No assigned seats!

[kimcruiser]

we used Spirit air (I thought) we went to their website and bouhgt a package with air and hotel. well as it turns out we really bought it thru a TA that uses their site. anyhow, we do not have assigned seats because of this and I just wonder how this is going to work! Our plane leaves at 750 am out of Detroit. how will we get a seat do we have tto get there at open time and hope for the best? I would appreciate any help. Thanks

[greatam]

First, call the TA and get them to call the airline to get seat assignments. If that doesn't work, call Spirit direct and get seat assignments. Or maybe you can do it online, with your confirmation or PRN number.

 

Otherwise, get to the airport EARLY (like 5:30AM) and hope the plane is not full. If the plane is full, the airline is much less willing to move people around so you can get two seats together. Sometimes the gate agents will nicely ask solo travelers if they will change seats.

 

I have a question-how did you get yourself hooked up with a TA from an airline website? OR did you use Sidestep or a similar site? Booking on Sidestep is generally NOT booking direct with the airlines. And you pay for the privilege.

[kimcruiser]

I have done both. They are telling me to get to the airport at about 445 am (when they open:eek: ) I recently got seat assignments for my sil (she did not have a working printer) for our flight ( she went thru spirit without the hotel package) and I did what you said about the number and their info popped up. also when I looked at the seating it is very few left. Now when I booked I went thru spirit and they have that little area at the bottom of their page that says travel packages etc... and I went there. That is how I ended up with these people I guess. when I tried to explain to the person at spirit she said that I went thru a TA:confused: My dh will be Highly upset to say the least. I dont know what else I can do. Thanks

[greatam]

I have never flown on Spirit, so don't know a whole lot about them, but I do know quite a bit about the airline industry in general.

 

Do you not have a confirmation or PRN number where you can pick your own seats online? That would be the easiest. Here is the link with very specific instructions. http://www.spiritair.com/Welcome.aspx?pg=faqs#SA

 

I just spent a 1/2 hour reading through the Spirit website. I see where you clicked to get to "travel packages". I also read the fine print. I do not see where it says that this is an independent TA. So with that knowledge, I will propose the following solutions to your problem. 4:45AM is just too early to be at an airport.

 

1. Call this number: It says SPIRIT AIRLINES VACATIONS, not XYZ travel agency. If this is the number you called, call back and ask for a supervisor.

Spirit Airlines Vacations

Phone: 877-290-2005

 

2. Call the regular reservations number, explain the problem-the only thing you need are assigned seats. If no help, ask for a supervisor, point out that it is SPIRIT AIRLINES VACATIONS. Refer them to their own website if need be.

Reservation Centers

Phone: 800-772-7117

 

3. Call the Corporate offices and explain the conflict on their website. You believed you were booking at a wholy owned subsidiary or definitely a business partner of SPIRIT AIRLINES, not some totally independent TA who will not or cannot help you with your problem.

Spirit Airlines Corporate Office

2800 Executive Way

Miramar, Florida 33025

Hours of Operation: Monday-Friday from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM EST

Phone: (954) 447-7965

Fax: (954) 447-7979

 

Please let me know how this works out.

 

Gina

[kimcruiser]

Thank you so much Gina. I will try tonight or tomorrow a.m. I will let you know:)

[kimcruiser]

Update... I called first number and it is now changed to 800-617-3325 (fyi) then when I called taht # they said my problem is I booked with a package and that is why I cant get seats. :mad: i am trying your other # tomorrow because I missed their time that they are in the office, so I will try then and let you know. again I am very thankful to you. tell you more tomorrow. hopefully it will be good news. also i did not get a prn number like my sil did.

[KimberlyC]

not having an assigned seat on Spirit is not my idea of a good time. I don't know if you have left yet as the last post was a few days ago but my advice is to get to the airport early, very early because first come, first served. My LAST (and I do mean last) flight out of DTW (Detroit Metro) on Spirit my DH and I got to the airport really early but we still got the worst seats on the plane. I'm not exaggerating; last row, seats didn't recline, no window. My 6'2" DH was squished and I wasn't exactly comfortable. But I had no choice if we wanted to sit together and since I was pregnant, and not pleasantly pregnant, I didn't want anyone else to have to sit by me. My flight (booked online through a well known site) had no assigned seat. It was booked for business so I had no choice. I booked DH through Spirit directly and he had an assigned seat (and the cost was a few bucks less even). But to sit together meant giving up his assigned seat and doing first come first served. I too called Spirit and they were not sympathetic. DH was confirmed, I wasn't, arrive early. The price was cheaper, but its like the Motel 6 of airlines. Good Luck!

[greatam]

Kimcruiser,

 

I have NO idea now who you booked your package with. Out of curiosity, I called the number I posted (the one you said was disconnected). Call went right through, was answered by SPIRIT AIRLINES VACATIONS. Me: "Are you part of Spirit Airlines." Yes Me: Can you get me seat assignments for one of your vacation packages? Yes Me: Are you an independent travel agency? NO

 

I took that to mean just like AA Vacations, United Vacations, etc.

 

Didn't know your flights or I could have gotten you seats. They were willing to look up by name, flight number or PRN. They told me you should have gotten confirmation numbers in the email they sent you confirming the package and you could go online and pick your seats. They did tell me that most flights were full are full, so you may be looking at being at the airport VERY, VERY early.

 

I tried. Still trying to figure out who you booked with. Spirit Airlines Vacations at the number I posted was more than willing to help.

[greatam]

Kimcruiser,

 

I have NO idea now who you booked your package with. Out of curiosity, I called the number I posted (the one you said was disconnected). Call went right through, was answered by SPIRIT AIRLINES VACATIONS. Me: "Are you part of Spirit Airlines." Yes Me: Can you get me seat assignments for one of your vacation packages? Yes Me: Are you an independent travel agency? NO

 

I took that to mean just like AA Vacations, United Vacations, etc.

 

Didn't know your flights or I could have gotten you seats. They were willing to look up by name, flight number or PRN. They told me you should have gotten confirmation numbers in the email they sent you confirming the package and you could go online and pick your seats. They did tell me that most flights were full are full, so you may be looking at being at the airport VERY, VERY early.

 

I tried. Still trying to figure out who you booked with. Spirit Airlines Vacations at the number I posted was more than willing to help.

[ericosmith]

Unless they've changed, you can only preselect seats on Spirit if you booked directly through Spirit. Even then I think they can't be reserved until a certain number of days before the flight. That's one of the reasons I booked through them directly rather than through someone else.

[kimcruiser]

Thank you to everybody who has tried to help. The number wasn't disconnected the lady who answered just said this was handled thru another number and that was the new one she gave me. The print out I have is from spiritair@neatsupport.com that is what shows up on my confirmation even though I started out on spirits site. Ihave a confirmation number "vacation package"# and flight # but 0 prn # that the spirit site asks for. I have not been able to call the other # yet r/t the holidays and a VERY busy workplace, but I will do this today. I leave on the airlines in 18 days:) january 13th. greattam thanks so much and I am just sick to think you could have gotten the seats. I will keep on this.

[kimcruiser]

Ok here we go...I called the first # back I went thru your dialog and the lady I spoke to (maniya) said no she is not with spirit but she could look up my info. and then she said no she cannot assign seats only spirit can. I explained the diemna but ended up calling spirit. angie at spirit said you went thru a TA. I explained the whole situation and she said yes we started with spirit but since we booked a hotel too we cannot get seats. she went on to say that only 60% of passengers are allowed to pre-book seats and if we get to the airport 3 hours before our flight leaves (it is a first come first serve basis) we can get our seats. I tried calling the corporate offices and when the automated voice transfers me it just rings. So now my DH is fired up that we have paid a good amount but have no seats. I was able to put in a request that our 3 seats be together but that is all angie said I could do. thanks again for trying to help me.

[BlueHerons]

Kim, why don't you go to the airport next week and go to the Spirit desk/counter and get your seats then.

[greatam]

Kimcruiser,

 

I am truly seeing that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing at Spirit. I just called the first number back. I was really curious. Spoke to a lady named Jenny. VERY helpful, never heard of anyone named Maniya.

 

Anyway, call back WITH your confirmation number. Yes, she verified that Spirit only assigns 60% of seats before they turn it over to airport control. And yes, the planes are pretty full, so she figured you would have to be at the airport pretty early to get seats together. Bummer. It is probably worth one more phone call to SPIRIT AIRLINES VACATIONS to see if the 60% has been filled. They are the packager. Just like AA vacations, BA vacations, United vacations, etc. Spirit may call them a TA, but Spirit Vacations is THEIR TA.

 

Have a good cruise. Tell DH the only thing he is loosing is a few hours sleep by having to be at the airport early, if you have to. Men get soooo upset when we women make arrangements that don't fit in with their plans. You should hear my DH sometimes-'you mean we have to do WHAT????'. And I do global logisitics planning for a living.

 

Gina

[mycruz]

The online TA should be able to call Spirit for you. Perhaps if you are more insistant and tell them that they can do this for you may have better luck. It's true, the airline will not work with you directly, you don't "own" your reservation, the TA does. Good Luck!

[greatam]

The online TA should be able to call Spirit for you. Perhaps if you are more insistant and tell them that they can do this for you may have better luck. It's true, the airline will not work with you directly, you don't "own" your reservation, the TA does. Good Luck!

 

There is no online TA involved in this. Spirit Airlines owns Spirit Vacations, the same way AA, BA, United, etc. own their own vacation dept. The OP booked this directly off the Spirit Airlines website, not a third party.

[mycruz]

I thought that Kim said in her original post that it was a TA that was linked to the Spirit site, well Kim good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[kimcruiser]

Update on the "no seats" well we went to the airport at 430 am:eek: and we checked in and up popped our seat assignment just like that:rolleyes: No problems and the same thing happened on the way back. We worried for nothing I guess. I am very happy it worked out this way. Thanks again for everybody's help. Kim