Spirit Airlines refuses to allow Puerto Rican family to board from Los Angeles to Puerto Rico because their toddler did not have a passport despite the destination being part of the US
- A Puerto Rican family traveling from LA to visit relatives on US soil was denied boarding after being told they needed passports
- The Roman Torres family was told they could not board their Spirit Airline flight to the island because their toddler did not have a US passport
- Family tried to explain that Puerto Rico was US territory and the flight was not international, but staff wouldn’t listen; the family chose to travel on JetBlue
A Puerto Rican family traveling from Los Angeles to visit relatives on the island was not allowed to board their Spirit Airlines flight because their toddler did not have a US passport – despite the destination being classified as a domestic flight.
The frustrating incident occurred on April 25 at Los Angeles International Airport when Marivi Roman Torres, along with her husband Luis, and their two-year-old son Alejandro were hoping to travel to Puerto Rico to visit relatives.
Upon reaching the check-in counter, an agent asked for the family’s passports.
The Torres family explained that Puerto Rico was a U.S. territory that did not require a passport to travel there. DailyMail.com has contacted Spirit Airlines for comment.
The Roman Torres family, who is Puerto Rican and hoped to travel from Los Angeles to visit relatives in Puerto Rico, were denied boarding after being told they needed passports
Puerto Rican family traveling from LA to visit relatives in Puerto Rico were denied boarding after being told they needed passports and their toddler didn’t have one
“At first she told me this is an international flight,” Roman Torres said CBS news. ‘I said no, Puerto Rico is not another country. It’s American territory.’
Both Luis and Marivi had their passports and handed them over, but when asked for their young son’s identification, they explained that the child did not yet have one.
The family was told they were unable to travel and were given the option of a refund or rescheduling their flight once they were issued a passport for their child.
They asked to speak to a supervisor, but their demands were essentially ignored as the trio faced staff who showed a lack of flexibility and empathy with their situation.
The family tried to explain to the check-in staff that Puerto Rico was US territory and that the flight was not international, but the staff wouldn’t listen; the family chose to travel on JetBlue
‘Is there anyone else I can talk to? Can we call customer service together?’ Torres pleaded with the check-in staff.
“There was no empathy. There were only walls,” she explained.
With a sense of loss, the family went to a nearby JetBlue counter who confirmed that no passports of any kind were required to travel into the US territory.
Puerto Ricans are US citizens and the island of Puerto Rico is not an international destination.
Despite tickets being a lot more expensive at the last minute, the family decided to buy a new set of tickets on JetBlue to ensure they could still make it to the island later that night.
The family eventually decided to fly with JetBlue and managed to arrive later that same day despite having to pay more for their tickets
Spirit Airlines, which operates about 25 daily flights to three destinations in Puerto Rico, has since apologized to the family and acknowledged that a new agent at LAX misunderstood the identification requirements.
In this particular case, an agent at LAX who is new to the position misunderstood the identification requirements. We are providing additional coaching to the agent and repeating the correct procedure,” the airline said in a statement.
The airline refunded their original tickets and gave them travel vouchers for the future, though the family says they do not plan to travel with the airline again.
‘I don’t feel like booking with Spirit anymore. I think my trust was broken there because of something that shouldn’t have happened,” she said.