Spirit, new rumblings

[keishashadow]

I book spirit often for bonus trips, when their sale prices are ridiculously low & we didn't necessarily have to be somewhere important overnight.

Even, under those parameters, other than potentially trying to use up current points in our accounts, don't see myself booking anything new with them after reading the below FB post opinion from a bankruptcy lawyer's that popped up in one of the Disney discussion groups

Might be nothing more than doom & gloom, the sky is falling opinion. YMMV, though something to consider going forward, depending on your risk tolerance

 

[kittylady1972]

Good to note and thanks for the information.

I guess the bonus here is that we book most of our Spirit flights only a few weeks in advance, if that, especially those "bonus" trips. Since we usually pay less than $100 RT per flight each on average, I guess it's a risk we are still willing to take for now since our potential out of pocket loss is minimal. Now if we had a big trip planned with Spirit flights, I think we would exercise caution and again not book too far in advance if possible. Thankfully we live very close the the airport and have many other options, especially to Florida.

I'm not going to be nearly as happy if we are forced to do more SWA flights....at least until they get the seat assignments in place. We do already have a booked trip on SWA in October.

 

[Lewisc]

Credit cards should protect you against direct loss.

The real issue is the cost of booking, possibly, last minute, replacement airfare.

The issue isn't limited to Spirit going out of business. .Spirit could slash routes, without much notice, in an attempt to save the airline

 

[fla4fun]

In reality, no company is immune from bankruptcy these days, and any airline could cut routes and flights with little to no notice even if they are solvent. You could also get to your destination and your return flight could be cancelled. If you are comfortable with having to buy last minute airfare because your flight no longer exists, then you should be fine. If you can’t take the financial risk of your flight disappearing, having travel insurance can often help. If you have booked a vacation that will be non refundable if you cancel last minute because you have no way to get there on schedule, considering insurance might be the best plan. You have to consider how comfortable you would be should the worst happen, and decide from there what you can do to minimize the extra costs and inconvenience.

I hope everyone’s vacation goes smoothly with no flight issues.

 

[Lewisc]

Many people think travel insurance covers more then it does. Financial default is frequently excluded. Read the policy before you buy it. Insurance may not cover the cost of last minute airfare. It might not cover hotel cancelation penalties.

 

[fla4fun]

Many people think travel insurance covers more then it does. Financial default is frequently excluded. Read the policy before you buy it. Insurance may not cover the cost of last minute airfare. It might not cover hotel cancelation penalties.

True, there are many types of policies, and you do have to do your homework to make sure the coverage you buy is what you need. There’s no point in buying a policy heavy on medical coverage if you need trip interruption/cancellation coverage.

 

[kittylady1972]

Our flight yesterday was good as usual. The Spirit flight attendants were great. We ended up last minute paying for seats and then for $1 more each I was able to book their new "Go Comfy" seat. We had the middle seat empty between us (we were told there are plans to put a tray there) and then we got a free snack and drink. The snack was a soft chocolate chip cookie (pre packaged) and a choice of soda (just not the entire can like when you pay). This was a really nice experience overall and we may have to consider it in the future. Unlike the big front seats, these were not as big but I could have stuff on the floor in front of me which I prefer.

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

Bumping this up... Anyone brave enough to book Spirit for next few months?
I'm not a shareholder, but this is dismal. And I really feel bad for their great flight crews...
I'll lose so many points There goes 2025 flight budget ...
https://airlinegeeks.com/2024/12/18/spirit-restructuring-could-nullify-stocks-amid-shareholder-fury/

 

[_19disnA]

Spirit is one of those 'shoe-string' airlines who thought they could make a profit when in reality it was far more challenging and they have lots of established competition. Virtually every airline has the same high fixed costs and only make money when they can fill their planes to a specific level of capacity that generates enough revenue to pay the bills. I used to live in a city where Spirit had service and they were CONSTANTLY on the local evening news with irate passengers stuck at the airport when there was any sort of mechanical delay, no good alternatives and the next scheduled flight was a few days away. Part of the issue with small airlines is they don't fly every city each day and they have a limited number of aircraft to move around when they do run into any issues. I would NEVER chose to fly with them even before all of their current financial issues.

It wouldn't surprise me to find they keep trying to tell everyone things are fine so people keep booking future flights, then suddenly announce they are ceasing flight operations and you will be left holding the bag on any open tickets you might have.

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

My family & I have flown SPIRIT to Orlando for years. Seems others here do as well.
I have NEVER EVER had a bad experience, flying on cash OR points.
I've the nitemare stories but flying non-stop only has been great for us.

 

[mikehn]

We flew Spirit into MCO last week. The flight arrived 30 minutes early, which was the only thing out of the ordinary.

 

[WDW Traveler]

Bumping this up... Anyone brave enough to book Spirit for next few months?
I'm not a shareholder, but this is dismal. And I really feel bad for their great flight crews...
I'll lose so many points There goes 2025 flight budget ...
https://airlinegeeks.com/2024/12/18/spirit-restructuring-could-nullify-stocks-amid-shareholder-fury/

We have a Spirit flight booked for mid-January. Fingers crossed that all goes well. They have adjusted the flight times a couple of times already, but so far so good. lol We have flown Spirit several times with no issues at all.

 

[EACarlson]

I view the ULCCs the same as I do the off brand rental car companies. When everything goes well, it's fine. When anything goes wrong it's very hard to recover in any meaningful way. Not something I want to rely on if it's something I really care about.

 

[keishashadow]

Bumping this up... Anyone brave enough to book Spirit for next few months?

Considering for late January - early February to try to utilize points. Likely, won’t

Last I heard the bankruptcy is still chapter 11 supposed to be completed by end of 1st quarter of 2025. If they wind up going chapter 9, forgetaboutit.

 

[kittylady1972]

My family & I have flown SPIRIT to Orlando for years. Seems others here do as well.
I have NEVER EVER had a bad experience, flying on cash OR points.
I've the nitemare stories but flying non-stop only has been great for us.

Same. Just flew them earlier this month back from Orlando, we did book the Go Comfy which was great. We have them booked again later this month for 5 of us, again Go Comfy so we get to take our bags and have an empty middle seat.