Anyone fly Spirit out of DTW to MCO?

[BStew]

We are having a hard time finding decently priced flights out of Michigan to MCO and Spirit seems to have the best fares (including factoring in carry-on and checked bags). But I have heard so many horror stories about flying with them (although I hear the same about flying Southwest and we LOVE them!). The flights we are looking at are direct and early morning. Just wondering if anyone has experience with flying with Spirit out of DTW that is positive. It would help me feel better about booking through them. Comparable flights are about $200 more per person.

 

[Sandi]

I did not have a positive experience with Spirit. Won't fly with them again. Not sure where you live, but sometimes flights from FNT and GRR are decent for direct nonstop on SW and Delta. I usually fly out of LAN, but those Delta flights are not nonstop.

 

[shannon006]

I have not flown Spirit in many years now, because of bad service and all the added fees. We have been flying SW out of DTW and FNT, depends on cost. Keep checking as the rates can change several times in one day.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I have flown Spirit from DTW to MCO and never had an issue. Just booked with them again for my trip in November. Can't pass it up for under $600 for 4 people!

 

[BStew]

Not sure where you live, but sometimes flights from FNT and GRR are decent for direct nonstop on SW and Delta.

we live near Kalamazoo so I have been religiously checking Azo, grr, lan and fnt for alternates but right now spirit would save us $600 (including all the fees) with the only non-stop option. Southwest isn't flying non stop out of grr this fall it seems.

 

[Keacc]

We have flown Spirit from Chicago to Orlando 3 years in a row and never had a problem. We're flying them again in early November. We got them for $147/person. American and United were around $320/person.

 

[schoen]

Have you looked at Chicago? It can't be much farther from Kzoo than Detroit?

 

[aussiegrl]

The best deal I got was flying Frontier out of DTW and then a return trip home with Spirit. We leave Saturday so I can let you know when we do our return flight how they were. We normally are always flying with Southwest out of Flint, but they were way to expensive and we would have had to make a stop in Chicago. I decided to take the gamble.

 

[BStew]

We have flown Spirit from Chicago to Orlando 3 years in a row and never had a problem. We're flying them again in early November. We got them for $147/person. American and United were around $320/person.

Detroit is a straight shot 2 hours and hardly any traffic. If it was a major cost savings we would consider Chicago but Spirit from Detroit is very cheap (just not sure about the airline itself!)
We ALWAYS fly SW and they only have the way to Orlando posted right now and it's $200 ONE WAY. Typically I would hold out and just book with them and hope for a drop in prices later but their flight is also not a direct so it's looking like Spirit is the way we'll go (unless by some miracle in the next two weeks prices on SW, Delta or United drop)

 

[lvdis]

My parents just got back Saturday from a trip using Spirit and they were very happy with their flights. I was worried because I had arranged the flights for them and didn't know anything about Spirit, but it saved them about $300 and that was even with them paying more to get the big comfy seats in the 2nd row. They loved it and said they would do it again.

The only thing to be aware of is that Spirit has been known to cancel flights with little notice. When I was checking the status of their flight on Saturday morning, I noticed 2 other Spirit flights were showing as canceled (Dalllas to Denver and Denver to Chicago). Not sure why and have no idea how much notice, if any, the passengers were given. Just something to be aware of. My parents had early morning flights and possibly that helped. Maybe they were lucky. I would probably try them myself though if the savings is that great.

 

[Keacc]

Huge snowstorm in the Denver area over the weekend. All airlines had cancelled flights to and from Denver.

 

[Nornster]

We live near Kalamazoo, too, and we have flown Spirit out of Detroit - I agree that taking 94 over to the outskirts of Detroit is a lot easier that taking the IN toll road and Skyway right into downtown Chicago traffic. (We've done both, just did SW out of Midway last week.) Spirit has always worked out for us, and if you go into it with eyes open (yes, they will nickel and dime you for everything, so just pick what you're willing to pay for), you really can save a bunch of money.

My favorite option, though, is Allegiant Air out of South Bend - but it only flies to Sanford, not MCO. No Magical Express to Sanford, but you could rent a car - we have family in the area that can pick us up. What I love about little airports like South Bend and Sanford is that everything is just smaller - walks from the parking lot (no tram necessary), lines for security, the walk to the gate, everything. Don't know if that's an option for you.

 

[BStew]

My favorite option, though, is Allegiant Air out of South Bend - but it only flies to Sanford, not MCO.

That is a great option to! The only thing is that our dates are set and Allegiant will get us there but not back and the other airlines that fly into South Bend are expensive on the return. Thanks for reminding me of that though- I always forget about South Bend!

 

[Nornster]

Yeah, Allegiant definitely has limited days to fly in and out of. Good luck with your flight out of Detroit. Is it crazy early in the morning? One time we stayed at an airport by the motel, which included free parking for your car while you were away, and had a free shuttle to the airport that was super quick to get there. It was a really nice room for not very much money, not that we stayed there long - we had to get up so early to get to the airport, at least we didn't have to drive two hours that morning!

 

[detroitdad]

It really depends on personal experience and what you are willing to tolerate. I personally have had one too many bad Spirit experiences to ever fly with them again regardless of how cheap the fares are--and we're a family of 6 so the cost savings are notable but I just can't bring myself to do it.

 

[Blackadder337]

I have flown on Spirit from DTW many times and never had any issues. I think if you fly Spirit keep reminding yourself that its a bare bones minimum service, you won't be disappointed. Of the many times I've flown Spirit, our flight was delayed only once due to weather, but that would have been the same result regardless which airline I chose. But I have found the Spirit staff at DTW to be friendly and helpful.

If you fly with Spirit with kids though, make sure you bring a tablet / portable dvd player / laptop with movies on it (and headphones!). There's no in flight entertainment, unless "Shawna" is one of flight attendants. She was on our last Spirit flight and she had our section of the plane laughing and practically in tears for most of the flight.

I will say this though... if I was on a flight that was maybe more than 4 hours, I might pick a different airline just for the added comfort features. But for short trips, I've found Spirit to be a good solution for us.