What are your best "tips" to beat the low cost carriers?

Not sure if I'm beating the ULCC but for grins, I just booked a round trip Spirit airline flight from Houston to Vegas for $80.58.  Did not add any extras.  So, for the cost of a couple of leisure time lunches, I have a round trip to Vegas.  This will be my first trip with Spirit.  I'm just hoping it is not too awful.

How "bad" can it be at that fare?  Got pilots?  Seats?  LOL.  I'd take that in a minute, unless it took 8 hours or something with multiple stops.  We have few (none) low cost options from my city, so I'm jealous.   But do let us know how it goes.

My first reaction is that lunch must be awfully expensive in Houston :)

Spirit notoriously figures out a way to charge for everything. Do you already have a physical ticket? If not, you might be charged $20 to print it out at the airport. You also might be charged for a seat assignment. Needless to say, if you're carrying (or God forbid, checking) a bag, that'll be extra as well.

Be sure to have your credit card handy at all times during your flight. With any sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the ceiling, and you'll only have about thirty seconds to swipe your credit card and activate your mask before you pass out.

Also, make sure that they actually LAND in Vegas, rather than just shoving you out the door with a parachute. If you can't put up a $500 deposit for the chute, they'll eject you without it. Be sure to pee at the airport before you leave, because there might be a charge to do that on board the plane.

If it's possible to dodge ALL the traps, you'll have an only moderately unenjoyable flight, and you'll arrive with more slot machine food in your pockets than you otherwise might have. Let us know how it goes!

That's EXACTLY how you beat them! They're generating an average of >$50 per person in extras, which includes things like the convenience fee/ticketing fee/whatever you pay when you book online. 

Truthfully, the worst part about it is the almost guaranteed middle seat, which makes it not that much worse than anyone else. The only real issue with Spirit is when something goes wrong, since they won't put you on a competitor's flight. 

I make fun of Spirit, mostly because it's fun to do so, but they provide pretty good value for what you are paying.

Mike

Kevin, lunch by itself is not too bad.  A leisurely lunch costs more.  I had lunch at a sports bar in Victoria, TX last week.  Cheeseburger and three or four beers was $38 plus tip.  Apparently, I missed happy hour if they had one.

I like this definition of a "leisurely lunch." 

This Spirit test run has started out a winner. My random seat assignment is an aisle seat. Thought sure I would get a middle seat. Now I just have to figure out how to beat the $11 cost for alcohol?

Lots of little bottles, each under 3 oz? ;)

Mike

So far, Spirit is my only winner this trip. Just scored an aisle seat for the flight home. I thought the seats were comfortable and roomy enough. Would fly Spirit again......so far. 

The ride home was in an older Spirit plane.  It had the shell seats with littl padding and a fold down tray table the size of an iPad mini.  Not totally awful, but not as comfy as the flight out with the new seats and an almost full size and functional tray table.  Yes, I will fly Spirit again.