Spirit Airlines

[tyniknate]

Has anyone on here ever flown Spirit Airlines? Their website seems confunsing and something seems not quite right. Anyone help me with the good, the bad or the ugly?

 

[Colleen27]

They're a budget airline, so expect to pay for everything from in-flight drinks (even soda/water) to luggage.

We haven't had any bad experiences flying with them, but since they started charging for carryons as well as checked bags they're no cheaper than Northwest/Delta and a fair bit more expensive than AirTran so I don't imagine we'll fly with them again.

 

[ArielRae]

The airline is good for budget. We always flew with them out of Atlantic City to Orlando. That was until they started adding fees. We are now driving down in Nov cheaper then it would have been to fly.

Just a warning that if you do have a problem their customer service is horrible.

 

[jenseib]

We flew with them once and got a really great price. Just over $300 round trip for 3 people. I think we paid about $30 more for luggage.

BUT.....the plane was super cramped. I could barely figure out what to do with my legs, and I'm not that tall, just average. But for the price and only 2 1/2 hours I would consider it again...until a few months ago.
They now charge for carryons. It's more for a carry on than it is to check in your bag. And I haven't seen any really low public (not the $9 club) flights in our area for quite some time. I think you are better off cost wise to go with another airline anymore.

 

[Philleigh]

From where are you flying (would you have to go to ACY or does Spirit fly from somewhere closer to you in PA?). It might not be bad for short flight, but the savings are illusory once you add in charges for drinks and baggage. My last flight on Spirit was the last. I had flown Spirit from ACY to Florida when I lived in NJ - it was fine for a 2 hour flight, but they hadn't started charging for everything yet. After I moved to Las Vegas, they started offering flights between Vegas and Atlantic City, so I took Spirit to fly "home". On a longer flight I noticed how the seats are really crammed in. The aisles were full of passengers who stood for a good part of flight because the seats were so bad. Spirit had recently started charging for soda (announced publicly). I heard a flight attendant say that as a result of the charge for soft drinks, passengers were ordering more water, so the airline was charging for that, but she wasn't going to make people on this flight pay because a lot of people didn't know about the new charging for water policy. I would fly SWA if you can. No change fees and they participate in ME/resort bag check now, so I can see no reason to fly Spirit. Also, I echo that Spirit's customer service is horrible.

 

[jenseib]

Spirit was charging for drinks in 2008, I know for sure, but at that time I thought all airlines pretty much did. We always busy something at the airport after we go through security and bing it on. It's slightly cheaper that way.

 

[Philleigh]

Southwest doesn't charge for (non-alcoholic) drinks, so you don't have to worry about buying the $3.00 bottles of water before you board the plane. We took SWA from LAS to Orlando in Sept. and they had 2 or 3 drink services, and then came around with just water toward the end of the trip, so there was no shortage of beverages. I have a co-worker whose sister lives in Detroit, where Spirit has a hub, and he talks about how awful Spirit is too. I would only fly on Spirit again if the flight were free or if there were some sort of dire circumstances. Well, I guess you know how I feel!

 

[Colleen27]

I have a co-worker whose sister lives in Detroit, where Spirit has a hub, and he talks about how awful Spirit is too. I would only fly on Spirit again if the flight were free or if there were some sort of dire circumstances. Well, I guess you know how I feel!

That's where we're from too, and why we've flown them several times. We have three non-stop choices from here to Orlando - Northwest/Delta, Spirit, or AirTran - so until the carry on fees I was willing to overlook the other drawbacks of Spirit for the better prices or flight times. Not so much now that they're charging Delta rates with fewer amenities.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Spirit will get you from point a to b. It's BASIC.

However, if ANYTHING goes wrong (mechanical, weather) you will discover what a lot of us figured out. They do NOT do service. You will be greeted with a "shrug" and left to deal with whatever on your own.

You will pay for (A) checked luggage (B) Carryon Luggage that won't fit under your seat (C) ANYTHING to drink (D) Seat assignments. The seat may not recline (they are planning to put in non-reclining seats) and they have NO leg room

I am not willing to risk it

 

[Kayka]

I agree with PP, Spirit is fine for a short flight from point A to point B, unless or until something goes wrong.

Two summers ago our flight from Atlantic City, NJ to Orlando was cancelled due to weather in Ft Lauderdale (Spirit's hub). I can't even begin to tell you how bad customer service was. The staff knew nothing! Or so they said. Whatever we knew came from outside sources. In the end we were hearing that the first available flight would be three days later.

We were in that airport for roughly ten hours. It was with the help of our travel agent that we were finally able to book a comparably priced flight out of Philadelphia. And after some seriously assertive discussions with a couple of Spirit's personnel, they refunded the cost of the cancelled flight and shuttled our group of eight to Phila. That was only compensation we received.

At that point I said I would never fly Spirit again. And for a brief period of time, AirTran had direct flights out of AC and we used them. Our flight was canceled due the blizzard in the northeast and customer service was wonderful! Rebooking was easy. And of course being stuck in WDW for an extra two days isn't the worst thing in the world.

But AirTran stopped offering direct flights, and we flew on Spirit last Spring, and will do so again in January. Can't beat the price or convenience. Just have to hope for good weather.

 

[MsSpinShady]

We will never fly with Spirit airlines again. Agents that lied to us on the phone, rude, unhelpful agents at the desk and the gate, mine and my DH's reserved seats sold to other passengers (aisle and window) leaving our 5-year-old in a row near the front of the plane by herself with strangers and my DH and I reassigned to the back of the plane, watching them harass a family with a crying baby over paying for a bottle of water the flight attendant had come over and offered without telling them first they would be charged...

...never again.

 

[jenseib]

Southwest doesn't charge for (non-alcoholic) drinks, so you don't have to worry about buying the $3.00 bottles of water before you board the plane. We took SWA from LAS to Orlando in Sept. and they had 2 or 3 drink services, and then came around with just water toward the end of the trip, so there was no shortage of beverages. I have a co-worker whose sister lives in Detroit, where Spirit has a hub, and he talks about how awful Spirit is too. I would only fly on Spirit again if the flight were free or if there were some sort of dire circumstances. Well, I guess you know how I feel!

I didn't know that SW also offered fre drinks.
We flew Spirit out of Detroit too. It was fine. But our return flight was delayed, and my DD was sick and tired, and cried at the aorport constantly and I jsut couldn't wait to get home and get her in her own bed. She flee asleep right after take off, thank goddness. Not the airlines fault about her not feeling well though.

That's where we're from too, and why we've flown them several times. We have three non-stop choices from here to Orlando - Northwest/Delta, Spirit, or AirTran - so until the carry on fees I was willing to overlook the other drawbacks of Spirit for the better prices or flight times. Not so much now that they're charging Delta rates with fewer amenities.

We flew out of Detroit too. And the nonstop choices are so limited. WE now fly out of Toledo most trips and into Sandford and rent a car. My DH likes to have a car for some reason anyways, but it mostly just sits in the parking lot. I have also looked at Columbus rates. It's about 2 1'2 hours from my home, but my sister and Aunt both live there, so we could go the night before and stay with one of them. But My DH doesn't like that idea either. LOL!

 

[tyniknate]

OK - We wont be flying Spirit. Thanks for all the advice. Would hate to have booked and then had a nightmare on our hands. Will stick with JetBlue or Southwest.

 

[DarleneW]

We always fly Spirit because it is convenient for us to get to the Atlantic City Airport and we love the size of the airport. We just came back from a couple of days in FL and both flights had non-reclining seats. I wasn't happy about that especially since our morning flight was at 6:30 and it would have been nice to snooze a bit but that wasn't happening with the seats. I always check other airlines when we are going down to Orlando but never find any airline to be cheaper. We don't pay for our seats and my DH and I have always sat together. We are usually in the back of the plane which really isn't a big deal except this past weekend we were didn't pay for our seats and were in row 3! I guess those didn't sell and we just hit it at the right time...I print out our boarding passes from home. On the way home we were in row 28...not so lucky