Spirit or Frontier Airlines??

[Maistre Gracey]

But the problem is that both do unreasonable things to cut costs. Flying old airplanes that depressurize during take off leading to the highest rate of aborted take offs? That is not reasonable in my book.

Let me explain a bit further...
An airplane is pressurized from compressed air from the engines. There is an outflow valve that regulates just how much differential is in the cabin vs outside. There is also a safety valve that will guard in case that fails with over pressurization.
There are squat switches that tell the system that the airplane is on the ground, and will ensure both valves are open. The airplane will not pressurize on the ground. If it did, and you needed to open a door on the ground (even at the gate) the force of even a small amount of differential would cause an explosive reaction.
There is no such thing as pressurization before takeoff.
It is possible that after takeoff the airplane is not pressurizing properly. That said, I have not seen it, and not heard of it. It may have happened at some point (everything happens at some point), but it’s not a regular occurrence with us.
We likely have the youngest fleet of all major airlines.

 

[ElyseInWonderland]

1. I agree with the above poster who commented that they enjoy how both Spirit and Frontier airlines exist, keeping the big carriers in check and giving families a budget-friendly choice. If you're traveling a short distance without any layovers to worry about (and your arrival/departure plans are flexible) they're both a pretty OK option.
2. My husband who travels a lot for business has the following motto: "Spirit Airlines, Ghost Peppers, Land Rovers and Meth: Not even once." Go with Frontier if you're on the fence.

Have a great trip!

 

[Dakota731]

I agree they are great for just visiting family with no time line, but I’m afraid to use them when you have hotels and theme park tix paid for. Then if your flight is cancelled and you can’t get another flight for days you lose money. Though it’s killing me since Frontier is half the price of SW now, and when you’re taking a family that is a huge chunk of cash.

 

[Ross Kratter]

I agree they are great for just visiting family with no time line, but I’m afraid to use them when you have hotels and theme park tix paid for. Then if your flight is cancelled and you can’t get another flight for days you lose money. Though it’s killing me since Frontier is half the price of SW now, and when you’re taking a family that is a huge chunk of cash.

Remember, though, that you get two free checked bags per person on Southwest. That can be an enormous cost with other airlines.

 

[_19disnA]

^^ Yes and another reason to compare the TOTAL price of tickets (checked baggage, set assignments, misc fees, etc) on different airlines to make a valid comparison. The base price of a ticket alone shown on many websites can be misleading.

 

[Lewisc]

I agree they are great for just visiting family with no time line, but I’m afraid to use them when you have hotels and theme park tix paid for. Then if your flight is cancelled and you can’t get another flight for days you lose money. Though it’s killing me since Frontier is half the price of SW now, and when you’re taking a family that is a huge chunk of cash.

and $$$ if your Spirit flight gets canceled and you want to book SW day of. Look at the anytime fares. Expect to pay that, assuming SW even has enough seats available.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I've flown both (out of Detroit) many times and never had an issue. Of course you won't get all the luxuries of Delta, for example, but the price is usually considerably cheaper even after adding on seat assignments and baggage fees. If I'm just flying the family to Orlando, a quick 2-3 hour flight, I usually go with the cheapest option. If it's a longer cross country flight I'll shell out more for comfort.

 

[McMonsters]

We did Spirit this past July for my birthday just after WDW reopened. They were amazing and I hate we didn’t fly them sooner! I paid $17 round trip for our family. We have a child with multiple food allergies and request early boarding to clean her seat. We have flown almost all the major carriers and it’s hit or miss on how comfortable I feel with how the staff handles our situation. On both flights during the trip they were phenomenal and even made the announcement about the allergy asking everyone to please be cautious about eating near our row adding how none of us wanted to be rerouted due to a medical emergency on such a short flight. My husband has used them many times to fly to South America without issue. I just booked them for our fall trip without hesitation.

 

[Lewisc]

Two issues with ultra low airlines:

1. All the extra costs, less legroom and seats that aren't as comfortable as others. Do your research. Include costs of extras when you check costs.
2. Issues with irregular operations. Think weather related issues and mechanical issues. They don't have extra aircraft. Some routes aren't run daily. Flights the next few days may be sold out. You may miss days from your vacation or book a last minute fare with another airline. You're flight could be delayed for hours.

If 2 was very common people wouldn't fly airlines like Spirit but its common enough to be a concern. I wouldn't even think about booking them day of a cruise. Probably not even day before

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

Spirit and Frontier are perfectly fine...until there's a delay or cancellation. They just don't have the available seats on most routes to make up for big delays or cancellation. It's not uncommon that the next available seat is days out. If you fly delta from DTW to MCO and your flight is cancelled they probably have other nonstops that day or can route you thru Atlanta. Spirit doesn't have the giant networks UA,AA,DL, and SW have.

I've flown Spirit a few times as their Big Front Seat is an attractive alternative to first class on the normal airlines. And the flights were fine. But I had one MCO-ORD flight that was cancelled and it was two days before they could reaccomidate us. That just isn't acceptable to me. I luckily had travel insurance that paid for a same day flight.

Spirit and Frontier are great for price sensitive customers and help keep overall airfares down. But I would never take them when I had to be somewhere on a time sensitive schedule.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We use spirit all the time they never charge for medical equipment and dont count it as your carry on.
We never pay to check a bag but if you do its cheapest when you book. ..
It's amazing how good I have got at packing a backpack.. I put my travel pillow on my neck I have a small gym bag that fits my back pack that I take out and put my jacket in etc.
We bring empty waterbottles and fill them on the other side of TSA because its $3 for one onboard..
Everything cost extra with spirit I swear if they had a way to take your CC for emergency air I think they would. Lol the seats are very hard and do not recline unless you upgrade to the big seats up front. I dont mind because I save $300 for my family of 4 to fly to see our parents every month.
Frontier is very similar I prefer spirit though

 

[PrincesCJM]

I've never used either but in leaving MCO on Monday this week, the Spirit ticket counter was literally out the door. I stopped and asked someone what airline they were waiting for and was glad to hear it wasn't mine (United). This was around 9am.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I've never used either but in leaving MCO on Monday this week, the Spirit ticket counter was literally out the door. I stopped and asked someone what airline they were waiting for and was glad to hear it wasn't mine (United). This was around 9am.

So spirit tickets are cheaper at the airport you save $20 or so each at the counter. It always looks like that. There is usually another line for people needed assistance sometimes the line has no people in it so you dont know it's there. Most people avoid talking to an agent because there is a fee for them to print your ticket.
I use the app some people use the kiosk.

I pay about $49rt from Fort Lauderdale to DFW
It is so cheap it's hard to pay double or triple that amount.

 

[Lewisc]

Many, most?, travel insurance won't pay for airfare on another carrier. Some will.

Coverage would typically include an allowance for things like hotel and meals. You have the option of waiting, days if necessary, for a Spirit flight, or accept a refund and book a flight on another airline at your expense.

A lot of people think travel insurance covers a lot of things it doesn't

 

[SarahC97]

We fly Spirit from Indianapolis frequently to MCO. In the years we've flown with them, we've not had any issues. We stopped taking Frontier because they canceled on us day of once and then we experienced several very long delays at other times. Also, their flight crew was incredibly rude to us on one flight and their customer service sucks, so we stopped using them.

I admit I'm always nervous taking Spirit because I know things could go wrong and our flights could get canceled. You get what you pay for, right? But in the last two years we've flown with them at least 8 times and have been happy with the experience and service so far. I think it also matters where you fly out of. Spirit flies 2x per day out of Indy nonstop to MCO but Frontier doesn't, so I think Spirit is better from our home airport than Frontier. YMMV.

 

[flipflopmom]

Most people avoid talking to an agent because there is a fee for them to print your ticket.
I use the app some people use the kiosk.

Pretend I’m five years old here, please. Only flown one solo trip to see my kiddo when she was a DCP. Flying with down next month, and going to be the first time my kids have flown. If I do online check in on Spirit app, with ALL our boarding passes show up? Do I need to screenshot theirs and send to my girls on their phones so they have a copy? I swore I remembered using kiosk to print before for free, but saw recently somewhere there is a fee.

 

[McMonsters]

Pretend I’m five years old here, please. Only flown one solo trip to see my kiddo when she was a DCP. Flying with down next month, and going to be the first time my kids have flown. If I do online check in on Spirit app, with ALL our boarding passes show up? Do I need to screenshot theirs and send to my girls on their phones so they have a copy? I swore I remembered using kiosk to print before for free, but saw recently somewhere there is a fee.

When I fly solo with my 3 kids (under 18) on Spirit it all shows up on my app and I show it to the gate from my phone. If they are all on the reservation it will show together. I usually print out at home because I'm the lady who always ends up with a black screen when trying to be tech savvy.

 

[IslandAdventure4]

We have used Spirit a lot when flying to Florida. We only live 25 minutes from ACAP and it is really easy to park, check-in, and security. There have been times when I drop off family and park the car. They are already waiting for me at security. Spirit can be really affordable for a family if you can fly on their Scheduled. We have flown to Ft. Myers a few times, and were able to get 7 dollar flights both ways!!! that airport is a dream as well. The only time we had an issue was flying back from both Orlando, and Ft. Lauderdale. Both times it was explained to us that our plane was flying out of the Caribbean somewhere and there was bad weather down there causing our plane to be delayed. One time like 4 hours, and our kids were little, we didn't get home until 2am. I know its tough to scheduled a family vacation and fly on THEIR scheduled, but if you can you can get some really cheap flights.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Pretend I’m five years old here, please. Only flown one solo trip to see my kiddo when she was a DCP. Flying with down next month, and going to be the first time my kids have flown. If I do online check in on Spirit app, with ALL our boarding passes show up? Do I need to screenshot theirs and send to my girls on their phones so they have a copy? I swore I remembered using kiosk to print before for free, but saw recently somewhere there is a fee.

All the boarding passes show up and you can dl to google/apple pay- I usually screen shot them and send them to my DH as well. One time we had really bad cell phone service at the gate and the app would not load.
You can check in 24 hours before but if you are letting them pick your seats give it a little time because they choose from back to front. We always take an after work flight on a Friday night so I check in Early Friday morning and we always sit together in the first 9 rows.
One time they split us up so I was the first one in line when they opened the gate 30 mins before the flight and they fixed it.

 

[flipflopmom]

All the boarding passes show up and you can dl to google/apple pay- I usually screen shot them and send them to my DH as well. One time we had really bad cell phone service at the gate and the app would not load.
You can check in 24 hours before but if you are letting them pick your seats give it a little time because they choose from back to front. We always take an after work flight on a Friday night so I check in Early Friday morning and we always sit together in the first 9 rows.

When I fly solo with my 3 kids (under 18) on Spirit it all shows up on my app and I show it to the gate from my phone. If they are all on the reservation it will show together. I usually print out at home because I'm the lady who always ends up with a black screen when trying to be tech savvy.

Thank you both! I thought about printing going down before we leave so I would have that taken care of, but not sure about printing at WDW so trying to figure it out! I really appreciate it!