'My Assigned Seat Was Full of Puke': 7 Airlines That Redditors Say You Should Avoid

Air travel used to be glamorous. Back in the 1930s, you’d board a flight in your finest suit, stretch your legs, and enjoy a seven-course meal on fine china. Today, you’re lucky if you can get a bag of pretzels. 

Of course, the trade-off is that flights are far cheaper than they were in the glory days of air travel. But still, some of today's carriers are so inhospitable that they make Southwest look like a luxury airline. That’s especially true for this list of seven stinkers, which made Redditors’ list of the “worst airlines.”

Even though Air Canada is the Great White North’s flagship airline, Redditors repeatedly put the company on blast. One commenter shared that the airline still owes them $3,000, while other users simply bashed the carrier without much of an explanation. “Air Canada just flat out sucks,” one comment reads. 

The French do a lot of things right: fine art, wine, croissants, affordable healthcare. But Redditors trashed the country's main airline for its customer service and unkempt planes. “Air France is the worst international flier,” one commenter writes, explaining that their flight attendant ignored their call light. “They elevate not giving a s*** to an art form,” another critic shared.

Aeroflot, Russia’s largest airline, earned a reputation for being one of the world’s deadliest carriers during the Cold War, with a total of 721 incidents in 44 years. Although the airline is now considered one of the world’s safest, its crummy reputation endures. The service, flyers report, is spartan, and flight attendants can be rude. That said, the airline also has its defenders. Having flown on an Aeroflot flight from Berlin to Moscow, one customer said that it was comparable to “any Western European carrier.”

When it comes to the ASCI’s yearly customer satisfaction survey, United tends to rank in the middle of the pack — far ahead of Spirit but behind front-runner JetBlue. But multiple Redditors called it the worst airline, complaining about the carrier’s deceptive customer service. “I can’t begin to estimate the number of times that their gate personnel and customer service reps blatantly lied to my face,” one commenter writes, adding that the company’s unofficial motto is “The customer is the enemy.”

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It’s not an exaggeration to say that Spirit Airlines is the most hated carrier in America. The no-frills airline consistently ranks last in customer satisfaction among nine major carriers, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Redditors also panned the airline, sharing horror stories from traveling with the Florida-based carrier. “My assigned seat was full of puke from the last passenger,” a commenter shares. Another user calls Spirit “a joke,” adding that they had to pay $1,000 to get home after the budget airline canceled their flight.

Related: When the Spirit (Airlines) Moves You ... Run Fast in the Opposite Direction

Like Spirit, Frontier is a budget carrier that Americans love to hate, in part because of the company’s fee-based business model. “Want to pick your own seat? There's a charge. Want to bring a carry-on AND a personal bag? There's a charge,” one comment reads. Others complained about the company’s cramped, outdated aircrafts: “I've never felt more like a sardine.”

Related: Delayed Flight? New Rule Could Force Airlines To Compensate Passengers in Cash

Ryanair is the European equivalent of Spirit and Frontier. It’s flying … but without glamor, comfort, or customer service! Even then, the flights are so cheap that some critics continue to patronize the Irish carrier.

Related: Delayed Flights Plagued Travelers in 2022, but This Airline Was the Most Punctual