Spirit Airline Backup?

[TinkOhio]

We're seeking advice from experienced Spirit Air flyers about flying this weekend. We have a prepaid package booked for this weekend, and the originating flight is with Spirit. We normally don't fly Spirit because of it's reputation sudden cancellations, but we nervously booked it this time to save money. After seeing all the cancellations the past two weeks, and finding out that there might be storms again this weekend, we're considering booking an additional one-way flight out on United as they are much less likely to leave us stranded.

Because this is only a 4 day trip, and we will be traveling two of the four days, we're weighing the pros and cons of spending the money to book that safety flight. What would you do? We did pay for travel insurance, but not sure it will help if the flight is cancelled due to weather. Is there a site where we can track past/recent Spirit flight cancellations and upcoming changes to help make our decision? What would you do?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[wdp]

We're seeking advice from experienced Spirit Air flyers about flying this weekend. We have a prepaid package booked for this weekend, and the originating flight is with Spirit. We normally don't fly Spirit because of it's reputation sudden cancellations, but we nervously booked it this time to save money. After seeing all the cancellations the past two weeks, and finding out that there might be storms again this weekend, we're considering booking an additional one-way flight out on United as they are much less likely to leave us stranded.

Because this is only a 4 day trip, and we will be traveling two of the four days, we're weighing the pros and cons of spending the money to book that safety flight. What would you do? We did pay for travel insurance, but not sure it will help if the flight is cancelled due to weather. Is there a site where we can track past/recent Spirit flight cancellations and upcoming changes to help make our decision? What would you do?

Thanks for any advice!

If the flight number hasn't changed recently you can get detailed history on flight performance at flightaware.com. I believe that even if the flight number has changed you can look at flight history based on the airline and cities involved.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

We have done this the few times we've flown Spirit...but used SW points instead. Since there are no change fees, booking a backup makes sense as long as you will have a use for the credit in the next 12 months.

Just don't forget to cancel the backup flight BEFORE departure of that flight. Not sure if United has this policy, but with many airlines you would lose the value of the ticket if you no-show and don't cancel before departure.

Also, is the return flight with Spirit as well booked on one ticket? If it is you would need to alert Spirit that you are not taking the outbound flight. If you no-show the outbound Spirit flight they will more than likely cancel the return flight.

 

[_19disnA]

Tracking past history isn't going to give you any better indication of what might happen with your upcoming flight. In the city where I used to live, Spirit was ALWAYS on the local news with irate customers stranded at the airport due to suddenly cancelled flights. The basic problem with these smaller/low budget airlines is they don't have enough flights or extra airplanes to substitute for any type of mechanical problem. Your next flight might be DAYS away with not many other options. Personally, I would never choose to fly with them.

 

[TinkOhio]

If the flight number hasn't changed recently you can get detailed history on flight performance at flightaware.com. I believe that even if the flight number has changed you can look at flight history based on the airline and cities involved.

Thank you!

 

[TinkOhio]

We have done this before the few times we've flown Spirit...but used SW points instead. Since there are no change fees, booking a backup makes sense as long as you will have a use for the credit in the next 12 months.

Just don't forget to cancel the backup flight BEFORE departure of that flight. Not sure if United has this policy, but with many airlines you would lose the value of the ticket if you no-show and don't cancel before departure.

Also, is the return flight with Spirit as well booked on one ticket? If it is you would need to alert Spirit that you are not taking the outbound flight. If you no-show the outbound Spirit flight they will more than likely cancel the return flight.

Thanks for this tip! Our return is on Delta, which we have much more confidence in.