Frontier and Spirit

[Dakota731]

Any experiences with these two airlines? The big three are just so expensive and have crappy times for our next trip!

 

[jimmymc]

I've been on both plenty of times. Stuff to keep in mind:

• Seat selection and carry-on bags cost extra. A personal item is included, and they will check the size of both bags if they are close
• Check in online beforehand or pay a fee to check in at the desk. Dropping off checked bags is included in the checked bag fee.
• No complimentary drinks or snacks on board
• Seats aren't as comfortable, but it's not a huge difference
• If your flight is cancelled, you will have to wait for the next Spirit or Frontier flight. They won't put you on another airline. This might be a day or two away.

 

[EACarlson]

I'm assuming you mean Spirit. When they work they are just fine, when things go wrong, they have no chance to recover. A co worker had a flight leaving Vegas in March on Frontier that was cancelled for mechanical. Frontier did nothing for him, told him they could rebook him on Thursday, the flight was Sunday. No hotel and they offered him a $15 meal voucher. If it were something you would be horribly disappointed to miss, I wouldn't fly one of the ULCCs.

 

[_19disnA]

Have flown on Frontier several times with no issues. Relatives were flying to Vegas a couple of years ago and their departing flight was delayed, so Frontier gave them free tickets they could use within a year. They thought it was wonderful they got a future free flight, guess it depends on your impression of how things are handled.

Where I used to live, Spirit was CONSTANTLY on the local news showing irate passengers at the airport who were stuck because a flight was cancelled and no good options existed. If they don't fly daily flights on a particular route, could have major issues when things go wrong. I personally would NEVER fly on Spirit. Also make sure to check the TOTAL cost of flights when doing comparison shopping. Many only show the base ticket price to make it SEEM like it is a bargain, but once you add in the various extras, not so much.

There are risks with any of the these 'shoe-string' airlines, but I consider Frontier to be a much better choice compared to Spirit.

Have noticed recently that Frontier will sometimes show a connecting flight with an exorbitant layover time (8+hrs) instead of indicating they don't service that route. Make sure to review the connecting flight information to avoid surprises when traveling.

 

[Dakota731]

That was the biggest thing I was afraid of - there is only one flight per day from our city to Orlando and back, so if it gets cancelled then we would have to wait a day or more to get to WDW. I don’t care about snacks, seats or any of that, but missing your vacation would be rough!