Spirit Airlines?

[Kevenswife2]

I read the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about Frontier. How is Spirit? I know it's a bare bones flight like Frontier, but is it really that bad?

 

[gdrj]

IMO Frontier is like a 5 star hotel and Spirit is 1 star budget hotel that charges you for soap for the shower.

 

[Kevenswife2]

IMO Frontier is like a 5 star hotel and Spirit is 1 star budget hotel that charges you for soap for the shower.

Looks like Frontier charges for every little thing also.

 

[1911]

spirit and frontier are essentially the same with regards to nickel and diming you to death.I found that frontier is a little bit cheaper over all when flying out of LAx to Orlando.other routes and airports may be different. both have equally bad reputations.

 

[MommyinHonduras]

I fly Spirit. My family of 6 can fly from Honduras to Orlando for $1400 RT with luggage. The next flight up starts at $700pp RT. So, it's a simple flight that gets me there, I'm good.

 

[Kevenswife2]

I'm so undecided! We usually fly Southwest, but this is a sudden trip and SW is way more than I want to pay. We were just at WDW in Jan and my funds are very limited.

We just received info about an event for students accepted to Embry-Riddle in Daytona on April 7...so I'm trying to make it happen, but funds are very limited.

 

[amcnj]

From what I have read, these types of airlines are fine when things are going well, but if things go bad, they can get really bad. But I don’t know how common it is for things to go really bad, and if it happens much more frequently on certain airlines. I know many who have had no issues, some with minor flight time changes, fewer with major flight time changes, and a handful whose flight was overbooked and had to scramble to find alternate arrangements. And of course the horror stories are what stick in your mind, but do they happen one in a thousand flights or one in a million?

 

[MI_firefighter]

As with most things, Spirit requires that you do some research. With paying extra for bags and seat upgrades, it was still cheaper than Delta and others. I think a lot of the flack comes from people who buy packages through third party companies and are surprised when they get to the airport and have to pay a ton for a bag. I know before I get on a Spirit flight that it's bare-bones and if I want something to drink, I either have to pay or bring it with me. In the end, everyone is different and what works for me won't work for others.

 

[debster812]

Spirit is fine when everything goes as planned. The nickel and diming is what it is. It's on the travelers to do their own due diligence and find out what all the assorted fees will be. However, when there are irregular ops due to weather, crews timing out, etc, that's when things can go south, and in a hurry.

For us, it was Spirit's complete lack of information/help we experienced when we experienced delays on both directions of a trip. Our flight from BOS to MYR was cancelled in between the time I checked online at home, and the time we arrived at the airport (~1 hr). We were delayed nearly 10 hours, our non-stop turned into a 1 stop. Fortunately, we did get out the same day. Coming home on this same trip, there were massive delays up and down the East Coast due to fog. WHen we left for the airport, everything showed on time. We went through security at MYR, and proceed to WAIT. Our flight kept showing delays, delays delays, there was no one at the gate to ask questions of, and no one answered the phone when we called. We finally took off (again) about 10 hrs late. The capper to this trip (and this has NOTHING to do with Spirit) is that we came very close to having to divert to another airport, due to low fuel, because we were delayed in the air due to fog in Boston. For those of you in the Northeast, we were doing big ovals right around Providence.

Our experience was about 10 years ago at this point, and I've still not ever flown with Spirit since. I get that 'stuff' happens, but for us, it's how the company deals with it, that makes or breaks the experience. We flew with Delta the following year, and were caught up in a massive snow storm. It took them 3 days to get us out, because we were flying over the busiest week out of the Northeast, and they could only get us into an airport 2 hours away from where we had booked. But, they were apologetic, and booked us in 1st class.

 

[Jimsig]

As I have posted before about Spirit we had a family friend who flew Spirit to MCO. On the way back there was a storm in BOS and his flight was cancelled. Spirit told him the earliest they could get him home (unless he wanted to wait on standby) was 7 days later. He rented a car and drove back to BOS. He said to he could only imagine how long to get home if I had the entire family with him.

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Spirit does not have good reputation. I have flown them a few times. I go in knowing about the extra fees. Knowing that if my flight gets cancelled, I am up a creek. I have flown Frontier as well. I would consider them similar. Do your research and then make your own decision.

 

[gdrj]

The other difference IMO is that there seems to be more leg room with Frontier, based on limited experience with Spirit and a bit more experience with Frontier. I also usually fly SWA, but it just happens I have a trip coming up where I am flying Frontier 1 way and Spirit the other.

 

[gdrj]

Looks like Frontier charges for every little thing also.

It was a bad analogy. My point I was attempting to make was that Frontier feels like an airline, while Spirit feels like a Greyhound Bus. But it is purely subjective.

 

[toolmanjan]

We use Spirit exclusively. My DD when to school at Coastal Carolina U in Myrtle Beach SC, Did 6mos in the Disney College Program and now is working for WDW and finishing school at UCF. Needless to say we have flown back and forth from AC many times with no issues. Our only complaint is that the late flight from MB to AC was often delayed. My DD was flew home this weekend for $100 RT.

 

[pens4821]

I'm considering Spirit for our August trip. Will have to wait to see Southwest fares when they come out in a couple days, but if they stay about the same as they are in the beginning of the month Spirit could save us around $250 one way (with luggage fees and seat selection included in the price). My biggest worry is flight delays. We would have to either be out that night or the next day to get my nephew home and ready for his first day of school, so not sure if we're willing to take that chance.

I'm wondering about the check in though. It says there is a $10 fee to check in at the airport, or free to do it online. Since we will be in Disney and will have no printer, how would we print our boarding passes without having to pay the fee? Do they have kiosks? And how about checking our luggage, we would still have to go to the check in desk to do that. It's $10/pp (we will only have 2 bags), so we'd still be ahead, just curious.

Will probably end up just paying more for the peace of mind with SW, but that's a pretty big difference.

 

[kabbie]

I'm wondering about the check in though. It says there is a $10 fee to check in at the airport, or free to do it online. Since we will be in Disney and will have no printer, how would we print our boarding passes without having to pay the fee? Do they have kiosks? And how about checking our luggage, we would still have to go to the check in desk to do that. It's $10/pp (we will only have 2 bags), so we'd still be ahead, just curious.

Nowadays, I usually check-in for a flight online and email the boarding pass to me. Then when I get to security, the agent scans the e-boarding pass and I'm good to go. I haven't printed a boarding pass for my flights for the last year.
I have flown on Spirit a lot on the DFW-MCO route and found kiosks at both airports to check my bags.

 

[pens4821]

Nowadays, I usually check-in for a flight online and email the boarding pass to me. Then when I get to security, the agent scans the e-boarding pass and I'm good to go. I haven't printed a boarding pass for my flights for the last year.
I have flown on Spirit a lot on the DFW-MCO route and found kiosks at both airports to check my bags.

Thanks for the info on the kiosks. As for checking in with a phone, are you able to have multiple boarding passes on 1 phone (4 travelers)?