Anyone fly Spirit out of ATL? (Atlanta: voucher, best, economy)

[citidata18]

Originally Posted by markjames68

I ended up booking on AA - not that much more than Spirit (when you factor in a bag) and more flight options if something gets delayed or canceled. Half the price of Delta with a short connection in Charlotte both ways.

AA = Alaska Airlines or American Airlines?

EDIT: Never mind, I assume with the connection in Charlotte, it's American...

[zulu400]

Originally Posted by markjames68

I ended up booking on AA - not that much more than Spirit (when you factor in a bag) and more flight options if something gets delayed or canceled. Half the price of Delta with a short connection in Charlotte both ways.

Good choice. Spirit and Frontier will nickel and dime you to death and then some more.
We found that it basically comes down to the same $$ at the end of the day give and take a few bucks.
Southwest is DA best - but yeah it sucks if you do not get a direct flight.

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by zulu400

Good choice. Spirit and Frontier will nickel and dime you to death and then some more.
We found that it basically comes down to the same $$ at the end of the day give and take a few bucks.
Southwest is DA best - but yeah it sucks if you do not get a direct flight.

The clincher was only one flight a day and a meeting the next day I had to be there for.

At least with American there are multiple options if a flight is delayed or canceled. For a short connection I’ll happily save $300.

[Citykid3785]

I fly spirit all the time back to Minneapolis and it's great!

I used to hear all the horror stories, but those mostly applied to spirit 10 years ago. The have actually worked hard to overcome their bad name.

I actually prefer them for the following reasons:

They attract a no fuss clientele
They aren't coming down the aisle with a cart the entire flight
The above frees them to actually be helpful
They are encouraged to be fun with customers

Many of the current horror stories come from people who act surprised that spirit is a low cost carrier and charges a la carte, which I feel like they do more than an adequate job of calling out when booking.

Southwest used to do this route, but pulled out of Delta hubs 8 months ago. While I liked that option, for all the praise I hear about Southwest, I've actually had bad experiences with their customer service.

[Citykid3785]

Originally Posted by citidata18

Would probably be better off flying Southwest if you're looking for an inexpensive flight.

They pulled this route about 8 months ago, didn't want to compete in Delta hubs

[Citykid3785]

Originally Posted by markjames68

Thanks - my only worry is a cancellation. Just sucks that Delta is considerably more than anyone else for this route.

I had spirit cancel one time due to a major snowstorm, but to be fair, all carriers cancelled flights

[SAAN]

Originally Posted by markjames68

Considering them for an upcoming trip to Minneapolis. Would love to hear feedback positive and negative related to flying out of Atlanta.

Ive flown them atleast 4 times round trip in the last 2 years and never had an issue, Frontier as well.

What are the concerns or issues you think you might have?

Pretty much, for a smooth trip on them these are the GENERAL RULES FOR A SMOOTH SPIRIT & FRONTIER FLIGHT.

Buy at the airport if possible and saves you $30 to 40 RT

Check in exactly 24hrs before the flight and let them auto assign your seat for free vs paying for a seat assignment. If anything, ask on the flight if you can swap seats with someone if you get separated from your party, and alot of times, folks will do it.

Have your boarding pass emailed to you and use it to board or the Spirit APP, if you dont have access to a printer to print them. DO NOT ask a ticket agent to print them, as there is a $10 fee. I think the Kiosk at the airport may be free as well.

You get 1 free personal item (18x14x8) that goes under your seat infront of you. This includes purse etc, so pretty much bring a bookbag as your everything. If you want to check a bag under the plane, get it at the time for purchase for $25 each way, otherwise it goes up and if you want a carry-on, it will be $45, so back to the beginning, the free personal item I first listed is how you avoid bag fees.

Be prepared to be cramped, as their seats are a pre-reclined 28" pitch and are tolerable for about 2hrs before you rear says enough, as the seats are thinly padded.

Buy your own food or snack as water is $3 on the plane, so bring a empty water bottle and fill it up before you get to the gate.

The majority of the time, you will have no incident on Spirit, but keep in mind they have 1 flight a day to most destinations, so if something does go wrong, you can get burned bad, if the flights afterward are booked. But all carriers have delays, cancellations, but might handle you better when they do vs the ultra discount carriers. Aslo get to the aiport 2hrs ealry, just to make sure you dont miss your flight and end up in the situations where I see people cursing out the agents, because they cant get a flight for sometimes days afterwards.

My rule is, if its very important where im going, ill take Delta or SW, but I use Spirit as a 1-3day trip type carrier since I pack light. If you start adding on a bunch of stuff, the fees will pretty much make you just book SW or Delta instead. You get what you pay for, if you want alot, book the big carriers, if you want basic go with the low cost carrier, but keep in mind the new ECONOMY fares on Delta, United, and AA have so much restrictions, you might as well book, Spirit or Frontier for way cheaper in the end. United is the worst and Delta is the best when it comes to Economy basic.

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by SAAN

Ive flown them atleast 4 times round trip in the last 2 years and never had an issue, Frontier as well.

What are the concerns or issues you think you might have

You covered the most important one - one flight a day. And a meeting I have to be at the next morning.

After adding up the baggage charge it wasn’t that much more to take American via Charlotte, with decent assigned seats (i.e. main cabin not economy basic). If something cancels on AA I have other options to get there.

If I was traveling for leisure I would definitely take another look at Spirit.

[pit2atl]

I flew Spirit a few times and I'm not even exaggerating my flight was delayed 2 hours each time! I'll stick to southwest and delta.

Now if money tight and Spirit is $150 and delta is $300 I'll probably buy that spirit flight lol.

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by pit2atl

I flew Spirit a few times and I'm not even exaggerating my flight was delayed 2 hours each time! I'll stick to southwest and delta.

Now if money tight and Spirit is $150 and delta is $300 I'll probably buy that spirit flight lol.

For me was more like Spirit $200-250 and Delta $600+. Crazy for a direct flight in economy booked 3 weeks in advance.