Spirit Air question..

[janets]

I've an opportunity to purchase tickets on Spirit from LaGuardia to Ft. Lauderdale in November for our cruise (out of Miami). The price right now is $158.80 r/t. The same tickets on Jetblue right now are about $218 r/t.

I think that Jetblue will come down as time goes on and I'm a regular JB flyer. However, this is a great price on Spirit. Does anyone know what happens if the price on Spirit drops? Do they do anything like JB with the credit in your account?

I'm conflicted about whether to buy on Spirit now or wait a bit and see if JB drops (they are currently at $99/each way for our trip and Spirit is $84/$54). Just don't know what to do about this. The only downside to Spirit is that the return flight back to LGA isn't until 4 PM and the JB flight is around 12:30 or so (which means either we sit at the airport or we spend a few hours in Miami before heading back).

Anyone with thoughts who can give me some guidance? While I'd rather fly out of Newark, those fares are significantly higher and I'm not sure they are going to drop so far down. Thanks.

 

[Ishy]

What you buy them at is the price you pay. They dont give credit for price drops. 158 rt IS GOOD.

 

[debster812]

Also--bear in mind, on Spirit, you'll be paying for each piece of checked baggage.

It's $5 per bag for the 1st two bags if you pay online. It's $10 per bag if you pay at the airport.

For the 3rd bag it's $100 per bag. Yes, $100.

Spirit's website also says that they will only guarantee you space for 1 checked bag per passenger, unless you pre-book online.

So take those cheaper fares, and add it what you'll be paying for luggage, and see if it's still a better deal.

 

[janets]

Also--bear in mind, on Spirit, you'll be paying for each piece of checked baggage.

It's $5 per bag for the 1st two bags if you pay online. It's $10 per bag if you pay at the airport.

For the 3rd bag it's $100 per bag. Yes, $100.

Spirit's website also says that they will only guarantee you space for 1 checked bag per passenger, unless you pre-book online.

So take those cheaper fares, and add it what you'll be paying for luggage, and see if it's still a better deal.

You'd think that after 9/11, when everyone was encouraged to check bags to be safer and not have to worry about contraband, that actually charging for checked luggage would be unheard of (unless you're checking oversized bags, which I understand). We're going on a cruise, so we'll have 2-3 suitcases with us. I'm not taking our stroller since we won't need it but I wonder if it's bags overall or per person (so that if we're 4 flying we can check up to 8 bags at $5 each...not that I need that much). And what happens if you book on line and assume that you're taking 4 bags (1 pp at $5 each) and then you only end up with 3 bags...I guess no refund of the $5 paid.

 

[jodifla]

You also have to factor in that each soda will be $1. All those charges really add up. The FAs told me that they think they probably won't have time to serve everyone drinks on the shorter flights....all those credit card bills to EACH passenger for a drink is going to cut in on their time.

I just flew Spirit last night, and while I really like their new planes and the FAs, their customer service and luggage people are just the pits. In Fort Lauderdale, it's like checking in your luggage in some Banana Republic. HUGE lines, no organization, etc. etc.

I much prefer Jet Blue over Spirit.

 

[janets]

Jodi, thanks for the info.

I decided that even though the prices were lower right now, the idea of paying to check bags and now paying for even a drink aren't appealing to me.

I'm going to hang on a bit and see what happens with JetBlue. We have our tickets to MCO for August and I'm hoping they will come down a bit, giving me a credit for November. Right now, Cont. to Miami is almost $600 so I'm definitely heading to Ft. L. But JB out of Newark to Ft. L is really high so unless something happens, I'll have to head out of LGA. That flight is at 6 AM.

We might try to stay overnight in NY rather than get the kids up at an ungodly hour to drive there. Not sure yet so we'll see how it all plays out.

Thanks for your info. I appreciate it.

 

[jodifla]

Jodi, thanks for the info.

I decided that even though the prices were lower right now, the idea of paying to check bags and now paying for even a drink aren't appealing to me.

I'm going to hang on a bit and see what happens with JetBlue. We have our tickets to MCO for August and I'm hoping they will come down a bit, giving me a credit for November. Right now, Cont. to Miami is almost $600 so I'm definitely heading to Ft. L. But JB out of Newark to Ft. L is really high so unless something happens, I'll have to head out of LGA. That flight is at 6 AM.

We might try to stay overnight in NY rather than get the kids up at an ungodly hour to drive there. Not sure yet so we'll see how it all plays out.

Thanks for your info. I appreciate it.

I think the thing about Spirit, if you need to take them, is to just be ready for all the nonsense.... If you can check your bags online, and bring snacks with you and buy juice and soda past security, it's not too bad.

What killed me is I was tagged for random screeeing, so I wasn't able to print out my boarding pass in advance. I had purposely traveled with just a carryon, but still had to check in to get my boarding pass. And then, my flight wasn't actually in the terminal that they had me check in at...I had to hike over to another terminal.

It's just the nonsense like that that makes you weigh the cost against the trouble.

Good luck to you!