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Spirit and DME
- Thread starter svanda
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Phonedave
Well-Known Member
Once your luggage is offloaded from the plane in Orlando, it does not matter what airline you took, it's all handled by the DME (well, it's contractor)
Now, here is the key
I don't know Spirit's track record with luggage, but lets say Spirit checks your luggage at the airport you are flying from, and instead of putting it on your plane to Orlando, they sent it to Altoona.
If you are not using DME, then you get to spend part of your vacation playing find my luggage with a Spirit agent. Then you get to play "wait for my luggage"
however ...
If you are using DME, then THEY notice that your bag is missing (they know how many you should have). Then THEY call Spirit, track down your bag, get it to the airport, and then bring it to your room. Then all they do is say "we are sorry there was a delay in bringing you your luggage" You don't even know that Spirit sent it for a ride. All you know is that you were enjoying your vacation.
That, in my opinion, is one of the major benefits of using DME.
-dave
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djpoore94
Well-Known Member
I'm guessing the horror stories are because of Spirit, not ME. I have flown Spirit twice and Northwest once in combination with ME and have had no issues. On our last trip we flew Spirit, but rented a car and my cousin's bag had a huge tear in it and the corner of it was smashed thanks to Spirit!
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piglets mom
New Member
spirit
I have used Spirit with DME many times and I have never had a problem with my luggage. You just have to bring your luggage back to the airport with on DME.
I have used Spirit with DME many times and I have never had a problem with my luggage. You just have to bring your luggage back to the airport with on DME.
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MickeyspalJim
New Member
I have flown Spirit since 2004, and have used ME every time. Never did I have a problem with our luggage. Perfect every time!
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CleveRocks
Active Member
I agree with all of the above, and I'll add something, too.
I've read numerous horror stories, also, and, regardless of airline, almost every single one of those horror stories was a direct result of the guest having unrealistic expectations.
My favorite was the guy who made a HUGE complaint on the message board ... his complaint was that his checked luggage wasn't waiting for him inside his room when he checked in. He b**ched and moaned how his bags didn't arrive in his room until 90 minutes after he checked-in, and that he wasted all of that time waiting for it. TWO THINGS WRONG WITH THIS: 1) The DME materials mailed to every guest clearly explain you can expect your bags to arrive about 3 hours after you check-in at your resort ... so in that guy's case, the service he got was BETTER THAN PROMISED (got the bags in 90 minutes instead of 180 minutes), yet he portrayed his experience as a horror show; 2) Disney clearly explains that your bags will be delivered to the inside of your resort room whether you are in there or not, yet this guy thought he needed to sit and wait for them, and thus wasted his own time.
Another of my favorite horror stories is one I've read a few times, each time written by ... forgive me ... a complete idiot. I've read of people not realizing they wouldn't have immediate access to their checked bags and complaining that they had ALL of their infant's diapers and formula in there, or that they had their necessary prescription medication in there. SO yes, that's a horror story all right, but the fact is that Disney clearly states you won't get your bags until 3 hours after your resort check-in. Now, failing to read the DME info booklet doesn't make someone an idiot ... but packing ALL of your diapers, formula, or prescription medications in a checked bag sure makes someone an idiot! I wouldn't be caught dead packing such stuff in checked baggage no matter where I fly! It has nothing to do with trusting DME or not, but has everything to do with trusting that the airline won't misdirect my bags.
A whole other class of horror story has to do with delayed bags. Look, no system is perfect, and I'll bet a case of Mickey bars that Disney has occasionally but very rarely caused delays. The problem is that in many cases of delayed luggage, Disney is the HERO and not the villian. FOr example, if your airline flies your bags to MCI (Kansas City) instead of MCO (Orlando), it will take a while for the bags to be flown to MCO, and then DME will deliver them to you. The airline delayed things by about 6-8 hours, you get your bag or bags really really late, and you blame DME when in fact in this scenario it was 100% the airline's fault by putting your bags into the wrong plane while still at your home airport.
Disney's been doing DME since May 2005. It's been wildly successful. They know what they're doing, and they use a pretty high-tech system to route and track the lugagge ... briefly, each DME luggage tag has a barcode, each bag is scanned 5 separate times between airplane and the inside of your room, and the DME luggage delivery trucks themselves are tracked by GPS.
ANd, just as an FYI, you definitely don't want your bags tagged at your home airport destined for ORL ... ORL is the Orlando Executive Airport (also known as Herndon). Orlando International Airport is MCO, so named because it was formerly known as McCoy Field.
I've read numerous horror stories, also, and, regardless of airline, almost every single one of those horror stories was a direct result of the guest having unrealistic expectations.
My favorite was the guy who made a HUGE complaint on the message board ... his complaint was that his checked luggage wasn't waiting for him inside his room when he checked in. He b**ched and moaned how his bags didn't arrive in his room until 90 minutes after he checked-in, and that he wasted all of that time waiting for it. TWO THINGS WRONG WITH THIS: 1) The DME materials mailed to every guest clearly explain you can expect your bags to arrive about 3 hours after you check-in at your resort ... so in that guy's case, the service he got was BETTER THAN PROMISED (got the bags in 90 minutes instead of 180 minutes), yet he portrayed his experience as a horror show; 2) Disney clearly explains that your bags will be delivered to the inside of your resort room whether you are in there or not, yet this guy thought he needed to sit and wait for them, and thus wasted his own time.
Another of my favorite horror stories is one I've read a few times, each time written by ... forgive me ... a complete idiot. I've read of people not realizing they wouldn't have immediate access to their checked bags and complaining that they had ALL of their infant's diapers and formula in there, or that they had their necessary prescription medication in there. SO yes, that's a horror story all right, but the fact is that Disney clearly states you won't get your bags until 3 hours after your resort check-in. Now, failing to read the DME info booklet doesn't make someone an idiot ... but packing ALL of your diapers, formula, or prescription medications in a checked bag sure makes someone an idiot! I wouldn't be caught dead packing such stuff in checked baggage no matter where I fly! It has nothing to do with trusting DME or not, but has everything to do with trusting that the airline won't misdirect my bags.
A whole other class of horror story has to do with delayed bags. Look, no system is perfect, and I'll bet a case of Mickey bars that Disney has occasionally but very rarely caused delays. The problem is that in many cases of delayed luggage, Disney is the HERO and not the villian. FOr example, if your airline flies your bags to MCI (Kansas City) instead of MCO (Orlando), it will take a while for the bags to be flown to MCO, and then DME will deliver them to you. The airline delayed things by about 6-8 hours, you get your bag or bags really really late, and you blame DME when in fact in this scenario it was 100% the airline's fault by putting your bags into the wrong plane while still at your home airport.
Disney's been doing DME since May 2005. It's been wildly successful. They know what they're doing, and they use a pretty high-tech system to route and track the lugagge ... briefly, each DME luggage tag has a barcode, each bag is scanned 5 separate times between airplane and the inside of your room, and the DME luggage delivery trucks themselves are tracked by GPS.
ANd, just as an FYI, you definitely don't want your bags tagged at your home airport destined for ORL ... ORL is the Orlando Executive Airport (also known as Herndon). Orlando International Airport is MCO, so named because it was formerly known as McCoy Field.
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