Has anyone left seats unassigned with Spirit?

[RandiB]

And travelled with a child? My husband says we should do and see what happens. DD4 is a great flyer, but one of us should be next to her.

Should I fork out the $30 and shut up?

Most people on the flight have not assigned thier seats yet.

 

[Kevenswife2]

And travelled with a child? My husband says we should do and see what happens. DD4 is a great flyer, but one of us should be next to her.

Should I fork out the $30 and shut up?

Most people on the flight have not assigned thier seats yet.

I didn't want to risk it on my upcoming flights, so I forked over the extra $32 total. My daughter's 10 and also a very good traveler. Give her her DS and she's happy for the 2 hour flight. But, I want to be the adult sitting beside her, not a stranger. Would that stranger help her in an emergency? I know I would.

For me, $32 was a small price to pay for the peace of mind.

 

[Tinkerbell_n_neverland]

I'm not sure how spirt works but Ive done southwest with my son and there are no assigned seats. When they make their first boarding call, its for people who need extra assistance as well as anyone traveling with a small child. We always go to the front of the line and get right on. They allow one parent to go with the child. Needless to say grandma hasn't always been able to sit with us. I have a friend with 4 children under 6 years old who flies spirit airways a few times a year to WDW with her DH and Ive never heard of them being split up. If your really concerned, I would call ahead. If you get in a situation where you cant sit together I'm sure an adult would give up their seat to let you sit with your child.

 

[crashbb]

If you get in a situation where you cant sit together I'm sure an adult would give up their seat to let you sit with your child.

Given that other people have paid to choose their seats and the OP has chosen not to pay, I would not assume that people would move. This comes up a lot of this board and the general consensus is, that on airlines where you can pay to choose your seat, if you decide to save the money, be prepared to sit apart from your child. People who would move on SW or other airlines where there is either no pre-seat selection or free pre-seat selection are much less likely to move when the parent decided that saving money was more important than sitting beside their child.

 

[Dazer22]

If you do not preselect your seats on Spirit, are you able to go online 24 hrs or less before and select your seats at no charge? ( like airtran) or do you have to pay?

In Detroit, Spirt window/aisle seats went up to 12.00 pp each way and middle/center seats went up to 7.00 pp each way.

2 adults and 2 kids would cost us $76.00 ( both ways total) just for seat selection! Yikes.

 

[RandiB]

Dazer-

No, it says you get random seats assigned.

I'm flying out of Detroit. With two kids and two adults you could skip assigning one adult seat, but that would only save you $14. It's not a long flight.

We could easily get away with just assigning two seats @ $19 each way. Last time I checked it was $15 each way. UGH!

 

[andymattmom]

You are traveling at a busy holiday time--looking at your countdown.

I am a parent and have an almost 12 year old and 13 year old. We flew Airtran in September and I paid for our seats. I wanted all 4 of us sitting together. My boys and I sat together and my husband sat on the aisle across from us. Our flights both ways were full and this was "non peak season". We are all given the opportuinity to prepurchase seats and guarantee we sit together. If this is a concern of yours I would spent the $30 or so for peace of mind- both you and your childs. I would not count on an adult giving up a seat for you- it would seem that most people on a flight to Orlando are going to Universal or Disney and with a family. I can honestly say none of us would have given up (nor in the future) our seats together that we paid for when someone else had that same opportunity and chose not to pay. Imagine getting on the plane and not being together- no one has to give up the seats and especially with them saying flights are going to be full since they cut back I wouldn't risk it.

Yes, my kids are older but I don't want them sitting alone. We are a family going on vacation and we don't want to be spread out on the plane so that is why we paid.

Have a fun trip!!!

 

[bavaria]

Ultimately, you have a choice here

• control your own destiny or
• place your destiny in the hands of others

As pointed out, people who did take the time to pay for a seat will be far less likely to move for you because you chose not to do so.

Don't assume that because your child is young that people will move. As pointed out, capacity has been severely cut to MCO resulting in very full flights. Also flights to MCO especially on carriers like Spirit are more leisure travellers, hence more children.

If YOU had paid for your seats, would YOU move away from your child so that another family who did not pay could sit together?

 

[RandiB]

Thanks everyone.
It's not really about the money. Had I realized all of the extra charges I probably would have spent the money and flown with a non value carrier.

I was just wondering if anyone had actually done this and what their experience was. Mainly, when you printed out your boarding passes were the seats completely random or together.

Maybe I should have been more clear.

If I was flying alone or with my husband another adult only I probably would not pay for the seat assignments, since I just read or listen to music anyway. So yes, I would move if someone needed my seat to sit with their child. I would still move if I paid for my assignment as well. Yes, I really am that kind of person. If I have to trade my window/aisle for a center I am out five bucks. Maybe those parents would buy me a bottle of water. That is what I would do if someone moved for me.

A friend of mine paid for the up front aisle seat on Spirit. Since you board last with a front seat there was no where to put her bag. All of the back passengers had put their bags up front for easy access when they left.

She had to be the last person off the plane. She paid the money to be off the plane quickly.

Don't take this as defensive. I really just wanted to know what people had actually experienced. I am 95% sure I am going to just give in and assign seats for two of us.

That said, should I pick an aisle and center or center and window? DD hasn't been too excited about windows and they tend to make me a little ill.

 

[Kevenswife2]

Can you do that, only assign seats for a couple of people on your confirmation number? I was under the impression it was all or none.

With Skybus it was that way (yes, I know, they went out of business). That's the only experience I've had with paying to assign seats until getting airfare for my upcoming trip.

 

[RandiB]

Can you do that, only assign seats for a couple of people on your confirmation number? I was under the impression it was all or none.

With Skybus it was that way (yes, I know, they went out of business). That's the only experience I've had with paying to assign seats until getting airfare for my upcoming trip.

From spirit: Seats do not have to be purchased at the same time for all passengers or all segments.

I think this means I can just purchase for some of the passengers, not all.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[CarolA]

I'm not sure how spirt works but Ive done southwest with my son and there are no assigned seats. When they make their first boarding call, its for people who need extra assistance as well as anyone traveling with a small child. We always go to the front of the line and get right on. They allow one parent to go with the child. Needless to say grandma hasn't always been able to sit with us. I have a friend with 4 children under 6 years old who flies spirit airways a few times a year to WDW with her DH and Ive never heard of them being split up. If your really concerned, I would call ahead. If you get in a situation where you cant sit together I'm sure an adult would give up their seat to let you sit with your child.

Just an FYI.

SW has changed the boarding. You will no longer be in the first boarding group. You will board between the A's and B's UNLESS you have an A boarding pass and they you board with the A's in your assigned order.

Folks Rule ONE on Spirit.

NO CUSTOMER SERVICE! Repeat after me NO CUSTOMER SERVICE.

So calling them and asking them to accomdate you.... See Rule 1

And your bigger issue is that you are flying to Orlando on a plane filled with other families. So the "adults" all have kids too. (Trust me your business travelers like me aren't touching this airline!)

 

[Tinkerbell_n_neverland]

Just an FYI.

SW has changed the boarding. You will no longer be in the first boarding group. You will board between the A's and B's UNLESS you have an A boarding pass and they you board with the A's in your assigned order.

)

Thanks for that info. Thats not a change I knew about. I'm not sure I'd ever fly anything but JetBlue from now on anyway. Cant beat having the TV and XM radio. My son watches cartoons the whole flight and I never hear a peep from him. Thanks!

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

We traveled spirit over the summer and paid for our seats since we were with our 1 month old. On the way back, even with pre-paying, they moved our seats to accomidate a family who did not. Not a big deal but those cheap sob's would not refund our prepayment fee because of it.

 

[RandiB]

JerseyBearMama-

You are the third person who told me they had to move for someone else.

I am really debating being a cheapskate. Apparently paying for seats means nothing.

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

I dont mind moving for a family who needed the seats. In fact we were given the entire last row, both side, of the plane and it was great. I was just annoyed they dident ask or refund our seat fee.

 

[disfanRN]

RandiB,
I fly on Spirit all the time to MCO. We don't pay extra to assign seats. When I check in at the 24 hour mark it has always given me seats together. Once I had two different reservations and it didn't but when we checked our luggage at the airport they switched us all to the same row. When are you leaving? we leave 12/15

 

[networktek]

we me and my wife went on our hooneymoon last year we did not do the seat assigments and we eneded up sitting about 10 rows from each other from now on we always pay the fee

 

[prncess674]

much less likely to move when the parent decided that saving money was more important than sitting beside their child.

Geez the way you put it you make the parent sound like they should be hauled away by child welfare for not forking over a fee for seats together. Are they still a bad parent if they take an airline that pre assigns everyone and when they book all adjoining seats are taken? Children over 5 years of age can travel on planes as unaccompanied minors.

 

[crashbb]

Geez the way you put it you make the parent sound like they should be hauled away by child welfare for not forking over a fee for seats together. Are they still a bad parent if they take an airline that pre assigns everyone and when they book all adjoining seats are taken? Children over 5 years of age can travel on planes as unaccompanied minors.

I never said that they were a bad parent. I know you can fly as an UM at 5 - I did (the day after my fifth birthday).

What I said was, if sitting next to your child is not that important to you (it wasn't that important to my parents) then it isn't important enough to make someone else move. If it is important to, then pay to select your seats. I made absolutely no suggestion that choosing either option made you a good/bad parent. My only complaint is those who decide that it isn't important enough to pay for, but is important enough to inconvenience others.

But, thanks for putting words in my mouth and making assumptions that were clearly unwarranted. I particularly like how you shortened my quote, not even copying the full sentence - nice touch.