Terrible Take-off

Airports can be a headache. But even if you get there early, it doesn't mean you won't encounter some major turbulence.

Klara Kovosky was scheduled to depart from Fort Lauderdale airport at 9:41 AM on Spirit Airlines March 22nd. She says she arrived at the airport just before 8 AM and waited on line until she reached a service agent. That's when Spirit told her she was a no-go.

"I just felt really helpless," says Klara. "Like, they weren't working with me at all. Basically, they just told me I wasn't going to get on because I was supposed to be at the airport three hours before." Klara says a service agent told her their systems had closed. The airline wasn't allowing any other passengers on her flight because it was "too late" to check-in. By her watch, Klara was denied her boarding pass an hour and half before departure.

Continuing to fight for her seat, she called the airline's customer service phone number. Unfortunately, she faced a disconnect between the agent on the phone and the one behind the desk.

And the problem doesn't end with Klara. Shaniqua White and Laure Dorilas say their vacation took a serious nose dive after they had a similar experience at the same airport, also on Spirit Airlines.

"After they told us 'Oh, this flight is closed,' I remember looking over at the security check-in point," says Shaniqua. There was not one person online. We could actually see the gate that we had to get on and there was no one. It was just everyone sitting around waiting. So we could have made our flight."

Like Klara, Laure and Shaniqua missed their window for check-in. They also say that in the 45 minutes they spent waiting online, not one announcement was made intended to get passengers headed to New York through the check-in process.

All three women were all scheduled to fly out on a Sunday. Naturally, they all asked if they could hop on the next available flight. But, the next flight wasn't scheduled to leave until the following Wednesday!

Each woman contacted Spirit separately, hoping to get a refund for the last minute seats they were forced to buy on JetBlue Airlines. But, they're all still out the over $400 dollars it cost them to get home.

Spirit Airlines issued a statement in regards to the incident: "Our records show that Klara checked in at 9:07 AM for a 9:41 AM flight. Spirit's policy requires passengers to check-in for their flights and obtain a boarding pass 45 minutes prior to departure at Fort Lauderdale... As stated in Spirit's policy, reservations for passengers not checked are subject to cancellation. "

As for Laure and Shaniqua, they say Spirit has no record of them being at the airport at all. That's because at the time, no one would accept their ID's. With a bit more investigation, we found out our viewers aren't the only ones who won't be becoming frequent flyers. The Better Business Bureau gives Spirit Airlines an "F" rating. Having received over 1,400 complaints, more than 1,100 have gone unanswered.

As a courtesy, the airline did offer the women a reservation credit which may be used towards a future flight. But, they all say the gesture is hardly appreciated.

"I will never, ever, ever in my life fly with them again," says Klara. "Even if it was free!"