Spirit Air Questions....

[I'mAlittleBitGoofy]

We are leaving on the 20th and I was in the process of confirming my flight and such when I discovered Spirit Air is charging to assign a seat!? Depending upon where I want to sit, I could pay 5, 10, or 15 dollars. I have never heard of such a thing and no this is not "preferred" seating. You can take a chance and wait to see where "they" sit you on the day of departure but you are not guaranteed to sit together. Also, they are charging 15 per checked bag each way. I am by no means an idiot, but when we flew last year, this was not the case.
Has anyone had experience with Spirit Air?

 

[I'mAlittleBitGoofy]

Sorry, mods can you move to Disney for families?

 

[Cruiser1969]

We are leaving on the 20th and I was in the process of confirming my flight and such when I discovered Spirit Air is charging to assign a seat!? Depending upon where I want to sit, I could pay 5, 10, or 15 dollars. I have never heard of such a thing and no this is not "preferred" seating. You can take a chance and wait to see where "they" sit you on the day of departure but you are not guaranteed to sit together. Also, they are charging 15 per checked bag each way. I am by no means an idiot, but when we flew last year, this was not the case.
Has anyone had experience with Spirit Air?

These changes have ben happening gradually throughout the year, so it is very possbile that the last time you flew with Spirit, none of these extra fees were even in existence!

We flew May 2007 with Spirit . . . no fees at all. We flew May 2008 with Spirit . . . baggage fees, no seat fees. We flew again July 2008. . . baggage fees AND seat fees!! We took our chances and got seats at the airport without paying any fees, but our flight wasn't full, so it wasn't a big deal. I kept checking online to see how many seats were available before the flight.

It sucks, doesn't it!!! I'm not impressed!!!

 

[Jaymie]

These are all new fees. They are also the reason why we won't fly Spirit anymore. Not to mention their horrible customer service when you need to call them.

 

[SherylWrites]

Well that's the way things are going now with most airlines.
Still, to fly Spirit even with their service charges, it saved me nearly $2000 compared to flying out of the airport in my own city.
We're going on Thursday morning and I like the Detroit airport and frankly, I like Spirit too. We've used them several times and never had a problem. I think though, you get what you pay for. IT's not a high end airline by any stretch. You don't get a lot of frills (if any!)

 

[MikeJ]

We flew this past summer after the baggage fees were implemented but before the seating charges. As another poster has stated, even with the extra fees they are way cheaper than either Air Canada or West Jet out of Canada. Although large numbers of people have reported service issues with them, we've never had a problem (other than changes to flight times). Maybe we've just been lucky...

The new North Terminal is supposed to open at DTW on the 17th, replacing the Smith terminal from which Spirit flies. I will be interested in getting a report on the new terminal after you're back...

- Mike