How bad is Spirit Air?

[Sugar Jones]

Right now even with the extras cost of baggage they are about $500.00 less than Delta for September flights.

I haven't heard many positives things about them though. The flight timed from DTW to MCO are really good too.

I have not flown in 12 years so I don't know what to expect.

 

[ain0004]

We are not flying with them. Often find their planes in poor condition, IMO. Extra cost for everything. We too are waiting for airfares to go down, we have a Oct trip and plan to fly out of DTW

 

[rwdavis2]

Just realize they charge for everything and if you have to cancel make sure you know their policy in detail.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

If you don't mind the seat in front of you practically being in your lap, you should be good.
I'm short, and even I found the rows too tight, my DH and my sons were uncomfortable the whole flight. I also found their carry on fees to be quite high, higher than checked baggage on my flight for some reason, unless you were in the $9 club (or whatever it's called).
I did find the airport terminals for spirit to be nice, though. Flights were on time, and the crew were very nice.

 

[seashoreCM]

Like the little girl with the curl hanging down her forehead. When it's good it's very very good but when it's bad it's horrid.

Spirit is one of the "rinky dink*" airlines; if your flight is cancelled there is often no convenient replacement flight. There are numerous trip reports of airline staff unable or unwilling to give much help and who gave a hard time about giving a refund after the cancellation.

* The other two, higher, categories are "legacy" and "discount".

 

[Grandmatoniko]

We fly Spirit whenever we go to Disney. The seats on the plane are tight but we only have a 2 1/2 hour flight so we deal with it. The airport we fly out of is small and I like not dealing with a huge airport. We park and walk to the terminal. They have been the cheapest when we fly also. Good luck!

 

[Baliezer]

if your flight is cancelled there is often no convenient replacement flight. There are numerous trip reports of airline staff unable or unwilling to give much help and who gave a hard time about giving a refund after the cancellation.

This can be true with any airline. Our Delta flight was canceled the morning we were scheduled to fly in to our Disney cruise. They were rude and unable to find us another flight. We missed the cruise departure and ended up using another airline to catch up to the ship. We did not receive any compensation from Delta.

 

[aubriee]

I've flown two round trips flights on Spirit this year and didn't have a problem either time. All four planes were very clean, flights were on time (even a little early in fact), crew was very pleasant and friendly, and seats were fine. I would have no problem flying them again. As long as you are aware of all of their fees you should be fine Be sure and carry some snacks and get something to drink after security though, because they do not serve anything on the plane (without you paying for it that is).

 

[bianca]

OP ..... We too, fly out of DTW and use Spirit regularly. While they have changed our flight time in the past, it has only been by a few hours and did not impact our vacation. Our non-stop flights have always been on time and in general, the planes are clean and the crew friendly. We've honestly never had a problem and in fact, are flying with them again next week. Just know going in about the extra fees and you'll be fine.

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

As long as you're aware that Spirit charges for everything, has a luggage weight limit of 40 pounds and has less leg room than any other airline, you should be fine.

I always find myself defending Spirit, but truthfully, I've flown them numerous times from Atlantic City and never had a problem. Contrary to what a prior posted said, I've found their planes to be clean and the employees at the airport and on the plane to be pleasant.

I'd say to save the $500 and give Spirit a chance.

 

[Lewisc]

This can be true with any airline. Our Delta flight was canceled the morning we were scheduled to fly in to our Disney cruise. They were rude and unable to find us another flight. We missed the cruise departure and ended up using another airline to catch up to the ship. We did not receive any compensation from Delta.

You're not generally not entitled to compensation if a flight is cancelled due to weather issues. Flying the morning of your cruise isn't a good idea. Travel insurance might have helped you.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

This can be true with any airline. Our Delta flight was canceled the morning we were scheduled to fly in to our Disney cruise. They were rude and unable to find us another flight. We missed the cruise departure and ended up using another airline to catch up to the ship. We did not receive any compensation from Delta.

Actually you could has asked for a refund due to a weather cancellation.

However, this is a warning to others don't do this! Don't fly in the morning of your cruise it's going to cost you if ANYTHING goes wrong!

Back to the OP.

People tend to "like" Spirit until something goes wrong and then they are well known for thier "we don't really do customer service" (trust me while this poster may not like Delta the CEO of Delta has never sent an email saying "we don't care what our customers think they only fly us because they are cheap and they will be back regardless" to a large audience.. The Spirit CEO did that... and that sums up thier view of "customer service")

Over on Trip Advisor they get a weekly "NEVER FLY SPIRIT" posting because they do things like "cancel the flight for no reason and tell us the next option in a week later"

The "risk" is to great for me. I don't want to be stuck someplace having to buy a full fare ticket because Spirit's crew decided not to show up or whatever the "excuse du jour" is.

Generally when I read "the airline was rude" I find that turns out to mean "the airline couldn't/wouldn't do what I wanted them to do and when I got rightous they got rude" However, with Spirit they just start off rude so they don't have to go down that path

(I fly a lot. Just yesterday I witnessed a passenger going off on an AirTran gate agent because the plane was late. Of course, there was a TORNADO in the area, but why should that delay Mr "I want to leave right now" After a few minutes of abuse the gate agent got "rude" What a surprise LOL! It finally ended when the passenger in line behind Mr. "I want to leave right now" told him to SHUT UP!)

 

[lugnut33]

I flew them a couple of times and do not like them. Have not flown them in years.

My BIL flew them a year ago and he said never again.

I heard they are putting up tolls just to use the air passenger brigdes.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I flew them a couple of times and do not like them. Have not flown them in years.

My BIL flew them a year ago and he said never again.

I heard they are putting up tolls just to use the air passenger brigdes.

No they decided to put a coin operated lock on the bathrooms instead!

Rumor has it the next great invention will be the coin operated air mask. "In the event of a sudden change in air presure, the oxygen mask will fall from the panel in the ceiling. Place the mask on your face and secure it with the elastic strap. If you would like oxygen to flow then insert 50 cents in the slots above your head. If you don't want oxygen to flow, it's been a pleasure knowing you"

 

[njmom47]

I posted this recently but will post again.
We were due to fly out of AC at 6 am.
They changed our flight to 5:37 pm.
I don't see well to drive at night (we would've been landing at night in an unfamiliar place), especially when I'm not really sure where I'm going, so I called them directly (and I had booked through a 3rd party) to change our flight to 7am (same day) but landing in Ft Lauderdale. No issues whatsoever, and was told that if there was a price difference, I would receive some type of credit. (I was renting a car so didn't matter to me where I picked up the car, and there was no price difference). Dh (6'2) and ds (6'4) didn't say they were uncomfortable (again 2 hours 20 mins, no biggie to us). The plane was fine, we all took a backpack (squishy) bag that fit under the seats in front of us, we had one carry-on (on the way down) and one checked bag (on the way back) that I paid for well before the flight (cheapest way other than being a $9 Fare Club member, pay at least 24 hours online before the flight, cost me $30 and $35). I got a drink and a snack (cost $4, the same as in Wawa or Starbucks I'm sure).
Both flights were good (landed a bit early as well). No problems, will fly them again, have been flying them for a long time.
Maybe AC airport helps, though; it's a nice little airport!
If you can really save that much money, give them a chance.

 

[Brian Noble]

Spirit pros:
* They are cheap, and generally get you where you are going.

Spirit cons:
* They fly infrequently and have no interline agreements, so a cancellation or delay is more likely to have a significant impact on your plans.
* The rows are the narrowest in the sky.
* They aggressively charge for extras; not planning ahead can be costly.

Can go either way:
* They tend to fly out of smaller airports. Easier to get in/out and cheaper parking (pro) but a lot less in the way of in-airport services (con).


My advice: Do not fly them unless you are on such a tight budget that it was fly Spirit or don't go. Even then, it might be worth it to save up for a little while longer instead. I will not fly them, but I'm in a position to be able to fly someone else.

 

[debster812]

I think the most important thing to remember is that when things go smoothly, Spirit is fine. It is what it is, a low-cost, no frills, pay a fee for almost everything, airline.

However, when there are any type of irregular ops, that's when things go South, and go south in a hurry. The only time I flew Spirit it was for a long weekend trip, our flight out was cancelled between the time I checked our flight at home, and the time we arrived at the airport (<45 minutes). We spent the next 7 hours at the airport, our non stop was turned into a flight with one stop, and we missed our 1st day of our trip.

Same trip, our flight home was delayed due to ground stoppages up and down the east coast due to fog. However, there was NO ONE beyond security at MYR who could update us as to what was going on, and getting through to Spirit on the phone proved to be challenging at best.

I understand that 'stuff' happens, but it's Spirit's utter disdain for it's passengers that really turned me off.

I do my best to avoid them at all costs.

 

[princessmurdough]

We've dubbed them Spit air...and never again. We've tried 3x.
By the time you factor the luggage charges, the inconvenience factor and the BAD service, it is not worth the meager savings. JMO.

 

[Lewisc]

No they decided to put a coin operated lock on the bathrooms instead!

:

Rumor is Spirit will be start serving complimentary big gulp sized cups of water and maybe even soda whenever they go with coin operated bathrooms.

. Dh (6'2) and ds (6'4) didn't say they were uncomfortable (again 2 hours 20 mins, no biggie to us).

According to seatguru Spirit only has 5 A320s with 28" seat pitch, with 35 on order. No idea when existing planes will be converted to this new configuration. No doubt in my mind DH and DS would have said something if you were in one the newly designed planes.

Topic heading says it all. Any other airline people ask how good are they. Spirit the only question is can they be as bad as everyone says.

I agree with the PP. Add up all the extras and the total price is OK. Either short enough so it's not a big deal or willing to gamble on the seat configuration. Not flying in the day of a cruise. Won't be the end of the world if you have to cancel your trip at the last minute. Go for.

 

[Sugar Jones]

Jetblue is releasing their prices for Sept./Oct. on Sunday. I really, really hope for some good prices......I can dream right?


I would prefer to fly out of Flint with Southwest, or Detroit with Delta since we are much closer to that border, but I will drive the extra 2 hrs to Buffalo for a great price.