Spirit Airlines. is it really that bad?

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was looking at a trip to Vegas on expedia. Spirit was the least expensive of the flights. usually travel SW or Alaska. Some people seem to hate them , but are they really that bad?

it says carry on charge. do they really charge? i don't care about peanuts and soda for a 2 hour flight. just that it gets me there .

So what do you think of Spirit ?
 
It can't be worse than United
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Not sure if a forum is the right place to look, honestly.

Most people who travel and have something to say about it are complainers. People who are at least satisfied generally don't bother saying anything.

Only some complainers are worth listening to (deal with the public at your job for a while, you will figure it out).

I would check things like on-time record, FAA inspections, and the carrier's own website which should clearly identify what to expect when you travel with them.

By way of example, I flew Alaska in the 90's. At the time, it had the worst maintenance record and a questionable safety record. I believe it was the lowest rated airline that flew in the US at that time (hey, my boss made the reservations, what can I say?. It was the cheapest Minneapolis > San Francisco flight you could get. What were they doing flying to Minneapolis? Who knows.)

It's since turned it around almost 180degrees. But my anecdotal response to your question might not have been positive.
 
I fly to Dallas Texas once a year to visit the youngest and her two kids. I take a carry on and my own lunch. Its nearly a five hour flight I've never had a problem on Alaska. The flight is always free its on my rewards card. They always have a good selection of flight times if you plan ahead.
 
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I wouldn't bother with them. My biggest concern would be how small their fleet is and how few flights they have. If there is a mechanical issue, you could be stuck. Add in all the hidden fees and it doesn't seem like much of a deal to me.
 
Originally Posted By: WhyMe
was looking at a trip to Vegas on expedia. Spirit was the least expensive of the flights. usually travel SW or Alaska. Some people seem to hate them , but are they really that bad?

it says carry on charge. do they really charge? i don't care about peanuts and soda for a 2 hour flight. just that it gets me there .

So what do you think of Spirit ?



There are 2,259 reviews that average out to 1 1/2 stars on a popular airline review site about Spirit airlines........
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
I wouldn't bother with them. My biggest concern would be how small their fleet is and how few flights they have. If there is a mechanical issue, you could be stuck.


This can be a serious problem.

Dunno about Spirit but I had a Ryanair (pioneer budget airline in the UK) Glasgow to Stanstead flight where the scheduled plane ingested a goose. No backup.

Had all day to make a Taiwanese friends Heathrow flight back to Taiwan, and only just made it by shoving to the front of a queue of drunk Glaswegians who had been stuck all day (bravest thing I've ever done) and hiring a chauffeur driven car between Stanstead and Heathrow.

Not a bargain in the end.
 
If it fits your needs, the price can't be beat.

I joined their $9 fare club. $60 a year. I can fly from Vegas to Oakland for $24-$27 (basically, $9 plus terminal fees and taxes), then take Amtrack to Sacramento for another $27. Southwest varies, but last time I checked the cost to fly from Vegas to Sacramento was over $300. I don't have any baggage I need to check or put in the overhead, it's a short flight that doesn't require stops, and I don't need assigned seating. I fly this route bare bones, and don't need any upgrades. In the past I've taken my wife to Portland OR, and reserved seats to make sure we had legroom for us and our bags under the seat in front of us. Even with seat upgrades, that flight was still much cheaper than the competitors.

It's cheaper for me to fly Spirit than drive. Southwest costs me about three times what it costs to drive. I probably wouldn't use them for Transcontinental flights, but for my commuting needs they work.
 
For someone like me who typically just goes on plane with a backpack they are no better or worst then any other low cost carrier.

The two main issues with the airline is they attract the naive flyers who do not read the part where they actually charge for carry ons and get bend out of shape and attitudes make life that much more difficult on the process. Factor in your luggage/carry on costs and see who is cheapest for you.

They accommodate myself the backpack flyer well. I also have no issue typically paying for the extra's like leg room if I feel the need to stretch etc when flying solo.
 
Originally Posted By: WhyMe
was looking at a trip to Vegas on expedia. Spirit was the least expensive of the flights. usually travel SW or Alaska. Some people seem to hate them , but are they really that bad?

it says carry on charge. do they really charge? i don't care about peanuts and soda for a 2 hour flight. just that it gets me there .

So what do you think of Spirit ?


Yeah, they charge. A lot. You won't get around that. They'll stop you at the gate and charge you, or you won't get on.

So, add up the costs of charging for carry on luggage, and then compare.

You should also knot that their employees are unhappy, low paid, and their pilots have voted to strike.

And they cancel often with poor options for re-booking.

Good luck.
 
I would fly on Alaska, if I were in your situation.

You might look at Delta, which has a greatly expanded presence in SEA. I'll bet they go direct to LAS.
 
Spirit will nickel and dime you to death. If you are a bare bones flyer with low standards then it might work.
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
It can't be worse than United
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Despite their recent high-profile issues, we've never had any problems flying United and will continue to do so.
 
My wife and I have flown Spirit quite a lot, at least 5 times from Niagara Falls NY to Fort Lauderdale and once from Detroit to Las Vegas. In fact the Vegas trip was free because one of the flight attendants was asleep on one of our Florida trips (that flight leaves Niagara at 2:30 am and arrives in Florida at 5:30am) and my wife wrote a letter to Spirit. We also had a problem on our trip to Florida in the winter where the flight was cancelled due to weather (certainly not Spirit's fault) but then they told us the next available flight wasn't until a week away! They simply don't have enough planes in their fleet to make up cancelled flights. On that trip they refunded us the cost of our entire trip (not just the return flight) and we booked a flight the very next day with Allegiant.

That being said, we still fly Spirit because it's dirt cheap! We like to do a 4 day trip to Florida every February and that flight has often been as low as $93 each (return) We travel light, both of us just fit all our stuff into a small backpack, so we never pay extra for baggage.
 
I exclusively fly Spirit to Florida. They are unique that their price structure makes for cheap airfare but expensive luggage. As long as youre aware of this it's okay. There have been times I mailed my luggage back home.
 
They left me stranded in Vegas before and didn't provide any type of updates as to the current situation. Their customer service was non-existent. I'll never fly them again.
 
They make their money by charging for luggage. About 10 years ago, I score round trip from NYC to Bahamas for $24. Plus $125 foreign airport border fees. Still, quite the bargain. That's before they got all nickel and dimey. Friend of mine flew Spirit to Vegas. He paid like $200 in luggage fees. It came out costing quite a bit more than my flight on Southwest, where bags fly free.
 
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