Spirit Airlines?

[ggauthier82]

Have any of you ever tried Spirit Airlines? Would you recommend them? Looking for a cheap flight from Plattsburgh or Burlington and I can't find anything close to the prices Spirit offers. I'm reading bad reviews about flights cancelled/postponed...and I don't want our Disney vacation ruined by these kinds of problems...

 

[Tigger1988]

Worst airline ever imo, their rates aren't even that cheap considering you'll pay a fee for every little thing. Rude staff, DIRTY planes...just bad all around.

Just booked two tickets on Continental for almost $80 less than Spirit.

 

[MichWolv]

Have any of you ever tried Spirit Airlines? Would you recommend them? Looking for a cheap flight from Plattsburgh or Burlington and I can't find anything close to the prices Spirit offers. I'm reading bad reviews about flights cancelled/postponed...and I don't want our Disney vacation ruined by these kinds of problems...

Bad reviews are probably warranted. As to cancellations, etc., they have essentially no spare planes or slack in the schedule, so problems are more likely to lead to cancellations or delays on Spirit.

Moreover, Spirit is the leader in nickel-and-diming (and dollaring). They charge for checked bags, carry-ons in the overhead bin, getting an advanced seat assignment (like, for example, if you want your family to sit together), getting an aisle or window seat. Check to see if your Spirit ticket is really cheaper once you add in all of that.

Spirit also has a poor customer service reputation, so that if there is a problem, they pull out all the stops (some bordering on illegal) to try NOT to refund your money. Getting ahold of a real person by phone is also quite difficult.

And their legroom is, I beleive, the worst in the air. For example, on an A320 in coach/economy, United has a 31" seat pitch (distance between rows) and Spirit is 28", per seatguru.com

 

[Tigger1988]

And their legroom is, I beleive, the worst in the air. For example, on an A320 in coach/economy, United has a 31" seat pitch (distance between rows) and Spirit is 28", per seatguru.com

I'm not a tall person by any means (5'3) and my knees are smashed up against the seat in front of me on Spirit planes, I've left with bruises. Now the seats on their newer planes don't recline, to make matters worse.

 

[surfsupdon]

We use Spirit out of Atlantic City and really like it.

They do nickel and dime everything now (not in the past), but all we purchase extra is a bag apiece. They always seat us together, they do look at last names as they assign.

The seats are small. Their staff at airports have always been polite! And even nicer on the planes themselves! We have changed flight info in the past and have always spoken to a real person over the phone who made it easy to switch and offered a refund on a cancellation. They are outsourced to India but they were helpful.

The planes have zero frills. Nothing extra. But they get us from Atlantic City to Orlando often, cheaper than most others in our area, and without delays or cancellations in our experience.

Like I said they offer zero extras. But so do Value Resorts, lol, and people love them.

 

[SeaCastle]

The bottom line is that you get what you pay for. Spirit is relatively cheap for an airline, and like others have said, there's no frills. We've flew with them twice (from Atlantic City) and I can't say that I'm too keen on flying with them again. They have very crowded flights, not only because all of the seats are booked but because there's virtually no leg room and all of the seats are very close together, and the cabin isn't very clean. The staff is friendly and polite, and when the tropical storm occured during our August 2008 trip, it wasn't a huge deal getting our flight changed.

Overall, if you're willing to put up with hassle and discomfort for a comparatively cheaper price, then you won't be disappointed, just know what to expect.

For the Jersey folk in this thread, do you like flying out of ACY or Liberty better? ACY doesn't really have choices when it comes to different airlines, but our family lives five minutes away from the airport so it's more cost effective for us to board our dogs with them rather than put them up at a kennel.

 

[Tigger1988]

For the Jersey folk in this thread, do you like flying out of ACY or Liberty better? ACY doesn't really have choices when it comes to different airlines, but our family lives five minutes away from the airport so it's more cost effective for us to board our dogs with them rather than put them up at a kennel.

I adore ACY and how small it is. I wish they would get another airline in there though. We're flying out of Newark this time around, while the airport is a hassle I'll welcome it to fly a nicer airline than Spirit.

 

[bobaloo000]

I love acy small hardly ever a delay. Spirit does take some getting used to but it is a short flight to MCO and for the money it not all that bad.

 

[ggauthier82]

Thanks to everyone for your input. I just booked our flight with Delta Airlines! :sohappy: A little more expensive but at least I won't have nightmares about missing out on our Disney vacation because we wanted to save a couple hundred dollars!

 

[Diane Hughess]

We love ACY as well. Air Tran is now flying from ACY to MCO, although there is one stop in Atlanta I believe, no non-stops. But Spirit? I will never use them again. We used them years ago, and it was a good price and the flight was pleasantly uneventful. But 2 yrs ago my Dad was looking for a quick jaunt to Myrtle Beach. They kept advertising $9 flights. We looked thru the available dates/times for $9, and we found some that worked for him. So we had to sign up for the $9 fare club for $49(non-refundable one yr membership supposed to give you the lowest fares) So after purchasing the membership, we go to book the flights. The same flights advertised minutes earlier for $9 were now $49 each way, and after all the 'fees', 2 round trip tix ended up costing $400!! NO bargain! We called immediately to complain about the bait and switch and to cancel the membership, and they couldn't care less. Sure you can cancel, they said, but we're not giving you the $49 back. And it automatically renews and is charged to your card annually unless you write a letter cancelling delivered by certified mail! Totally stinky airline in our opinion now.

 

[SeaCastle]

I adore ACY and how small it is. I wish they would get another airline in there though. We're flying out of Newark this time around, while the airport is a hassle I'll welcome it to fly a nicer airline than Spirit.

Have you tried AirTran yet? We're 45 minutes from Newark and 90 from ACY yet overall we still like ACY better. It's small, and feels kind of eerie being among the only people in the airport at 5am. :lol:

We love ACY as well. Air Tran is now flying from ACY to MCO, although there is one stop in Atlanta I believe, no non-stops. But Spirit? I will never use them again. We used them years ago, and it was a good price and the flight was pleasantly uneventful. But 2 yrs ago my Dad was looking for a quick jaunt to Myrtle Beach. They kept advertising $9 flights. We looked thru the available dates/times for $9, and we found some that worked for him. So we had to sign up for the $9 fare club for $49(non-refundable one yr membership supposed to give you the lowest fares) So after purchasing the membership, we go to book the flights. The same flights advertised minutes earlier for $9 were now $49 each way, and after all the 'fees', 2 round trip tix ended up costing $400!! NO bargain! We called immediately to complain about the bait and switch and to cancel the membership, and they couldn't care less. Sure you can cancel, they said, but we're not giving you the $49 back. And it automatically renews and is charged to your card annually unless you write a letter cancelling delivered by certified mail! Totally stinky airline in our opinion now.

How much of a hassle is the stop over in Atlanta, or rather, how long does it take? Sorry to hear about your dad's membership though. Unfortunately the airlines are pretty ruthless these days.

 

[HoneyMnShawnee]

I have flown Spirit, but that was before all of the MAJOR nickel and diming started. I really didn't have a problem with them then. When I was researching flight costs for our upcoming trip (non-stop Detroit to MCO) Delta was $200 cheaper with better flight times. I haven't found Spirit to be all that cheap in the last few years and I have had friends who have flown them and had quite a few problems.

 

[Kristia]

The last 4 times we have flown to Orlando we have used Spirit. Each time it seems as though the nickel and diming is getting worse. We went this past January and I think that is the last time we will be flying Spirit. We have never had any problems with cancellation of flights and we love flying out of ACY as we only live about 20 min away. The crew has always been friendly and airport staff was also nice. I am fine with the no frills approach, but it is getting ridiculous. They charge for everything now and as of Feb 1 if your bag weighs over 40 lb it is considered overweight and you will be charged extra. It used to be 50 lb. Add to that, seat choice, carry-on, checked bag fee, etc. We tried to add a carry-on bag online the night before we left as it is cheaper to pay online than at the gate. Their website was screwy and deleted my already paid checked luggage when it added the carry on. I called customer service and they kept accusing me of "accidently" deleted my checked baggage. I went back to the website and there was NO way I could have done that. Deleting already paid for baggage wasn't even an option. Long story short, after about an hour of arguing they gave me (2) $4 vouchers and returned my one checked back but took my carry on and told me to retry it online. No way I was going to do that and loose the checked again and be back at square 1. Anyway long story short, I told them that we wouldn't fly with them due to customer service and nickel and diming. They didn't care. Sorry to rant....gets me mad remembering the trouble we went through! Will either try AirTran or have to go out of Philly which I hate!

 

[Tigger1988]

I have flown Spirit, but that was before all of the MAJOR nickel and diming started. I really didn't have a problem with them then.

This is the thing, they USED to be a fairly decent airline and actually lived up to the "cheap" slogan they advertised. For the better part of the last decade we've flown Spirit and it wasn't until the last two years things went sour. I'm not sure why they think charging for everything is good business.

 

[SewIn2Disney]

We use Spirit out of Atlantic City and really like it.

They do nickel and dime everything now (not in the past), but all we purchase extra is a bag apiece. They always seat us together, they do look at last names as they assign.

The seats are small. Their staff at airports have always been polite! And even nicer on the planes themselves! We have changed flight info in the past and have always spoken to a real person over the phone who made it easy to switch and offered a refund on a cancellation. They are outsourced to India but they were helpful.

The planes have zero frills. Nothing extra. But they get us from Atlantic City to Orlando often, cheaper than most others in our area, and without delays or cancellations in our experience.

Like I said they offer zero extras. But so do Value Resorts, lol, and people love them.

Same here- I only fly Spirit out of AC, and I've never once had a problem- the flight is always on time, I've always been seated with those that I'm traveling (even though we don't "pre-book" our seats), they've never lost or damaged my luggage, and the staff always seems friendly.
I've never had a cancelled flight, I did experience a delayed flight once (only about an hour) and the pilot even came out to apologize-- and then he walked around and spoke with people personally- I thought that was very commendable.

Granted- there is no "extras" on their flight- no "seat back tv's", no free food (everything has a charge- but even at that, it's not terribly expensive- but I do carry on my own food), no "true" first class, but in reality, it's only a 2 hour flight- I'll live.

 

[DisneyJoe]

We use Spirit out of Atlantic City and really like it.

They do nickel and dime everything now (not in the past), but all we purchase extra is a bag apiece. They always seat us together, they do look at last names as they assign.

The seats are small. Their staff at airports have always been polite! And even nicer on the planes themselves! We have changed flight info in the past and have always spoken to a real person over the phone who made it easy to switch and offered a refund on a cancellation. They are outsourced to India but they were helpful.

The planes have zero frills. Nothing extra. But they get us from Atlantic City to Orlando often, cheaper than most others in our area, and without delays or cancellations in our experience.

Like I said they offer zero extras. But so do Value Resorts, lol, and people love them.

We LOVE Spirit out of ACY. I am handicapped and have never had a problem with the seating being too tight.

I joined their $9 club and that has saved us a ton of money - on our last flight home from Orlando we were able to upgrade to the Big Front Seats for just $22 per person and it was well worth it.

On another recent flight, they even let my 8yo son sit in the cockpit before take off and we got to take his photo.

 

[MickeyPeace]

I have flown Air Tran, Jet Blue, Continental and Delta to MCO.

I would go with Jet Blue or Delta again for top choices.

Air Tran was dirty and no frills. Continental tried to charge for tv last time I flew them.

Jet Blue is good for an economy line. Cheap, good choice of snacks and drinks as well as free entertainment.

Delta was good as well. No complaints.

When I am going on a vacation I want it to feel that way, starting with the airline.

 

[Diane Hughess]

Have you tried AirTran yet? We're 45 minutes from Newark and 90 from ACY yet overall we still like ACY better. It's small, and feels kind of eerie being among the only people in the airport at 5am. :lol:



How much of a hassle is the stop over in Atlanta, or rather, how long does it take? Sorry to hear about your dad's membership though. Unfortunately the airlines are pretty ruthless these days.

Sorry! I haven't tried the stopover yet. A few years back, Delta started flying direct from ACY to MCO, so I immediately booked flights. A few weeks later, our flights had changed at least 5 times, and ended up having layovers and poor times, so I called to complain that the times were not what I had booked, so they switched my flights to direct ones from PHL. Then Delta disappeared. Looking at Air Tran's ACY trips, the times kind of stink. I'm still thinking about trying it though! I won't be going until Sept.

 

[surfsupdon]

We LOVE Spirit out of ACY. I am handicapped and have never had a problem with the seating being too tight.

I joined their $9 club and that has saved us a ton of money - on our last flight home from Orlando we were able to upgrade to the Big Front Seats for just $22 per person and it was well worth it.

On another recent flight, they even let my 8yo son sit in the cockpit before take off and we got to take his photo.

We love ACY, love Spirit, like I said before.

I'm 6'4 and fit in the seats fine. It's a 2 hour flight max. The leg room isn't huge at all, but I can fit without complaint.

$9 Fare Club Member as well. We get some cheap flights.

 

[SeaCastle]

Sorry! I haven't tried the stopover yet. A few years back, Delta started flying direct from ACY to MCO, so I immediately booked flights. A few weeks later, our flights had changed at least 5 times, and ended up having layovers and poor times, so I called to complain that the times were not what I had booked, so they switched my flights to direct ones from PHL. Then Delta disappeared. Looking at Air Tran's ACY trips, the times kind of stink. I'm still thinking about trying it though! I won't be going until Sept.

I just looked at AirTran's times for when we fly out, they are indeed pretty bad. The stopovers are a big turn-off for us, so it looks like we're going to stick with Spirit or just fly out of Newark on Continental.