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I'm not really sure why people complain about the a la carte pricing that Spirit does. I wouldn't even say that there's small print fees. They are pretty up front about their fees and I cannot say that any fees are hidden. They had a recent deal for their credit card. No fee the first year, $100 cash back, and 15,000 miles. It's enough miles for me to go round trip to Fort Lauderdale or Baltimore on 1 trip. Outside of that 1 trip, unless the trip is actually saving me money AFTER I pay for 1 bag to be checked in and able to select my seat, I wouldn't use it because they frequently have delayed flights which would drive me crazy.
botticelli, you can't know more than I about my own trip. Where did I say my luggage was overweight? I didn't. And since you seem to bend backwards to defend Spirit, how do you justify the same luggage going one way for $40 and coming back for $80? And you are also wrong about free seats. There aren't any. EVERY available seat I could choose had a price tag on it.
Once again you didn't have to CHOOSE a seat at all.
On Southwest no one chooses seats and everyone understands that. No, you don't need to sit with your family members and take the opportunity to get a break from each other. If you do want to I've never seen an instance where anyone refused to switch seats to accommodate a fellow traveler.
Of course with tickets typically in the $59-109 range on Southwest I've never seen anyone ticked off or stressed out either. Why other airlines are still in business without having adapted to the Southwest business model I simply do not get. Perhaps some business professors could fill me in.
Baggage fees: once again that is YOUR CHOICE, as Mr. Botticelli explained to you. Weight and space take up.....well weight and space, and passengers rightfully should have to pay for that. I don't blame any airline for charging for luggage. It's just the cost of the service. Jet fuel and Pilots are expensive, not to mention all that maintenance, inspections, crew costs (on and off the plane), and the fixed expense of renting certain slots at airport terminals so that airlines can even dock their planes. I imagine they pay costs for air traffic control too.
When you add up the costs you are really getting a bargain. If you don't think you are then buy your own plane and take it out of the terminal when you need it. Airlines are not a charity, they are a business. If you want to use their product/service then you the customer will have to provide them with an in$entive.
It sounds like the LW didn't realize that he didn't have to choose a seat, so he ended up paying over $200 unnecessarily. I can see my mom (late 70's) doing that, but I also know that once the costs started adding up, she wouldn't have bought the ticket without calling me or one of her friends to see if one of us could find a cheaper flight.
No idea why you paid for the tickets if they cost you more than you thought they should. There are many websites you could look at to get price comparisons for flights (Orbitz, for instance). If it was ultimately cheaper than other options, then you still got a bargain (though less than you could have if you hadn't chosen seats).
So far, the one "Low Cost" carrier, Southwest, is still heads above ANY of it's competitors! The "add on" scam originated with Southwest' competitors, now everyone is in on the scam.
Even the hotels in Las Vegas are subscribing to the "Add On" scam: Discounted room rate $49.00, mandatory "Resort Fee" $35.00! Now, they are charging for parking! There is a solution to the "Add On" scam; simply refuse to patronize those businesses that have adopted the practice.
Exactly what I was thinking while standing in line. No one here seems to have an explanation for that.
I'm guessing it's because if you drop it and go, then it becomes an unattended bag - even if you drop it in a roped-off place, they can't keep their eyes on all the bags at all times. By having to hand the bag to someone, you're accountable for that bag. I assume, after 9/11, the idea is that if people could just casually drop their bag off in an area along with a ton of other people, then it would be easy for someone to come in, drop the bag, and get out of there before the bomb goes off without causing any suspicion.
Didn't have a negative experience on Spirit -- maybe I'm the lucky exception
A couple of years ago, I flew Spirit from SFO to IAH. The only indications I wasn't on a "regular" airline were that I had to pay $3 for drinking water (I forgot to fill my water bottle before boarding), and the little nylon net in place of a normal-sized seatback pocket. The plane looked fairly new, the interior was clean, I had plenty of legroom, and the flight was on time.
On the other hand, someone in the industry told me that flying Spirit can be a gamble -- since they have only a small number of daily flights between any two cities, if your flight should be canceled, you may have a very long wait for the next one, possibly the next day (and since their flights are so full, you might not be able to get on the next one either). And they don't have "interline" agreements, so other airlines won't honor your Spirit tickets. If you're able to put up with those risks, and know about the extra charges, yeah their fares are low.
Flying Frontier was actually more of an irritation for me... I'm not especially tall (5'10") but I felt like a sardine in a can on board one of their planes -- there was maybe an inch between my knees and the next seat.
I fly Alaska Airlines and am a Club 49 member (membership is free). The posted price is the price I pay. No surprises and I can check two bags for free. I also have the Alaska Airlines Visa card and accumulated over 200,000 miles. Since I pay my card off each month, those miles are essentially free. Card holders who do not qualify for Club 49 membership still get one bag checked for free. Those discount airlines are no bargain once you add up all the extra fees.
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Didn't have a negative experience on Spirit -- maybe I'm the lucky exception
