Atlantic City Airport and Spirit Airlines Question

[lizzie64]

Hello all,

Since this is our first trip from our new home in New Jersey I'd like to ask for opinions on what to do.

We are leaving from Atlantic City Airport and are flying Spirit Airlines. We have a 7am flight. Spirit recommends getting to the airport at least 3 hours before departure time. That's 4 am. I normally wouldn't care but we are travelling with 4 kids two of which are 4 and 2 years old. Spending 3 hours waiting at an airport will be torture. However, if I have to I will.

Anyone have experience with Spirit airlines? Is this really true? We are taking a room overnight near the airport so we don't have to make that drive at 2am.

Thanks in advance.

Liz

 

[RobinLyn]

Hi lizzie,

My husband travels weekly as part of his job and has flown out of AC many times (USAir). He says 1 1/2 - 2 hours TOPS in getting to the airport before your scheduled time. He also suggests calling the airport, not the airlines, tell them what Spirit said and ask if that sounds right to them. At that time of the morning, almost no one will be there. Is this on a weekday or weekend? A Saturday may be a bit busier but still, you will be sitting a very long time just waiting. Make sure the airport is open when you plan to arrive. I would check the day before to make sure your flight times haven't changed as they (USAir anyways...) have been making many changes in time lately (cut backs). We live about 30 minutes from AC airport in South Jersey. Taking a room near the airport the night before an early flight is a great idea, we do this often when traveling with our kids especially for early morning flights. Hope this helps!

 

[lizzie64]

Thanks Robinlyn,

I will call ahead to find out. We are leaving on a Friday morning. So there may be some commuter traffic, but I don't expect much.

I thought 3 hours was a bit much. I know spirit does not assign seats ahead of time, but usually there isn't even an attendant at the gate until 30 minutes before boarding.

Thanks again.

 

[Mark P.]

Hey, we'll be leaving 3 days after you

Just a little suggestion for you...

We like to spend the night before the flight at the Cardiff EconoLodge(I think it's technically located in Egg Harbor).
The hotel is about 10 mins. from the Airport, and rates are around $45-$55 night. The rooms are clean, and every room has a Jacuzzi tub.

We like to walk around the Hamilton mall, check out the Disney store, grab a bite to eat, then settle in at the hotel.
When we wake up, it's just a short 10 min. ride to the Airport.

Spending the night close to the Airport kind of gives us the feeling of starting the vacation a day early, too.

Here's a link to the Cardiff EconoLodge, if you're interested:

Cardiff Econo Lodge

Have a great trip!!

 

[lizzie64]

Hey Mark,

Thanks. I believe I read one of your posts before where you suggested the same thing. I did go ahead and book a room for the night before at that hotel.

Thanks for the hints. Sounds good to me. I'm just hoping I really don't have to be at the airport at 4am

 

[DebbieB]

I have a friend that goes down to AC on junkets pretty often. She told me that they are hand searching all checked luggage at ACY, they don't have the new machines yet. 3 hours does sound excessive.

 

[NJmouse]

Last year we flew out of AC (before the new luggage checking machines) and the check in desk did not open until 5 am. I would check and make sure that there will be someone there at 4am. The flight was a nice one.

 

[NJmouse]

RobinLyn according to your countdown it looks like we will be going to WDW the same time. We flying down USAir out of Philly
April 30th in the am and flying home on May 9th in the evening.
How about you?

 

[RobinLyn]

Hi NJmouse,

We are flying out of Philly, USAirways, April 30th in the afternoon (my kids are teens so letting them go to school 1/2 day ) Returning May 7th. We are meeting my sister's family at WDW, they are staying at the YC the same time as us. They have three teens so say a little prayer for us adults!! Wish I was staying until the 9th. We live in Turnersville, not to far from you. "Have a great time", I'm hoping it's not in the 90's the whole week. Where are you staying NJmouse?

 

[NJmouse]

Robinlyn, We are staying at the BWV. We are DVC'rs. If you already have your flight double check your flight times. Ours were changed from 6:30 am to 8:15 am. New Springtime schedule. We got our notice in the mail yesterday.

Please check your pm I sent you one.

 

[LtlTee]

Hi Lizzie64,
We flew out of AC last May. We had the afternoon flight (2:00 or so? Can't remember exactly...) on a Thursday and we too were told to arrive 3 hours early. We did just that, buzzed thru security and sat.... for 2.5 hours! Luckily, it was just my husband and I (for a short kid-less trip) so we didn't have to worry about keeping the kids entertained. We had a late lunch and I grabbed a book from the tiny gift shop, so it wasn't too bad.

Now, it may be a different story for our upcoming June trip. It will be me, my husband, our 2.5 year-old, 6 year-old and 12 year-old, flying out at 7:00 AM on a Saturday. I am curious if the day and early flight time will make a difference in crowds, and the time we should arrive, so I would love it if you would post on your experience when you get back!

I love using Spirit out of AC -- we are only about 45 minutes away, and you don't have the huge hassle with parking and huge terminals like you have in Philadelphia.

 

[lizzie64]

Ltltree -

I will definitely post my experiences. I love the smaller airports. We loved on Long Island until last year and always flew out of McArthur airports.

Can't wait to see AC.

Thanks for the info,
Liz

 

[pixiechick]

We flew out of AC on Jan 24th, the 7 am flight. We arrived at approx. 5:20 am. There was a minimal wait at the ticket counter, and a slightly longer one at security. Someone I know recently flew AC to Vegas and reported the hand searches of bags too, how much time that will add could fluctuate greatly. In our case, we had time to grab a bagel, use the bathrooms and then sit for a short time. I did call Spirit's main number at the time and they assured me that they opened at 4. However, everyone I know who has flown them insisted that the counter in AC opened at 5.

It was a nice flight, although we almost diverted back to another airport over the south (?, not sure where they planned to go) because someone in the plane decided to pop a few valiums with some vodka! They decided to head for Orlando quickly. Made for a fast landing, they bumped us ahead of other arriving flights! Of course, we had to wait for the EMTs to remove our fellow passenger!
I would definately fly Spirit again.

 

[allicat]

Lizzie 64. We are in Toms River and are flying out of AC next Friday on the 7 am flight. I will post about how long our wait time was. We are planning to arrive around 5:15. I have been told, like other posters, that the counter doesnt even open until 5 am. I have friends who have flown repeatedly on Spirit and they yold me not to even bother getting there before 5:30 am.

 

[lizzie64]

Originally posted by allicat
Lizzie 64. We are in Toms River and are flying out of AC next Friday on the 7 am flight. I will post about how long our wait time was. We are planning to arrive around 5:15. I have been told, like other posters, that the counter doesnt even open until 5 am. I have friends who have flown repeatedly on Spirit and they yold me not to even bother getting there before 5:30 am.

Allicat,

Thanks a bunch. We are in Jackson. We made the decision to stay overnight at a nearby hotel airport so we wouldn't have to get up at 2 am. I would love to hear your experience with that flight and the airport.

If you'd like you can pm when you get back.

Enjoy your trip.

Liz

 

[Krissalee]

lizzie64

We did the same thing in December. We stayed overnight in a hotel room about 10 minutes from AC Airport, so that we didn't need to get up for a long drive down at a very early hour (we are in Point Pleasant).

We actually left our hotel at 5am for our 7am flight on Spirit. Our car was parked in long term parking, and we were in the airport by 5:20. We had about a 15 minute wait at the check-in desk, and about the same wait at security. We still had an hour to wait at the gate, which was fine. Enough time to relax, grab a coffee, and hit the restrooms before boarding the plane. Our flight took off on time (this never happens at Newark) and we landed safely in Orlando at 9:15am with a full day in front of us!

I will be flying Spirit from AC again in October - I will never use another airport/airline to get me to MCO! It was so convenient, quick, and friendly.

 

[Verandah Man]

Thanks for posting this thread and for the many posts, my family is flying out of AC on Spirit in August on the 7:00am flight, I was wondering what time the check-in desk opened, now I have a better idea.

I have been checking many hotel websites in the AC airport area, my sister live in Egg Harbor Twp. and she gave me a list of motels to check out. We are flying close to the Labor Day Weekend, and the hotel rates I found, were all over the $100.00 @ night range.

We only live an hour away, we decided, we'll just leave the house around 3:30am and drive to the AC airport then.

We had planned to go down the night before, but for those $$$$, for a room for only a few hours, no thanks!!! That's $$$$ we can have to spend on our cruise!!!

 

[zurgswife]

I had friends fly out 2 weeks ago and did comment on the long amount of time it took to hand check all the luggage...they went through eveything....They had a 8am flight I'll ask how much time it actually took and post back...

They also stayed over night in AC since the flight was soo early and they were driving from Philly...

 

[lizzie64]

Zurgswife - thanks, I'd appreciate hearing what they had to say.

 

[Verandah Man]

Originally posted by zurgswife
I had friends fly out 2 weeks ago and did comment on the long amount of time it took to hand check all the luggage...they went through eveything....They had a 8am flight I'll ask how much time it actually took and post back...

They also stayed over night in AC since the flight was soo early and they were driving from Philly...

Thanks Kim,
I'd appreciate that news as well!!! How's Zurg and the Little Zurgies doing, since your return home from your cruise???