Spirit - H8te Thousand Miles

Spirit - H8te Thousand Miles

Ultra low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, routinely referred to as the Most Hated Airline in the U.S, is trying to harness that hate (and generate publicity) with a campaign inviting travelers to vent about any airline, including Spirit.

Each “venter” who participates in Spirit’s Hate Thousand Miles Giveaway will receive 8,000 of the airline’s frequent-flier miles, which is about 2,000 miles short of a free flight. They must have or sign up for a Spirit Airlines mileage account.

Under a tagline saying “UNLEASH THAT HATE,” Spirit gives visitors a dropdown list of airlines to “hate on.” Visitors just have to keep complaints to a Twitterfriendly 140 characters or less. “Or maybe you’re one of our fans -- feel free to share some love, too,” Spirit adds.

For those who submit a gripe, Spirit gives this confirmation: “We’re glad you got that out. From now on, we’ll be better about spreading the word on how we fly - because we want everyone to know about our Bare Fares, how you only pay for what you use, and how Spirit saves you money.”

“We want to change the way people think about air travel and educate them about the Spirit way of traveling,” said Ben Baldanza, Spirit’s CEO. “We’re going to Hug The Haters.”

The promotion will end once the airline gives away one billion miles. “So far, there’s been a lot of venting about delays, weather and all the problems you’d have on almost any airline,” said a Spirit spokesman.

The campaign is accompanied by a somewhat offbeat video featuring a guitar player and a singer who sings angry tweets.