How bad is spirit really?

[Kennywife]

The price is good on the surface, but all those fees.....jeez.

Has anyone flown it and how did you like it? Good or bad?

I found a great deal, but we're staying for 7 days and there's no way I can take just one bag. I'll need at least two.

 

[TinkTink78]

If you follow their rules and pay ahead for your baggage, then you will have no problems. Print boarding pass out at home and get guest services to print it out for your return (they will try and say they cant do it, but oh they can).

Planes are small, and you will kiss your knees, but for the price sometimes you cant beat it.

I personally have taken it twice with no problems but one delay, but since I am closer to Newark, I will fly out of there from now on no matter the price difference. I do have a flight for October that I will be keeping, and they already changed the departure time to a little later, which is fine.

Are you close to the airport?

 

[bdklein]

The price is good on the surface, but all those fees.....jeez.

Has anyone flown it and how did you like it? Good or bad?

I found a great deal, but we're staying for 7 days and there's no way I can take just one bag. I'll need at least two.

What about shipping clothes ahead via UPS?

 

[CleveRocks]

Spirit is fine. But if you have any customer service problems it's somewhat of a nightmare. There is no place to call, you MUST e-mail, and they get back to you when they feel like it. I've ultimately gotten satisfaction, but it was very stressful to get them to follow-through with what they promised me when I took a voluntary bump on a flight. They promised me 2 r/t tickets, but when I tried to use them they first told me it was only 2 $50 credits, then when they admitted it was 2 free tickets they tried to tell me that I needed to use them both on different flights, that my wife couldn't use one of them, and so on. It took a couple of weeks and a lot of argument and stress, but we finally got what they promised us.

I will NEVER take a voluntary bump with them anymore, but I'll certainly fly Spirit again. In fact, I'm using those free tickets in a few weeks.

 

[DOPEYLUVER]

As long as you understand the fees and include them all they are fine. Do not try to use carry on as your personal item or checked luggage as carry on. They really hit with fees at the gate.

Also, keep in mind that if you want to sit together you will have to pay a seat charge. You'll have to pay a seat fee if you want any kind of preassigned seating.

I love their prices but really everything else is kind of terrible. I'm lucky enough to have a friend in Florida, so I have clothes there and I can book Spirit flights for under $100 RT out of Boston. Since I'm flying alone I don't even need a seat assignment.

 

[debster812]

Spirit is a no-frills, low cost airline. They are what they are. If there are no irregular ops, they will get you from Point A to Point B. However, if there are any delays (weather, mechanical, whim of the flight crew, etc) you are truly on your own. We flew them once years ago, had our flight cancelled altogether on our way to Myrtle Beach in the time it took me to get from my house to the airport (< 1 hour). We had several hours of delays flying from Myrtle Beach back to Boston, and there was ABSOLUTELY no one at MYR to answer questions for the 4 hours we waited.

I won't say 'never' again, but Spirit is definitely on the very bottom of my list.

 

[aubriee]

I flew Spirit for the first time this past May. Plane was clean, flight crew very friendly, and flight was on time. I did pay for those 'Big Front Seats" and am glad I did. My only complaint was that about a month after I booked, I got an email saying they had changed my itinerary. The had moved my departing flight back several hours causing me to lose most of my first day at WDW and had also moved my returning flight up. All told, I lost about 8 hours of my trip. All airlines make time changes, but for changes that big you can usually get your money back or switched to a different flight. Spirit said I could cancel the flight, but would not get any money back.

Off topic and definitely not criticizing, but just curious: If you are only going to be down there for seven days, why would you need two checked bags? I was down there eight days and was dining at two Signature restaurants, so had to carry a sundress and a skirt, in addition to shorts and tees and two pairs of shoes, plus I am pooh size. All I carried was a Vera Bradley backpack as a personal item and one carry on that easily fit wheels first in the overhead. I had an outfit for each day, plus one extra, plus the sundress and skirt. I shared the room with a DIS friend who also did carry on only for the same length of time. My elderly mom and I are flying Spirit down there Sept 1st-8th and plan on using a personal item and one carry on each. Actually with Spirit a checked bag is just a tad cheaper than a carry on, but we don't want to have to deal with checked bags and prefer to do carry ons only. A couple of years ago I did a nine day trip using just a carry on and a personal item, never had to do laundry, and still had a different outfit for everyday, plus two sundresses, and two pairs of shoes. Gotta love packing folders and packing cubes! lol

 

[seashoreCM]

In the U.S. there are three general categories of airlines:

1. Legacy
2. Established low cost
3. Rinky dink

These comments are enough to put Spirit in the third.

... it was very stressful to get them to follow-through with what they promised me when I took a voluntary bump on a flight. They promised me 2 r/t tickets, but when I tried to use them they first told me it was only 2 $50 credits, ...

... All airlines make time changes, but for changes that big you can usually get your money back or switched to a different flight. Spirit said I could cancel the flight, but would not get any money back.