Carrie Hemler, a Literacy Specialist at Lower Merion High School, learned about the unreliability of budget airlines the hard way, when her airline ghosted her, writes Dawn Gilbertson for The Wall Street Journal.

The educator bought cheap tickets on Avelo Airlines four months ahead of a family vacation in August. Not even a month later, the airline sent out an e-mail to notify travelers it was suspending its Wilmington, Delaware route to Florida in early July.

“We’re like, what are we going to do?” said Hemler.

This is not unusual, as budget airlines can shake up their route networks at a dizzying speed.

Hemler had to buy new tickets from Avelo to fly to Fort Lauderdale instead of West Palm Beach. Her family will have to leave a few days earlier than planned and rent a car to reach her mother’s house, instead of being picked up by a family member.

Still, the family got lucky. For three round-trip tickets on Avelo, Hemler paid a total of $416.70. If that option was not available, she would have had to pay around $340 per person on a regular airline.

Read more about Carrie Hemler in The Wall Street Journal.

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Are budget airlines really as bad as some people make them out to be, or are they a good choice for traveling on a tight budget?