Spirit Air

[angel24_ga]

Has anyone flown Spirit Air to Fort Lauderdale? We are booked on a cruise out of Miami in Jan. Spirit has great prices but not so great reviews.

 

Any info would be helpful.

 

(sorry if I posted this in the wrong place)

[beerman2]

Have flown Spirit Many times and am in fact flying again to FLL in about 5 weeks.

 

 

Other than them changing flight times and occasionally non-stop to 1 stop flights IMHO for the prices they have I don't hesitate to book them whenever possible.

 

I do have the Spirit MC so I have been able to get one-way air for only the Processing fee 25.00.

 

Hope this helps you.

[ibcnusoon]

We also have the Spirit Mastercard. We are always flying free to Florida (DD goes to college there). I just got back this weekend from getting free flights on Spirit.

 

On that note, we are flying to San Juan for our cruise and I did not book Spirit. We only use Spirit for quick weekend flights to Florida (for free, all you need is 2,500 miles one-way to get to Florida off-peak). We NEVER check luggage and only bring a carry-on big enough to fit under the seat in front of you. It's a $35 charge if you want to put your carry-on in the overhead compartment.

 

Don't buy a seat, wait until you "check in" 24 hours before and the computer will pick you a seat for FREE.

 

There are a ton of various charges, from printing boarding passes at kiosks, to paying for luggage etc. Like I said, it's great if you don't need to carry that much luggage. When you start factoring in luggage fees, the discounted (or free) price doesn't make it so lucrative.

 

Check out their fees before booking, total up what it would cost you to get to your destination versus another carrier that offers free or reduced prices on checked luggage before making your decision. Also note that Spirit usually has one or two flights out a day to your destination and if your flight is cancelled your stuck. It's a great value, but be aware of all the consequences. Here's the updated fees, prices going up effective 11/6:

 

http://www.spirit.com/optionalfees.aspx

[moopig]

Beware if you are tall---Spirit seats have less legroom than other airlines. I cannot put my knees out straight in front of me when sitting in a seat. (I am 6 ft tall).

Another thing to beware of with Spirit is the weight limit for checked luggage is 40 lbs, not 50 lbs like most airlines. I have witnessed MANY unhappy passengers who have to pay $$ because their luggage is over 40 lbs but under the usual 50 lbs.

Spirit also does not give any free soft drinks/coffee or pretzels/cookies but you can purchase these items with a credit card.

[Izziebella]

We've flown Spirit a few times and I have no complaints. That said, we're booked on them in 4 weeks and just got an email that our flight was cancelled but there booked us on an earlier flight, so no big deal.

My question to anyone that might know....how long is the drive from FLL airport to the port of miami?

[carpeperdiem]

The CEO of Spirit has no respect for his customers and you will be treated like ****.

 

NEVER, EVER fly spirit air

Spirit Air is the scum of the earth. they don't give a **** about passengers, and they lack basic customer service skills. Their employees do not have the authority to solve problems, and they will say anything, make it up if they have to, to get you to go away.

 

DO NOT EVER THINK OF booking on Spirit, for any reason. Tell everyone you know. If people simply say, "we won't take this kind of abuse" and not book with them, they will be out of business, eventually, and you will save your loved ones the stress of dealing with them...

 

PS -- the CEO of the company is an *****, too:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/business/29spirit.html

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/03/spirit-airlines-ceo-dying-veteran-didnt-get-refund-because-didnt-buy-insurance/

http://rhinoden.rangerup.com/douche-of-the-week-spirit-airlines/

[4hunters]

Take my advice and don't fly with Spirit - trust me. Try using a different discounted carrier such as Southwest. While the prices aren't as rock-bottom as on Spirit, you're overall flight experience won't be either. You get what you pay for.

[airhead22]

We got Delta ATL to FLL round trip for 188. Spirit had some a little less, but not with FEES!! The trip from FLL to MIA is about 45 min. Clheapest way I have found is SAS transport for 18 each way. Still cheaper than flying to MIA.

[Jane2357]

Avoid it!!!

Delta once canceled a flight we had scheduled to take a cruise out of Ft Lauderdale, they canceled so late and cruise was over New Year's that we couldn't find another flight unless we wanted to take 1.5 DAYs to fly home. TA got us on a Spirit flight out of Chicago - well NEVER AGAIN.

Plane was disgusting dirty, EVERYTHING cost extra $$$, seats were so tiny and cramped. I would'nt travel on this airline if it were free!!!!

[HeidiHo]

We flew from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale in February. Most other posters have given you good advice. It's actually cheaper to check bags than it is to put them in the overhead bins. Since we were going on an 8 night cruise we checked 2 bags and brought back packs for our carry ons since they would fit under the seats. My husband and I are short so the leg room was not a problem but the seats in front of us were so close that we had trouble bending over to reach our backpacks under the seats. Once I dropped my MP3 player and couldn't bend over to reach it so my husband had to get it for me. Aside from that everything was fine. Our flights were on time, early in fact. Just remember to plan accordingly. Read everything in advance so you know exactly what they are going to charge you for. One more thing, we didn't pay for assigned seats. I figured if my husband and I were going to spend the next 9 days together it wouldn't kill us to sit apart for a few hours. I went on line to check us in as early as I possibly could and we were assigned seats together.

[belles]

I could be wrong but I think that's the airline that charges for EVERYTHING. Even carry on bags. If you are only traveling with a purse or briefcase it may be worth it. If cruising, I doubt it. I think they charge for drinks (soft drinks), luggage (checked and carry on) and even seats. It may look good but watch the bottom line cost.

They just started service out of BWI. I checked them going to FLL and it was much cheaper in the long run on AirTran.

[beerman2]

Carpeperdiem

 

Were you employed at Spirit one time? Such hostility towards them. I know they are not the greatest, but to just blatantly blast them?

 

 

I've had issues with them also, but certainly not to the point of venting like that.

 

 

And when I sent an e-mail to customer service, I received a reply. Not really what I was looking for, but they did offer to let me change flights with no penalty. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take advantage of it.

 

At that point Case Closed! I made the best of the flight.

[mikel24m]

Has anyone flown Spirit Air to Fort Lauderdale? We are booked on a cruise out of Miami in Jan. Spirit has great prices but not so great reviews.

 

Any info would be helpful.

 

(sorry if I posted this in the wrong place)

 

We only fly spirit NOT because of price but being 10 minutes away from the airport

 

First thing I would do is get the $9 fare club,it will save you some money.The prices that you see are great but when you add all of the add ons its really not cheap.I think we paid around $600-$700 this cruise(for 2) but we pre paid two bags each ,picked our emergency row seats (much more leg room than other seats).Maybe its us but quite often delayed on the return flight (Never had a delay going down thank god)

[carpeperdiem]

Carpeperdiem

 

Were you employed at Spirit one time? Such hostility towards them. I know they are not the greatest, but to just blatantly blast them?

 

 

I've had issues with them also, but certainly not to the point of venting like that.

 

 

And when I sent an e-mail to customer service, I received a reply. Not really what I was looking for, but they did offer to let me change flights with no penalty. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take advantage of it.

 

At that point Case Closed! I made the best of the flight.

 

Oh no. I'm not in the travel business!

Just a ****ed-over treated like **** customer.

 

I have/had status with a few major airlines over the years, and I am very forgiving for weather (there's nothing anyone can do about that) and even mechanicals (rebook me and get me to my destination).

 

In my case, Spirit had a mechanical. They could have easily rebooked -- but they lied to the passengers and made us sit there, knowing there was no hardware available for 8+ hours. Then - they had an operational plane, but they had a staffing issue, and again they refused to rebook -- they actually boarded the plane, then made us get off. Then we waited. Then we re-boarded, and then they made us get off again. Throughout, I respectfully tried to speak with anyone -- but they don't have any employees that are authorized to speak with customers.

 

My family arrived FLL at 9am for an 11:30am flight -- we eventually arrived at LGA at 2am the next day -- to get home we had to buy one-ways on jetblue (and by the time we left, there were weather issues, at no fault of B9). We filed grievances with AMEX and they refunded the entire Spirit fare -- my out of pocket was less than $200 (vs. sitting around and waiting for Spirit to lie to me) and I learned a valuable lesson. I was in touch with a passenger who decided to let Spirit get them home -- they didn't get home until the next afternoon (Spirit kept lying to him).

 

I have no tolerance for a company that will not communicate with passengers when things go wrong. There are other companies that will do a better job. And I'm the kind of guy "**** me once, and i will tell my friends that you suck..."

 

So I am telling you.

 

:-)

[kmc500]

Has anyone flown Spirit Air to Fort Lauderdale? We are booked on a cruise out of Miami in Jan. Spirit has great prices but not so great reviews.

Any info would be helpful.

 

My wife and I made the mistake of flying Spirit Air to St Maarten a few years ago. My fault as at the time I knew nothing about the airline, and did not do any due diligence. As has been mentioned the seats are miserably tiny, and the airline charges for everything.

 

I don't know what their process is now, but when we flew if you didn't check your bags online you had to pay twice as much at the airport. Of course, the system was down every time we tried to check our bags online. When we got to the airport, I figured any reasonable company would waive the extra charge, particularly when presented with proof that it could not be done online. Oh silly me! As has also been stated previously, the employees either cannot make any decisions outside Spirit policy, or choose not to.

 

They lost my wife's luggage when we arrived at SXM. After numerous fibs and stories, we got it back a week after we returned home. Ladies, imagine spending a week in the Caribbean without any of your stuff except what you carried on! I won't bore anyone with the efforts we made for compensation regarding that; suffice it to say, it took over six months and much correspondence.

 

In my experience, generally speaking, if you are nice to people, they are usually nice back to you. Even with this attitude (which definitely waned as the week progressed) we encountered numerous miserable and uncaring employees; it was as if they knew how bad their company was, knew that they could do nothing about it, and that was that. Google the company; the CEO actually disdains his customers. He has stated that even with all of the complaints they receive, all they have to do is offer a sale and the planes fill up anyway.

 

We only have the one round trip as experience, but it was actually four legs (BOS-FLL FLL-SXM, and back) over 8 days, and was absolute hell. Experience is a dear teacher, but this old fool learned from it. I would not fly Spirit Air for free.

 

Your mileage may vary.

 

Kevin C

[beerman2]

Thanks was just curious as to the Cause. That would indeed P-ss me off also.

 

Hell I just sit there and Bite my tongue everytime they walk around to get people to sign up for the Spirit M C. Knowing full well most times they don't Call the Spirit M C holders to pre-board as the Credit Card hawkers state is one of the advantages/privledges.

 

So now my M/O is to get free flights and use up my miles as we now are booking more with Delta.

 

Again Thanks for clarifying!!!!!

[mavis2222]

Its the "Greyhound Bus with Wings".. I fly Airtran myself, less then 2 hours from Atlanta to FLL.

[swilden79]

If you are tall its going to be the most uncomfortable flight you have ever had. I'm 6'4 not that big but when we flew out of lax to fll I was the most uncomfortable I have ever been on a flight. They are know for cancelling flights or delaying them so if you fly them factor that into you travel time. With the baggage, seat, talk to a real person fees its the same as any other flight. Your bag also has to be under 40 not 50. Good luck and happy flying.

[wdwfamily]

Flew with them once and that as enough for me. I am 5' tall and found the seats very cramped and uncomfortable. The attendants also didn't "shut off" some of the heavy drinkers and when we hit turbulence the drunks started yelling "we are going down", "tell my father I love him", etc., which freaked out some of the kids on board. frustrating I am sure for those parents :(

[mavis2222]

If you are tall its going to be the most uncomfortable flight you have ever had. I'm 6'4 not that big but when we flew out of lax to fll I was the most uncomfortable I have ever been on a flight. They are know for cancelling flights or delaying them so if you fly them factor that into you travel time. With the baggage, seat, talk to a real person fees its the same as any other flight. Your bag also has to be under 40 not 50. Good luck and happy flying.

 

Im 6-4 160.. Any airline is to cramped for me unless I happen to get a emergency exit row. I used to fly Business class on Air tran When they offered it for a additional 35.00 upgrade.. Not anymore. Its now another 300.00 for Business class. Im glad my flights are less then 2 hours long.

[BarJen]

We have used Spirit on several occasions, not the greatest airline by any means, but you can get some good deals.

 

 

Barry

[Bibble]

I fly Spirit a lot, but I accept that "you get what you pay for". When I pay $55 round trip to do Girls Night Out in Atlantic City, I accept that I will buy my own soda before getting on the plane. (Who am I kidding, if it's Girls Night Out, I'm buyig a beer on the plane!). I also accept that my bag had better fit under the seat, because I refuse to pay for the carry-on cost.

It's not for everyone, nor is it for every trip. I love it, but 90% of the time I fly them, I pay under $100 round trip. So I accept that things will go wrong.

But, I never RECOMMEND them, because truly, flying Spirit, you HAVE to be able to accept "issues".

[Tapi]

As others have said, they are cheaper until you start adding all the extra fees. Even a cup of water will cost you!

 

BUT, there's one fee that I consider worth it: The BIG FRONT SEATS. These are First Class seats (but DONT expect any First Class service or amenities) They cost $25, but considering that you have to pay up to $20 to select a seat in coach (which as others have said, it's horrible), the $25 is more than reasonable.

 

On the other end of the spectrum, the most outrageous fee they have is for carry-on bags that dont fit under the seat checked at the gate. If you can't stuff your bag under your seat and need to use the overhead bin (and didn't pre-pay), you'll need to pay $100 right there at the gate! :eek:

[nhraformula00]

We have flown them several times without any problems. We travel light so luggage is not a problem. We are flying tomorrow R.T. to FtLauderdale ( FREE ) only paying for one bag. Southwest was around 500 for 2.

[alymb03]

I do fly Spirit Air from NJ to Florida. Really, once I add seats (I want to be near the front and next to my boyfriend) and luggage, it costs the same as if I flew United from Philly. I don't really mind the drinks and snacks being a charge. Short trips aren't hard to wait and usually I buy a soda once I get through security anyways and take it on the plane. The difference is that I consider using Atlantic City Airport into my pros and cons. I love the airport because it is very small and easy to navigate. There's also easy pick up and drop off for family members.