufferable minute. So whenever I think of United, all can I think of is that silly unnecessary experience.

 

[linzjane88]

UNITED. That would be the only one I would REALLY avoid. Personal choice. Some of their planes are just awful, and I mean their NEW ONES. If it has 38 rows, avoid. So tight it is unbearable, the seats are so tight you cannot even stash a water bottle in the seatback. (Ditto for Spirit actually, who use bungee cords instead of pouches). And I am only 5'5". I had a nonstop from LAX to EWR, 5-6 hours on one of these, and almost-- really had to focus-- had my first ever panic attack, in my life.

People say all planes are like that. No. They are not. I am completely ok on Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska Air (who bough out also comfortable Virgin America).

I got squished into the back row on a united flight (more details above in my comment). It was so tiny that I could place my hand touching the bottom of the seat and stretch my hand out and have my fingertip touch the seat in front. I was in the middle, I had a large woman to the left of me that oozed into what little space I had. Luckily I put my dd4 at the window seat but even then, that back corner seat has less than half the floor space as there is some funky curve to the airplane where you would normally place your feet. I'm 5'8" so tall but shouldn't be enough to hit the seats in front. Even Frontier had more space. Terrible, terrible, terrible.

 

[Pooh2]

I would pay a little more to fly Delta (always do more comfort seats). We have sworn off United and AA. Never tried SW. I like to choose my seat ahead and have first shot at the overhead bin, it takes out some of the stress.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I don't consider "Spirit" an airline at all LOL! So I would never get on their planes. Honestly, Frontier and Allegiant are "marginal" and not "major".

If I have a choice I don't fly AA, but honestly the last few times I have flown them it's been fine. (I just remember how INCREDIBLY rude their entire Nashville team was when they had a hub there)

That said, if you are only flying airlines where everyone loves them you aren't going to be getting on a plane in the US.

 

[SteveH]

I'm going to flip this around and say that I have and will continue prefer to fly Alaska Air whenever I can. But for my trip to WDW (in 24 hours) we booked with United as Alaska was over $200/person more and didn't have as good of a schedule.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

United is not my favorite because the terminal at the connecting airport that most planes coming here leave from is small, disconnected, and a little dreary. I would pay some to avoid that, though it is almost unavoidable if I am going to the West coast. Given a choice, I pick Delta.

 

[Crispymom]

I have always flown SW. I like that their airfare covers my carry on and 2 checked bags.

 

[Timothy02359]

United has been our arch nemesis...Used them twice and both time problems.

 

[Shanti]

Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant, United. Not flying on them if I can help it.