I was treated like an animal by Frontier Airlines

I fly on a somewhat regular basis.  There hasn't been much that surprises me when I fly.  Delayed flight? Sure.  Sitting for hours on the tarmac? Par for the course.  But today, July 15th 2014, I was trying to get to Atlanta from Trenton, NJ on Frontier Airlines.  The first mistake was assuming Trenton had a real airport.  It was more along the lines of a landowner who had a few extra trailers on their property and said "Fuck it! Lets land some planes!"  Baggage claim at Trenton/Mercer Airport is literally (and I mean that in the traditional sense of the word) a double wide with garage doors that roll up directly from the tarmac and bags are tossed in a pile on the floor.  The best way for me to describe what happened is to copy and paste the email I sent to "customer" "service".  There was intention in quoting both words individually as the audacity for anyone to use either word at the Frontier counter in Trenton should be flogged publicly.   I also engaged the airline in a Twitter bombing which finally resulted in an actual conversation. Even with my massive 400 or so followers, it paid to take it to social media.   Screenshots of my interactions are at the bottom of the post

OK, so here is my account of what happened.  I made certain to take out any exaggerations to be as accurate as possible:

"Subject: treated like an animal in Trenton

I arrive at Trenton airport just before 5am for a 6am flight. Within the 45 minute cut off as instructed. I go to the counter to get a boarding pass and the attendant said I hadn't checked in online and was there less than 1-2 hours of the flight and that I will miss my flight. WHAT? It's suppose to be 45 minutes! I informed them I was well within the time allotted and I need to get my boarding pass. They replied with "too bad...next in line!". I wish I was exaggerating with their attitude, but unfortunately they were that rude. 

I backed out of line as another agent said to go to TSA and they will let us through and we can get our boarding passes at the gate. Never heard of that, but so far nothing seems to be by the book here, so myself and a handful of other passengers head to TSA...about 10 yards from the check in line. They said that it was impossible to get by without a pass...that makes sense. We ask for a Frontier manager. TSA graciously call for and one arrives at TSA. This agent...the most happy-to-not-assist-you person I've ever met...arrives. She tells us as she walks away with her hands up that we are "out of luck and too bad! Call the 1800 number!" 

WOW 

At this point the flight HAS NOT EVEN STARTED BOARDING, plenty of time to get us processed. Back up to the check in counter we go.

Now even more rude, the agent doesn't even acknowledge my presence, sliding the 800 number on a piece of paper to me making ZERO eye contact with me. She then yells "Last call for Atlanta!" WHAT!?! THATS ME!!! THATS ALL OF US!!! She then looks our direction and I swear on my life she said... "Except for you". If I were a senators son, that day would have ended differently for her.

Baffled and not getting a single employee to show an ounce of interest in helping, I notice a bank of mostly out of service self check in kiosks.  Maybe I can somehow squeeze in using a machine since I HAVE ALL CARRY ON ITEMS (paid for in advance of course.  Frontier charges upwards of $30 to carry on a bag.  Welcome to the future). Denied. 

I am out of options. So myself and the other rejected passengers stand and watch the flight board, and take off...with empty seats. Mind you, Frontier is the only airline at the Trenton Airport. 

Never in my life have I been treated so poorly. Even a police officer at the airport apologized to me for their actions. He claims that they seem to "make the rules as they go" and "this is not an isolated incident in Trenton". 

My flight to Trenton was delayed, but that is par for the course for air travel. But the absurdity of this treatment made me tweet and email my complaints...something I never do.

Please do the right thing and resolve this in an appropriate manner and time frame."


Here are some interactions with Frontier via Twitter.  Admittedly I'm impressed they even messaged me considering their lack of care at the airport.

                                     

Sounds like they want to help!

                                     

Maybe not...

The moral of the story?  Not sure exactly.  Maybe I should have arrived even earlier than I did?  Sure, Ill take that.  What about customer service?  If they had just not treated me like I was carrying the plague on my face, I still would have been upset, but at least felt like a human.  The level of disrespect those agents had for me and the other passengers was amazing.  The only thing I could say, whether I am in the right or not...a discounted airline is not just discounted in price.  Be prepared to pay elsewhere.