Spirit Air and Frontier Air Advice

[Cackyschmackers]

I like them for what they are and what they are is a way to get somewhere much faster than greyhound. Seriously. That is their market right there. Desperate 20 somethings and hardcore cheapskates who think Amtrak's 10-40 hour delays are just part of travel.

Interesting. I hadn't looked at it like that. But I do consider myself a somewhat hardcore cheapskate. lol But I'd never, ever even consider driving to FL or taking a train or bus.....

And I get the driving thing, BUT if it gives you cheaper flights and/or more options it might be worth it in this case.

Flying out of the different airports is cheaper by only $20/tix; wouldn't make it worth it to drive all that distance and hassle. EWR is United, which I would consider, but BWI is JetBlue... are they the same as Spirit and Frontier I wonder.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

JetBlue is much better than Spirit.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...ger-satisfaction-0426-biz-20170425-story.html

JetBlue regularly wins JD Power Customer Satisfaction surveys. Spirit regularly is last in those same surveys.

 

[tigerchic89]

I just wanted to add the we recently did B2B instead of 7 day cruises. We found the laundry rooms on ship to be empty, especially compared to the 7 night cruises. So if you need to do laundry 2 or even 3 times, it shouldn't be a problem

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Do a search for Spirit Canceled Flight on Youtube and you'll get all sorts of news from all over the place. When they have so few backup planes there is a very big chance of issues.

This involved really extenuating circumstances w/a cross country flight and mentally unstable passenger. Although not having extra planes would play into the mix. But major carriers have had the same issue. Still wondering if trip insurance would help w/interrupted travel as it has for us in the past. I'm going to look into it. And I always feel like after a big incident (like this and the strike) they try harder to accommodate... maybe? lol

 

[Cackyschmackers]

I just wanted to add the we recently did B2B instead of 7 day cruises. We found the laundry rooms on ship to be empty, especially compared to the 7 night cruises. So if you need to do laundry 2 or even 3 times, it shouldn't be a problem

Thank you! This was my thought as well. I've read on here how people have done laundry on their turn around day and it's worked well.

 

[tigerchic89]

If you decide to drive it, for parking at the port, you'd only pay for your 1st leg making the parking really cheap. We are a family of 5, and we've found driving the way to go for anything under 1000 miles. We try to find destination stops every 400 miles or so and we travel in a huge full size van (you probably can rent one)

 

[Westcoastwild]

Interesting. I hadn't looked at it like that. But I do consider myself a somewhat hardcore cheapskate. lol But I'd never, ever even consider driving to FL or taking a train or bus.....



Flying out of the different airports is cheaper by only $20/tix; wouldn't make it worth it to drive all that distance and hassle. EWR is United, which I would consider, but BWI is JetBlue... are they the same as Spirit and Frontier I wonder.

JetBlue is not what I'd consider an ULCC. For one thing, they don't have the same unbundled fare policy. If they're cheap (they aren't out here) I'd go with them!

 

[FigmentSpark]

I know it's a hard pill to swallow, but I look at it this way.... if I'm paying thousands for a cruise and probably another couple thousand for excursions, I'd pay the extra 700, if I felt it would give me the security of reliability. Anything can happen, but I wouldn't be putting my many thousands spent on a cruise in the hands of a carrier that has a high potential of not being able to get me to that cruise.

In short, when you're already spending around $10000, what's another $700 if it's with a reliable carrier?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would also look at it from the perspective of travel with 3 kids. If anything goes wrong, I want an airline that will try to help.

 

[minorthr]

I only briefly skimmed this thread but when are you flying out of phl to mco? I looked at a few weeks in july and aug on American and saw prices ranging from $200-350 round trip which is pretty much the going rate for them all year round to orlando. We paid almost $400 each round trip for the flights for the fantasy double dip last month.

We used frontier once to fly my wife and kid to mco from phl but they were meeting me down in orlando and I had taken their luggage already and their time of arrival and departure wasn't really that important and the tickets were $80 round trip. They way my wife explained it she would rather drive to orlando from philly then take frontier again.

 

[NJMomto2]

@lspst8 Thanks. I couldn't figure out if we all had to join that $9 club.or not. We didn't join.

no, just the person booking has to join

I have it and was pleasantly surprised by this. I love Spirit!

 

[reimero]

It comes down to what's important to you. The ultra-low-cost airlines (Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant) will cost the least up front, but will have the most fees and be the greatest sticklers for rules regarding size and weight. They're the least forgiving but the most affordable. They tend to have the worst customer satisfaction scores. On-time arrival rates are among the worst (75% for Frontier, 77% for Spirit. National average is just under 81%.)
Budget airlines (Southwest, JetBlue) are still relatively inexpensive. Southwest also includes free checked luggage. They tend to have very high customer satisfaction scores. On-time arrival rates are so-so: Southwest is about 79%, but JetBlue is only at 75%.
Legacy airlines (American, Delta, United) are among the more expensive options, but offer the largest networks and the most amenities - for a price. Their customer satisfaction scores vary quite a bit. American is the worst on-time performer at 79%, United is right at 81% (the national average) and Delta is a little over 86%. (Hawaiian airlines is top overall with an 89% on-time arrival rate.)

Of airlines flying into MCO from March 2016-March 2017, Delta was on top (86.1%), followed by Southwest (85.1%), United (82.5%) and Frontier (81.8%).
JetBlue and Spirit have the highest rate of canceled flights (3.9% and 2.5%, respectively), while Alaskan, Delta and Hawaiian are all under 1%.

Personally, I have a preferred legacy carrier I go with. I travel a lot for work, so I've got a vested interest in protecting my frequent flier status, and the perks tend to offset the costs. But I realize I'm also the outlier here.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

I only briefly skimmed this thread but when are you flying out of phl to mco? I looked at a few weeks in july and aug on American and saw prices ranging from $200-350 round trip which is pretty much the going rate for them all year round to orlando. We paid almost $400 each round trip for the flights for the fantasy double dip last month.

We used frontier once to fly my wife and kid to mco from phl but they were meeting me down in orlando and I had taken their luggage already and their time of arrival and departure wasn't really that important and the tickets were $80 round trip. They way my wife explained it she would rather drive to orlando from philly then take frontier again.

Towards the end of August. I check every day and it's currently at $357 rt. Some times are available that we cannot take, such as departing before 11:30am on debarkation day. I've flown to MCO.more times than i can count and have never paid more than $210ish. I'm pretty good at timing my air.purchase. We've flown to the DR twice for only $345 nonstop on United. I'd never pay $400 from PHL > MCO.

I've flown Frontier only once and didn't love it bc the seats don't recline. I also realized later after all the nickel and.diming on Frontier , we.may as well have flown American.

 

[Westcoastwild]

It comes down to what's important to you. The ultra-low-cost airlines (Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant) will cost the least up front, but will have the most fees and be the greatest sticklers for rules regarding size and weight. They're the least forgiving but the most affordable. They tend to have the worst customer satisfaction scores. On-time arrival rates are among the worst (75% for Frontier, 77% for Spirit. National average is just under 81%.)
Budget airlines (Southwest, JetBlue) are still relatively inexpensive. Southwest also includes free checked luggage. They tend to have very high customer satisfaction scores. On-time arrival rates are so-so: Southwest is about 79%, but JetBlue is only at 75%.
Legacy airlines (American, Delta, United) are among the more expensive options, but offer the largest networks and the most amenities - for a price. Their customer satisfaction scores vary quite a bit. American is the worst on-time performer at 79%, United is right at 81% (the national average) and Delta is a little over 86%. (Hawaiian airlines is top overall with an 89% on-time arrival rate.)

Of airlines flying into MCO from March 2016-March 2017, Delta was on top (86.1%), followed by Southwest (85.1%), United (82.5%) and Frontier (81.8%).
JetBlue and Spirit have the highest rate of canceled flights (3.9% and 2.5%, respectively), while Alaskan, Delta and Hawaiian are all under 1%.

Personally, I have a preferred legacy carrier I go with. I travel a lot for work, so I've got a vested interest in protecting my frequent flier status, and the perks tend to offset the costs. But I realize I'm also the outlier here.

Well, it's never that straight forward. For example- the only airline I've actually experienced equally bad customer service as I have with Allegiant and Spirit is...American. Followed very closely by United. Those are the 4 that I will fly only if I absolutely have to. It might be different if you book first class or have frequent flier status but I am not.

 

[lilkitty819]

Have you considered flying out of DCA or Baltimore? I found nonstop flights to be much cheaper than out of Phl. No idea why. I was looking for December so it might be different for summer. But phl-MCO was ridiculously expensive.

I have been pricing S.W. airline out of BWI and the prices have been over double the cost of spirit airline. I am going in Oct. Spirit is costing us $205. roundtrip. S.W. would be $450. the last time I checked.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Well, it's never that straight forward. For example- the only airline I've actually experienced equally bad customer service as I have with Allegiant and Spirit is...American. Followed very closely by United. Those are the 4 that I will fly only if I absolutely have to. It might be different if you book first class or have frequent flier status but I am not.

This may explain a lot... I normally only fly American and United. Maybe my bar isn't set very high to begin with. ..

 

[Westcoastwild]

This may explain a lot... I normally only fly American and United. Maybe my bar isn't set very high to begin with. ..

Well. Then other than the increased chance of cancellation, which is the main reason I wouldn't rec a ULCC in your case, you'll probably feel right at home

 

[Westcoastwild]

I have been pricing S.W. airline out of BWI and the prices have been over double the cost of spirit airline. I am going in Oct. Spirit is costing us $205. roundtrip. S.W. would be $450. the last time I checked.

When and type of flight? Does that include add ons? Because I looked a random date up and American starts at 150. Not nonstop but nonstop is always more expensive

 

[reimero]

Well, it's never that straight forward. For example- the only airline I've actually experienced equally bad customer service as I have with Allegiant and Spirit is...American. Followed very closely by United. Those are the 4 that I will fly only if I absolutely have to. It might be different if you book first class or have frequent flier status but I am not.

Oh, I will not fly United unless I have no other choice, and for very similar reasons. I'm not saying things are necessarily universally good with the legacy carriers (just watch YouTube), but their aggregate performance has been better overall. It's also worth mentioning that American has the worst reputation of the legacy carriers.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

When and type of flight? Does that include add ons? Because I looked a random date up and American starts at 150. Not nonstop but nonstop is always more expensive

Nonstop are not more expensive. They are actually cheaper than the connections. Mid to late August, American flights start at $357. Keep in mind we can't take a flight before 11:30am on morning of debarkation (they'd be a bit cheaper if we could ).