Regretting Making Reservation with Spirit Airlines.. Why Southwest is Better/Cheaper

[disneykittin]

I booked our flights to and from Disney on Spirit Airlines, because they appeared to be cheaper than Southwest when I searched prices online. I then (the next day) wanted to add an extra day onto our Disney Vacation, so called to change my flight. I was told that there would be a change fee of $240. Come to find out later, Southwest has no change fees... so I could've rebooked for free with them and gotten the extra day I wanted.

I had originally booked my flights on Spirit because their prices were cheaper on the site than Southwest's prices. I didn't know that I'd end up having to pay an extra $120 just for our bags to be checked. I figured all airlines had those extra fees for bags. I found out later that Southwest also would've given me free bags!! UGH.

I know this is my fault for not doing enough research before I booked my flight... but boy, it would've been WAY easier, cheaper, and I would've gotten the extra day I wanted if I would've booked with Southwest. Don't be fooled by just "comparing prices", as I was. There is a lot more to the story! I've learned my lesson for next time, and I hope this will keep someone else from making the same mistake I did.

 

[mlittig]

Those are some of the reasons I love Southwest

 

[jlewisinsyr]

The cattle call completely turns me off from SWA, but they do have some customer centric policies and are pretty much alone in offering free flight changes (there are a few smaller carriers that offer this as well).

 

[disneykittin]

The cattle call completely turns me off from SWA, but they do have some customer centric policies and are pretty much alone in offering free flight changes (there are a few smaller carriers that offer this as well).

What is the "cattle call"? I've never heard of that before.

Nevermind, I just looked it up! I never knew they didn't have assigned seating. The article I just read said that it will be changing in November 2012, though... so that's good news!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

What is the "cattle call"? I've never heard of that before.

The boarding numbers and lining up a the "A", "B" and "C" signs with no assigned seating. It's like cattle being called into line for slaughter, thus the term.

Nevermind, I just looked it up! I never knew they didn't have assigned seating. The article I just read said that it will be changing in November 2012, though... so that's good news!

Interesting...I think a link to the article would be helpful to a lot of people on here because if it's changing, I don't think there is anyone yet aware of it.

 

[mommyrosa2]

OP...sorry you had to learn the hard way...that stinks! We have flown on many different carriers and prefer SWA b/c of things already mentioned: no baggage fees (1st bag), no change fees, etc. As for the "cattle call"....I prefer that route as opposed to choosing seats early on to only find the airline changing your seats or dropping your seats all together...something we've sadly experienced SEVERAL times with Delta, United and USAir- if I can help it, we won't be flying on any of these anytime soon...the aggravation isn't worth it...JMHO!

 

[mom2brooke76]

I found the following article. Sounds like Southwest is experimenting with assigned seats to see if it slows down their turnaround time:

http://m.kltv.com/autojuice?targetU...airlines-tests-assigned-seats?redirected=true

 

[mom2brooke76]

Please disregard that last post. I think that article was from a few years ago. I didn't find anything about them assigning seats in the future, so op please link the article that you saw. Thanks!

 

[disneykittin]

Please disregard that last post. I think that article was from a few years ago. I didn't find anything about them assigning seats in the future, so op please link the article that you saw. Thanks!

Here is the link I saw it at in my quick browse earlier, they said they got it from ABC News, but I can't find it there. Since I can't find it anywhere else I'm sure it isn't reliable. Oh well...

http://www.aerofreaks.com/entry/southwest-airlines-to-alleviate-cattle-call-seating-system/

 

[vicki_c]

That link (which is dated 1/22/12) says this:

This 34-years long cattle-call system is expected to be alleviated by November when the airline will give passengers an assigned number within its current boarding groups (A, B and C).

I'm confused - that's what they already do.

Then it says this:
Fliers will still be able to get a boarding pass 24 hours in advance. But they will be issued a number and a letter. At the gate, Southwest agents will call out groups and divide them according to number into six columns of five people each.

Again, seems like what they already do with the poles in the airport for each set of boarding letters/numbers. Unless I'm missing some nuances here, it almost seems like it could be a very old article.

It also states they are not thinking about doing away with not having assigned seats, so there's nothing to worry about here from what I can see.

And it doesn't say it came from ABC - it says the image (photo) in the article came from ABC News - and there was no photo.

 

[disneykittin]

Sorry, I didn't mean to get everyone all excited, really. I was just attempting to find out what a "cattle call" was really quick. I'm new to all of this, so didn't know anything about it.

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

sorry you learned the hard way about the no cancelation policy. SW isn't convenient to us, but Airtran is & we know going in that they won't let you cancel without a hefty fee so I feel your frustration over being locked in.

But perhaps I can offer a tip to help diffuse that baggage fee, like Spirit (and most others) Airtran charges. Don't know how many in your family, but we are 3 and we put all the tolietries and clothing for days 2 through however long our trip is, into one large suitcase. We are careful to make sure it doesn't exceed the allowed weight but it's always about 2 lbs shy of the max allowed. Believe it or not, rolling your clothes takes up less space than laying them in there folded, AND we find them to not be quite as wrinkled. We pay for one checked bag. I put laundry soap in a small sized tupperwear container with a couple dryer sheets for longer trips so I can do 2 loads of laundry midway through longer trips.

I don't know if Spirit allows, but Airtran allows 1 free carry on bag & 1 personal item so we all carry on one small bag. DH has all the bathing suits, extra underwear, socks & the plastic baggie of allowed liquids (sample suntan lotions, toothpaste, hair conditioner)

*I always put a sample bottle of suntan lotion in his incase our luggage is late, we still have suncreen for arrival day

My carry on has a change of clothes & PJ's for everyone - again rolled to fit compactly. DS carries on sandles & tennis shoes.

Personal items, DS has a very small stringed backpack with his electronic junk, I have a fannypack with all our tickets, money & essentials and DH carries a (small enought to be a purse) collapsable softsided cooler with snacks or whatnot.

So perhaps you could get by with one checked bag & everyone carry on what you can? My rule of thumb with carry on, put like things in everyone's carry on to help get through the inspection process quicker. Stick only 1 person with the liquids in the front so by the time they get reassembled everyone else following has cleared TSA. Also, I go last since I have the fanny pack with all the money & such, this way there is a family member waiting on the other side when it comes thorough IN CASE you get held up for any reason by TSA, you don't want your purse on the other side without you.

JMHO but I do like having my seat assigned before I'm at the airport. Before SkyBus went belly up, we flew them & they had that A,B,C boarding assigments and I hated it. You couldn't just sit & wait to get called to board when they announce, "rows 30-24 may now board" because with SkyBus, having no assigned seats, everyone arriving would line up under the A,B,C ques hoping to get a good seat so everyone ended up standing about 30-45 minutes before boarding. Maybe SW does it better than that, but never again do I want to do that

Keep telling yourself you're going to disney, tackle that baggage situation, be glad for seat assignments & look forward to a great trip - no regrets!

 

[Lewisc]

I don't know if Spirit allows, but Airtran allows 1 free carry on bag & 1 personal item so we all carry on one small bag. DH has all the bathing suits, extra underwear, socks & the plastic baggie of allowed liquids (sample suntan lotions, toothpaste, hair conditioner)

Spirit charges more for a "bin bag" then they charge for a checked bag. A personal item, which goes under the seat in front of you, is currently free.

 

[jennyjinx3]

sorry you learned the hard way about the no cancelation policy. SW isn't convenient to us, but Airtran is & we know going in that they won't let you cancel without a hefty fee so I feel your frustration over being locked in.

But perhaps I can offer a tip to help diffuse that baggage fee, like Spirit (and most others) Airtran charges. Don't know how many in your family, but we are 3 and we put all the tolietries and clothing for days 2 through however long our trip is, into one large suitcase. We are careful to make sure it doesn't exceed the allowed weight but it's always about 2 lbs shy of the max allowed. Believe it or not, rolling your clothes takes up less space than laying them in there folded, AND we find them to not be quite as wrinkled. We pay for one checked bag. I put laundry soap in a small sized tupperwear container with a couple dryer sheets for longer trips so I can do 2 loads of laundry midway through longer trips.

I don't know if Spirit allows, but Airtran allows 1 free carry on bag & 1 personal item so we all carry on one small bag. DH has all the bathing suits, extra underwear, socks & the plastic baggie of allowed liquids (sample suntan lotions, toothpaste, hair conditioner)

*I always put a sample bottle of suntan lotion in his incase our luggage is late, we still have suncreen for arrival day

My carry on has a change of clothes & PJ's for everyone - again rolled to fit compactly. DS carries on sandles & tennis shoes.

Personal items, DS has a very small stringed backpack with his electronic junk, I have a fannypack with all our tickets, money & essentials and DH carries a (small enought to be a purse) collapsable softsided cooler with snacks or whatnot.

So perhaps you could get by with one checked bag & everyone carry on what you can? My rule of thumb with carry on, put like things in everyone's carry on to help get through the inspection process quicker. Stick only 1 person with the liquids in the front so by the time they get reassembled everyone else following has cleared TSA. Also, I go last since I have the fanny pack with all the money & such, this way there is a family member waiting on the other side when it comes thorough IN CASE you get held up for any reason by TSA, you don't want your purse on the other side without you.

JMHO but I do like having my seat assigned before I'm at the airport. Before SkyBus went belly up, we flew them & they had that A,B,C boarding assigments and I hated it. You couldn't just sit & wait to get called to board when they announce, "rows 30-24 may now board" because with SkyBus, having no assigned seats, everyone arriving would line up under the A,B,C ques hoping to get a good seat so everyone ended up standing about 30-45 minutes before boarding. Maybe SW does it better than that, but never again do I want to do that

Keep telling yourself you're going to disney, tackle that baggage situation, be glad for seat assignments & look forward to a great trip - no regrets!

Wow thanks for all the tips! We are flying Airtran in Sept and will keep all your advice in mind! BTW we are happy because to fly from close to where we live it would have cost us more than double!!

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

Spirit charges more for a "bin bag" then they charge for a checked bag. A personal item, which goes under the seat in front of you, is currently free.

You don't say? Wow

In that case, I'd find out the exact dimensions allowed for those personal items to fit under the seat & then put as much of the items I described in the carry on into the personal item. Using soft sided tote bags she could still get bathing suits & some change of clothing items in those. Of course, keep enough room for a purse &/or phone, camera, etc.

I'd still try to get everything else into no more than 2 checked bags.

ANother option, use garden grocer & order some of the tolietries with some food items to be delivered to your resort. You can always leave unused shampoo & toothpaste behind than risk bringing it back into your checked bag & making it over allowed weight.

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

Wow thanks for all the tips! We are flying Airtran in Sept and will keep all your advice in mind! BTW we are happy because to fly from close to where we live it would have cost us more than double!!

 

[mieuxmew]

You may want to consider joining $9 fare club if you haven't already. Discount on luggage may be helpful and offset the membership fee.

Spirit charges dearly for carry-on suitcase...worse without paying in advance!

Spirit checked bags CANNOT exceed 40 pounds or you will be hit with overweight bag fee (all other airlines are 50 pounds!).

Last time I flew with Spirit, they have 3 different checked bag charges.
Cheapest is prepay greater than 24 hours before your flight.
You will pay a bit more if you prepay for luggage within the 24 hours before your flight.
Worst is not to prepay and pay at airport.

I think there may be a fee now to print your boarding pass at airport.

Spirit does have some very aggressive fares. I have used then a few times and never had a problem. Figure these into cost when comparing airfares. New fees seem to crop up often...this trip we are flying JetBlue.

One other suggestion to help get around Spirit 40# weight limit. Most suitcases weight 10-14 pounds empty! Get all of your smaller, heavy items (think toiletries) and pack into box (with packing tape) about 1 week before your trip. Ship to yourself at hotel/resort with your name/arrival date. (most hotels don't charge to receive package but check). Repack at end of trip (will be lighter) and drop off at USPS to deliver back home.
.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

The boarding numbers and lining up a the "A", "B" and "C" signs with no assigned seating. It's like cattle being called into line for slaughter, thus the term.



Interesting...I think a link to the article would be helpful to a lot of people on here because if it's changing, I don't think there is anyone yet aware of it.

The A,B, C lines are actually in numerical order, based on the order passengers check in. I agree it used to be a cattle call with the old way but since they've changed to the number system, it's really pretty easy and no point in lingering near the line if you're "spot" is saved by your number. I've flown SWA, Airtran & USAirways in the last year & plan to fly all 3 this year again. I find that it's actually worse on the airlines that have assigned seats. Passengers still herd around the entrance area/end of the real line so it's hard to tell where the real line actually ends and who is just waiting to pounce on the line.
Boarding on SWA is way quicker; like hopping in your car, shutting the door, buckling up and backing out.

Having assigned seats on AT didn't stop a group of HS girls and their moms from holding up boarding for 5+ mins while they all stand in the aisle & chat to figure out who will sit with who and then need help lifting their ridiculously heavy carry ons up to the bins.
It was torture to watch and with not much else to do from my seat I went to sleep to avoid having to witness the awful scene. Hopefully a FA stepped in to move things along.

OP, chalk this up to another lesson learned in travel planning. Always compare your TOTAL cost.

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

Having assigned seats on AT didn't stop a group of HS girls and their moms from holding up boarding for 5+ mins while they all stand in the aisle & chat to figure out who will sit with who and then need help lifting their ridiculously heavy carry ons up to the bins.
It was torture to watch and with not much else to do from my seat I went to sleep to avoid having to witness the awful scene. Hopefully a FA stepped in to move things along.

OP, chalk this up to another lesson learned in travel planning. Always compare your TOTAL cost.

oh my, what a way to start your trip I hope you didn't encounter any tour groups once you arrived at WDW

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

oh my, what a way to start your trip I hope you didn't encounter any tour groups once you arrived at WDW

It was actually on our way home. With having to get up early after staying up way too late, it was easy to sleep. It was a Disney cruise. I've yet to see a tour group on a Disney ship but never say never.