Spirit Airlines?

Spirit just started flying from Oakland to LV. The fares look pretty good, but I've heard they nickel and dime you to death. What can you tell me about Spirit? I'm pretty consistent with SWA but if Spirit is appreciably cheaper I may switch.

fredo

Spirit just started from LAX to LAS and it was so cheap I had to try it. Here's what I learned:

You are charged for checking in bags.

You are charged for carrying on a bag unless it fits in the chair in front of you.

If you bring two bags on board you will be charged for at least one.

They weren't actually too good about checking whether or not to charge you. Although I didn't pay to use the overhead no one seemed to say anything when I did.

Baby strollers and wheelchairs are free.

If you have a baby, you get to bring a baby bag on board for free.

Since most don't have much on them, the boarding process is like 5 minutes. You'll sit on the airplane bored for 25 minutes before wheels up.

At least at LAX, there aren't really any Spirit employees. A random airport agent showed up a couple minutes before boarding.

LAS airport has plenty of real Spirit employees.

If two people are traveling together, don't bother paying the extra money to sit together. My companion and I didn't pay but were issued to seats together.

Yup, learned all that on one round trip flight.

They charge for seats, they charge for water, they charge for snacks, they charge for carry on luggage over a tiny tiny size it must fit under the seat in front of you.
You can carry on a cooler free to put the food you brought with you to eat on the plane. They never seem to check the size of the carry on my friend paid I didn't. My carry on looked large but actually be folded to fit under the seat (once I took out my coat and cooler) but I never got stopped. The flights going from Detroit are always full if you don't pay for an aisle or emergency exit seat you wont get one. If you buy a seat and you cancel you do not get your money back.

I am currently boycotting Spirit. They have change my flight times on my last several flights. From FL to DTW the changed my afternoon arrival to 10 pm. This wouldn't work for me and I had to buy a new ticket on Delta and lose my non-refundable on Spirit. Then they changed my leaving LV time from 11 am to the red eye again not acceptable but I was able to call and rebook the time but spent 45 minutes of my time on the phone to fix something they did. I am now trying Southwest and Delta.

That NOT getting your money back on Spirit, will be the death knell for them, vs. SW.
Baggage charges are another thing.

Sounds like Spirit MIGHT be ok for us SW types who want to fly at the LAST-min.
But if I had to book in advance? I would Not take the chance with Spirit.

At least with Southwest you can cancel & rebook flights without charge.

That pretty much seals the deal for me.

Thanks all; I guess that proves the old adage - you get what you pay for. Since almost all of my Vegas trips are preplanned at least a couple of months ahead of time, I'll stick with the old reliable SWA.

fredo

Why would anyone put up with that crap? I fly only Jet blue or SWA. Better service and people that seem to like their jobs.

We flew Spirit one time about 10 years ago we vowed never to fly them again know matter how cheap. It was the worst experience with an airline we have ever had.

First our flight was delayed from 7am to 7pm because there plane had broken down in Vegas so it had not arrived in Cleveland the night before. The claimed that they had called the passengers but they hadn't. Then when the plane did take off half way through the flight they ran out of ice for the drinks. They did not even attempt to apologize or comp the passengers in anyway.

We have not flown this airline since nor will we ever.

If you have an option i wouldn't pick spirit. I like to take delta from DTW to LAS. It is usually a little more but when you add in the cost of having to pay for a bag that is either a carry on or checked, that comes out to 60 more for round trip per person.

I just booked a nonstop from Detroit to Vegas for $119 total. I have flown Spirit 10-15 times and it's 50/50 that the plane will even make it to Vegas without being delayed or cancelled.

Have flown spirit many, many times from Detroit to Vegas. They are always a little cheaper (sometimes a lot). Lately with all of their fee's (bag fee, seat selection fee, carry on fee) they end up being the same as or more than Delta. As said before, Spirit behaves like the budget flights they book.

I now go Delta and although it costs a little more up front is a MUCH better airline. I would only fly Spirit if it was a tremendous deal.