Spirit Air anybody?

[BeenHereB4]

I was just about to book a super low airfare on Spirit from Atlantic City to Ft. Meyers ($600 TOTAL for a family of 4 in August, direct flight), but then I searched reviews.

Whoa! They've got some bad ones. Basically that you buy your tickets but then have to purchase your actual seat if you want it assigned before you arrive at the airport. Not sure this affects me because I can't imagine they wouldn't seat my 6 and 9yos with us. Would they? Alot of cancellations without notice, overbooking, etc.

We do not ever check bags so I"m not worried about those fees, etc., but I'd love to hear any reviews, experiences from my fellow DISers over a bunch of complaining strangers! So feel free to give me your good, bad and ugly.

Thanks!!

 

[ColinCodyMom]

We've been flying Spirit for years because of the low fares for their members but once you add on the fees (since we are a family of four, we have to pay extra of aisle and window seats just to sit together) for seats and luggage, it really is outrageous!! We have two kids and if others have already purchased the seats, you may not be able to sit together even with children. Last trip, we booked last minute and there was very few seats together. We actually could only get 2 seats and 2 seats which was okay but unless you purchase the seats ahead, it isn't guaranteed. You could always take a chance and arrive at the airport super early but even then, there isn't a guarantee. We always purchase because we won't have to worry. The other thing about Spirit every time we have flown is that they change their flight times and actually cancelled our flight a few times and then bumped us onto other flights in which we lost our seats and had to try to select again!! We still fly them but like I said, we will only pay for the seats ahead of time. Hope it helps!

 

[merlinspride]

I absolutely love Spirit air...they are my preferred airlines. If you post this on the transportation board, you will get a lot of negative responses, but I think they are mostly from people saying not to trust them because they offer $9 fares..blh blah blah. Let me tell you I have been flying Spirit since they opened (when you parked your car in a dirt lot ) and I have NEVER had a problem. We fly around 4x per year to Florida and always try to book through Spirit. The airport is clean and small, so if you have little kids it is ideal. The planes are clean, all leather (or leather like ) seats. True they are no frills, you have to pay for your seat assignment, pay for luggage and pay for drinks. But I cant get their fares matched on any other airlines. I also love hte convenience of driving to AC vs. Philly. Go for it, you wont be dissapointed.

 

[debster812]

I absolutely love Spirit air...they are my preferred airlines. If you post this on the transportation board, you will get a lot of negative responses, but I think they are mostly from people saying not to trust them because they offer $9 fares..blh blah blah. Let me tell you I have been flying Spirit since they opened (when you parked your car in a dirt lot ) and I have NEVER had a problem. We fly around 4x per year to Florida and always try to book through Spirit. The airport is clean and small, so if you have little kids it is ideal. The planes are clean, all leather (or leather like ) seats. True they are no frills, you have to pay for your seat assignment, pay for luggage and pay for drinks. But I cant get their fares matched on any other airlines. I also love hte convenience of driving to AC vs. Philly. Go for it, you wont be dissapointed.

That's great that you have had such great luck with Spirit. For me, they are on my 'it would have to be a VERY last resort' list of airlines not to fly.

We used them for a quick long weekend trip from Boston to Myrtle Beach. Our flight from Boston was cancelled with about a 2 hour warning. I checked before we left the house, and we were on time as scheduled, but by the time we arrived at the airport to check in, our 10am, non stop had been cancelled, and Spirit had rebooked us on a US Airways flight, with a stop, that did not leave for another 7.5 hours. (There goes day 1 of vacation).

Our flight home from MYR to BOS was delayed over 5 hours due to fog in the Northeast. That's fine, stuff happens, I get it. What was completely unacceptable to me was the utter lack of customer service, or even basic information. There was NO ONE at the gate area in MYR to answer questions, keep us updated, or anything. And, I could not ever get through to anyone at Spririt while this was happening. My email to them after the fact was replied to with "we ultimately got you to your destination, so why are you complaining?"

I understand that stuff happens, things break, and weather causes delays, but it's how they deal with those challenges is what keeps me coming back as a consumer. Spirit failed us miserably that weekend in that respect.

 

[MizTink]

i've never used them (yet), but an old coworker did often. he loved the cheap rates and never had a problem. he booked flights and cruises with them.

another coworker of mine worked at our airport and when i asked him for his opinion, he called them "ghetto airlines". he was an air snob though. he's a 35yr old single guy who travels 3-4 times/year. never anything other than 1st class.

 

[AKL_Megs]

We always tell ourselves, "Never again", and we always book with them again and again and again! It's just too cheap to pass up! (And I work for another airline, and STILL, Spirit ends up being the cheaper way to go!)

My gripes are that the seats are EXTREMELY small. Be prepared for your knees to touch the seat in front of you and hope they don't recline!

They misplaced my bag once after a cancelled flight. It was like pulling teeth to get it back, even thought they KNEW where it was, and they have absolutely terrible customer service in this situation. You get to talk to "Linda" in Mumbai.

You don't get any drinks or snacks, which is fine. But don't even expect water unless you are choking to death. An older woman seated across the aisle from us was uncomfortable and asking for water. She had cash, but Spirit only takes credit card, so this poor woman couldn't buy water. Finally, when the woman said that she was feeling suffocated somewhere over Tennessee, the flight attendants huddled and decided that she could have, NOT one of the bottles of water, but rather, a CUP of water from the coffee maker. RUDE and unprofessional flight attendants... I can say that because I pride myself in being one of the GOOD ones

Bottom line, if you don't care so much about customer service, but are just looking for a quick and dirty (and cheap) way to get from A to B, I say go with Spirit!

 

[nmmom95]

I have flown Spirit a few times. AC is so much easier than Philly, but one time, my flight was moved over 2 hours to a 5am departure. Another time I was double charged for luggage and could not get anywhere with the airline, so finally had to dispute the charge with my cc company, who eventually resolved it.

 

[ColinCodyMom]

I have flown Spirit a few times. AC is so much easier than Philly, but one time, my flight was moved over 2 hours to a 5am departure. Another time I was double charged for luggage and could not get anywhere with the airline, so finally had to dispute the charge with my cc company, who eventually resolved it.

This happened to me too. Spirit wouldn't do anything even though I had the printouts of what it should've cost and then what they charged. I had to dispute through the bank.

 

[SophieGirl]

I usually fly Spirit. I wasn't happy to find out last time that we had to pay extra for picking a seat - I had little ones with us, and didn't want to take a chance of having an issue, so I did it. Paying for luggage you have to do EVERYWHERE now, so thats not a big deal. My only other issue with them is the day before I was printing out the tickets, I realized that it said we were being pushed ahead a few hours, to 5.45am!!! They swore that they had sent me an email 4 months earlier letting me know, but I never go it.
The airport is small (In AC) which is kind of nice, and since its small, terrorists would probably over look it (something you have to think about now-a-days). We just flew Continental out of Newark, and on coming back, some guy had jumped the seciruty, and all hell broke loose! They had us sitting on the tarmack for 2+ hours just waiting to de-board (6+ hours on the plane total). Most likely wouldn't have happened in a small place like AC.
But weight your pros and cons. If the money you save is good enough, I don't see any reason NOT to take Spirit.

 

[M5ward]

We fly from AC to Orlando twice a year on Spirit. We've never had a problem that was their fault. We have had flight time changes but only once was it more than a few minutes. It sure beats having to get to and from Philadelphia.

 

[BeenHereB4]

Thanks everyone for the info. I'm going to compare a few prices and then pull the trigger on this one tonight either with Spirit or another airline. I am in fact 90 mins to 2 hours drive from AC, but my "local" airport is Newark and it is soooo much more expensive and they don't have many direct flights to Ft. Myers. Then we have Laguardia also nearby , but it has taken me 2 hours to get there too - and that traffic is much less pleasant. LOL

I guess we all take chances, right? I"m assuming they cancel flights when they don't fill 'em to capacity? Not sure how many are flying from AC to FL in August, but hopefully there will be enough to get that darn plane off the ground.

All in all, down and dirty is OK by me - we just need to get there, don't need to check bags and I can pack snacks for the kids. Not sure if I agree with this pay for seats crapola so I don't know I'll do that. Hmmmm...I go from convinced to do it to unsure about every 2 minutes.

 

[N&B'smom]

We've flown Spirit for years and will continue to do so. The only problem we ever had was when we had a connection in Miami and they lost my husband's dive bag. It took 3 days for it to arrive.

At the resort when we were trying to figure out where the bag was, anytime someone asked us which airline and we told them they would sigh and say we better be patient. I guess they are famous for losing bags!

 

[CapeMayMommy]

I will patronize Spirit Airline for one reason: Atlantic city is a dream compared to Philly or Newark. I fear that if enough people do not use the airport, it won't expand their service and may even cut back.

I have never had a bad time with either spirit or Atlantic city.

 

[AKL_Megs]

We always check in online EXACTLY (and not a minute later) 24-hours prior. We have never NOT been able to choose our seats at that time, and we have ALWAYS been able to sit together, free of cost.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I don't really see the huge problem - lots of people rave about Southwest and you can't pick your own seat with them, it's all luck.

My inlaws have flown Spirit from AC to Myrtle Beach and didn't have any problems

 

[ReneeA]

We always check in online EXACTLY (and not a minute later) 24-hours prior. We have never NOT been able to choose our seats at that time, and we have ALWAYS been able to sit together, free of cost.

This is what we do, too. We normally fly out at 6am, so I'm up bright and early the morning prior to push the button on our seating. I also have a super loud 6 year old who would howl if separated from us (I'm okay with 2 and 2 separation, just not spread out all over the plane).

We've never had any issues with Spirit. I packed light so that I'd only have to check one bag and brought lots of quarters to do laundry halfway through. Flight attendents were cranky, but it was 6am...everyone's cranky at 6am. From Detroit to MCO is just under 2 hours, so I hydrate my kids prior to getting on the plane and encourage any pottying before. We pack snacks in carryons so that we don't have to buy any on the flight.

Our last trip was in August, and round trip from DTW to MCO for 4 was $520 - including all taxes and fees. Bag check was an extra $30, and I took my chances on seating (did the free 24 hour request instead). Worth the small hassles to get such a great price.

 

[AKL_Megs]

This is what we do, too. We normally fly out at 6am, so I'm up bright and early the morning prior to push the button on our seating. I also have a super loud 6 year old who would howl if separated from us (I'm okay with 2 and 2 separation, just not spread out all over the plane).

We've never had any issues with Spirit. I packed light so that I'd only have to check one bag and brought lots of quarters to do laundry halfway through. Flight attendents were cranky, but it was 6am...everyone's cranky at 6am. From Detroit to MCO is just under 2 hours, so I hydrate my kids prior to getting on the plane and encourage any pottying before. We pack snacks in carryons so that we don't have to buy any on the flight.

Our last trip was in August, and round trip from DTW to MCO for 4 was $520 - including all taxes and fees. Bag check was an extra $30, and I took my chances on seating (did the free 24 hour request instead). Worth the small hassles to get such a great price.

Never realized you were so close (in St. Clair Shores...)

 

[ReneeA]

Never realized you were so close (in St. Clair Shores...)

 

[MsSpinShady]

Basically that you buy your tickets but then have to purchase your actual seat if you want it assigned before you arrive at the airport. Not sure this affects me because I can't imagine they wouldn't seat my 6 and 9yos with us. Would they?

Yes, they would. We had preassigned seats reserved 90 days in advance for our flights. When we arrived at the airport, not only did we find out the flight had been delayed for several hours, but they left our 5-year-old DD in a row near the front of the plane by herself and re-assigned my husband and I to the back of the plane because they got other people to pay more for the seats we had already reserved (window and aisle). We had 3 other kids in another row near the front and their response was for us to work it out with some other passenger on the plane. Their customer service reps/stewards were some of the rudest people we have ever dealt with.

Same flight, a baby near us was crying before take-off. The stewardess offered the mother some bottled water to pour in the baby's bottle. Later, she came back and demanded payment for the water, eventually dragging several more crew members into the situation and completely humiliating the family, who had never asked for anything in the first place and had never been told they would be charged for water.

I'm sure others have had better experiences with Spirit, but if Spirit were our only option we would spend two days driving down to FL.

 

[BeenHereB4]

Thanks everyone for the stories, experiences and info. I still haven't bought myself to press the purchase button but I'm seriously considering it. We weren't going to vacation this year and I had saved up enough to surprise the family with a very budget trip to a not very budget location so this low fare really could help.

Love hearing all the stories though, thanks!