When I mentioned to a few friends that I was flying with Spirit Airlines directly from LAX to Louisville today, most of them grimaced and shuddered.
“Have you ever flown on Spirit before?” one of them asked with a frown. “I’d take a connection with United over a direct flight with Spirit, even with the delay.”
I ignored it.
Then, after posting a quick photo of the terminal on social media this morning, and mentioning the rarity of a direct flight from California to Louisville, more people piled on.
“If you actually get there,” one person commented on our Mission Facebook site; “It is Spirit Airlines, after all.”
“Hold on to your seat,” another friend messaged to me via Instagram.
“You guys are flying Spirit? Don’t you know?” sniped another.
Given the pandemic and the fact that just about every airline right now has its own horror stories, I was surprised that so many people had strong, vehement views about any particular company.
But do you know what happened? My flight took off on time. My seat was comfortable. The service was polite and professional. The ride was smooth. The cabin was quiet. The passengers were courteous. We landed earlier than expected. My luggage was in the baggage claim when I arrived. Zero complaints. Nothing but positive things to say.
Based on my single experience with Spirit Airlines, I would gladly fly with them again if today’s trip is representative of what I can expect moving forward. But, having only this one voyage to base my opinion on, clearly I’m not the best person to ask about the track record of the company. It worked out for me, but maybe not for others.
And that brings me to my point.
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard a whiskey drinker, either online or at an event, make a definitive statement of quality about a brand or a batch of bottles after a single sip (or one 50ml sent to him in the mail), I’d be rich by now.
Simultaneously, even when someone does have multiple takes with a whiskey brand, and proceeds to poo poo that label as a result of their own personal experience, it doesn’t necessarily mean you and I are going to feel the same way or encounter those same negativities.
Yet, if I had a dime for every time someone told me they’d shied away from a particular bottle or brand due to negative reviews online or from a friend, I’d—again—be a very wealthy man.
You can’t always rely on the experience of other people.
If I had relied solely on the advice of friends and strangers, and avoided the direct flight to Louisville in lieu of a “better” airline, I’d be sitting in Detroit or Chicago right now, praying that my connecting flight wasn’t delayed or canceled due to the sheer chaos that is air travel at the moment. My luggage could be lost during the transfer. I might be waiting even longer due to weather issues in other parts of the country.
Instead, I’m at the Marriott in downtown Louisville getting ready to have my first cocktail of the evening and deciding what I want to eat for dinner. I’m elated! It’s a balmy 84 degrees and I have additional hours to spend exploring the delights along Market Street while the sun is still shining.
Again, that’s not to say that the experiences of my friends and colleagues with Spirit Airlines are exaggerated or untrue, it’s just that they didn’t mirror my personal experience. Just like it’s possible to have bad service at a restaurant, or a rude bartender at the cantina on any given evening. That doesn’t mean someone else will encounter the same hostility.
And I can say the exact same thing about hundreds of wines and whiskies I’ve tried over the course of my career. Back in the day, I used to take great pleasure in finding fantastic casks from the least popular distilleries just to prove this point. My old boss used to do the same with “bad” vintages of Bordeaux. One time we had lunch with Frederic Engerer from Château Latour and he only poured wines from the worst vintages (all of which were incredible, of course) to teach us the same lesson.
If you’re willing to go out on a limb, life will often surprise you. In the case of Spirit Airlines, I’m certainly glad I gave it a chance. My personal experience was superb and I would take the direct flight from LAX over and over again if it’s this smooth in the future.
We’ll see about the way back!
-David Driscoll