Spirit Air UP!

[judypriv]

Wow! We fly Spirit Air ALL the time. It's 15 mins from me and usually cheap, cheap, cheap but I am finding a hard time finding a fare under 200 even with the coupons and my 9 dollar fare club. I am looking at maybe flying out of Philly on US Air or Southwest. Anyone else? We leave in 57 days so I have to get on the ball and find something. I have never paid over $ 150 a ticket on Spirit before.

 

[Melissabo]

We are equal distance from AC and Philly. I've never flown Spirit but was checking both place for the cheapest rates for our trip at the end of Nov. spirit was slightly cheaper than Air Tran after you add in all of the fees. Then one day last week there was a huge price drop from Spirit for our flight days. I got airfare for the four of us, picked seats and payed for two checked bags total for everything, taxes and fees was $682. I thought that was pretty good. Are you checking every day? Also have you looked at Air Tran out of Philly? They were cheaper than Southwest when I was looking.

 

[judypriv]

I check most of the airlines once a day, sometimes twice. Saturday seems to be my issue in finding something cheap. I never fly on the weekends but we are going with our friend using her DVC so I had to go when she could plan it.

 

[MinnieGirl33]

While airfare in general has been pretty ugly the last 9 months, SWA out of PHL has been ridiculously disappointing (schedule and $). All I can say is check every day.

 

[SJerseyMommy]

We're heading down on October 13th and flying Spirit as well. I booked our flight about 2 months ago and paid $1100 for 5 tickets. I jumped on it b/c I figured it was the best rate I'd see. Although there was another $200 in fees for seats and baggage.

 

[njmom47]

The lowest I see is $214 out of Philly. ACY is over $300! Wow.....
I get emails from Booking Buddy because some day I will be returning to WDW! Anyway, there have been decent prices in the past few weeks according to these emails. (I looked for Sept 15 since you ssid Sat/57 days.)

 

[mickeymomtx]

We are flying Spirit for the first time in August. Can someone answer a question for me? I know you pay for checked and carry on bags but can you carry on a large purse for free. Seems like a silly question, but with all those fees I wanted to make sure. Thanks.

 

[judypriv]

They don't count your purse. For example, we check our bags and then I have my purse and the diaper bag, my husband carries a bag with the portable dvd and movies, crayons, coloring books, snacks and stuffed toys. I give my daughter a bag with the ipad and laptop and more snacks or things to keep them occupied and my son carries a bag with PJ's or extra clothing for the kids.

 

[MoseleyFam]

I booked Delta and got $80 one way tickets. I waited a week and got the same price for the return. Even with paying for checked bags, this is the cheapest I could find anywhere.

 

[ktkerber]

I have been watching Spirit for October for awhile. It has been pretty low until this past week. I didn't book because we were waiting on schedules to make sure the dates we planned would be OK. RT for me was $136-156, now one way is $157. Hoping this is a temporary price hike! Doesn't seem to really matter when you are going, next week or 3 months, prices are pretty much the same. Way too high!! I am going to wait it out.
They seem to have a goofy pricing structure. I priced out a flight and then priced out the same flight with the $50off coupon code immediately after and the price without the coupon was cheaper than the one with the coupon. Sounds like they play pricing games!

 

[judypriv]

They seem to have a goofy pricing structure. I priced out a flight and then priced out the same flight with the $50off coupon code immediately after and the price without the coupon was cheaper than the one with the coupon. Sounds like they play pricing games!

I hear that. I used to put in just one person and i would times it by how many seats I needed when just looking and I found that when you price one person it's super cheap but once you add in multiple people the price soars! I also have put in the coupons and the price is the same anyway or not the full discount. Something is very wonky there.

 

[Lewisc]

Spirit doesn't, currently, charge extra for a personal item which fits under the seat in front of you. A large purse should be OK but Spirit lists the size on their website. Check.

Spirit says their average passenger is now paying over $100 in fees.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Spirit doesn't, currently, charge extra for a personal item which fits under the seat in front of you. A large purse should be OK but Spirit lists the size on their website. Check.

Spirit says their average passenger is now paying over $100 in fees.

Where did you read this? That is ridiculous - wonder how many of these people didn't understand what they were getting into when they booked their tickets.

 

[Lewisc]

Where did you read this? That is ridiculous - wonder how many of these people didn't understand what they were getting into when they booked their tickets.

Some links

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/05/03/spirit-airlines-raising-carry-on-bag-fee-to-100/

http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/03/news/companies/spirit-airlines-fees/index.htm

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577378314116066348.html

40.3% of Spirit's revenue is from ancillary fees.

It's easy to blame the customer for not reading the "fine print". How many people take the time to read the iTunes agreement? Cable terms of service? There is an assumption the company will treat customers right and the government will intervene if they don't. JMO but the only reason for a 40lb limit for checked bags is to catch passengers who don't read the fine print and to attempt to make sure customers need to check one bag per passenger. Fee for a bin bag is higher then a checked bag. Older bags can weigh 15-20 lbs empty. Stopped passengers who were "cheating" Spirit out of checked bag fees by using a bin bag or by passengers sharing a bag.

 

[judypriv]

I price out most of the airlines in the AC and PHL area and even with bag charges, Spirit STILL is almost always the cheapest. Sometimes i wonder if doing southwest would be better since no hassle of paying for bags but once I add in my travel costs there and parking, AC still is way cheaper.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

For my March dates, SW is way cheaper. $129 one way on SWA vs $178 on Spirit. I also love that we can change our dates with no fees. There are times we've had to and were glad we booked that time on SWA though we don't always. For 4 of us to change with USAirways, it would cost us $600 + any increase in fare. I only book them when I know 1000% certain we'll go except for hospitalization or funeral.

 

[judypriv]

OK, DEFINETLY wonky. Yesterday I checked for January and the tickets came out to be $ 142.00 each ( I TOLD hubby we should book then) and today they are offering a 7.5 % off coupon and the prices before coupon are the same as yesterday yet my total came out to 10 a ticket MORE! The prices with or without the coupon are STILL exactly the same. I don't get it!

 

[judypriv]

still up although a friend of mine just got last minute minute tickets for 4 only $ 500.00.

 

[njmom76]

We booked ACY to MCO on Spirit on July 12 and leave this Wednesday. Three of us are flying with all seat and baggage fees for under $400. I have done SW out of PHL before and have had it be less expensive (same base price). AC is an easier airport when travelling with kids though!

 

[mieuxmew]

$400 for 3 people including fees is awesome!! Those are the kind of fares flying Spirit is worth it! Most of these kind of fares are usually seen within 30 days of the flight and a lot of times they are not available at all.

I am all for flying Spirit provided I am not flying during potential bad weather months and the price is SUBSTANTIALLY lower than other airlines.

This Oct we are flying JetBlue from Newark for $230/person. Bags and seats included. Snacks and drinks also free. Each seat has a TV. Great flight dates and times. Price is same as I paid Spirit last October (JetBlue and Southwest were $600-1000 more for 4 tickets).

AYC airport is easy, though.