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You have to read all the small print and jump through some hoops to avoid extra charges - but it is entirely possible. You can't expect to just walk on with no prep and not get "dinged". As long as you read, you're not 6'2", and your flight is not overly long it is worth it. Don't use it for cross-Atlantic or Australia!
A fairly new aircraft, and clean inside. The seatback pocket was a tiny nylon-mesh enclosure; otherwise the interior looked the same as on other carriers.
I had sufficient legroom (the only time I've felt really squished was on Frontier). I'm 5-10. YMMV.
Forgot to fill my water bottle in the terminal, so paid $3 for water. Avoided the other fees.
The flight was on time.
Maybe I was lucky. From what I've read, the biggest problem with Spirit seems to be that if a flight is cancelled, you may be in for a very long wait. Although they have many routes, they don't fly very often on any given route. Between that and the planes being full ("high load factor," it's called), and the absence of 'interline' agreements, you might have to fly another day.
Maybe I was lucky. From what I've read, the biggest problem with Spirit seems to be that if a flight is cancelled, you may be in for a very long wait. Although they have many routes, they don't fly very often on any given route. Between that and the planes being full ("high load factor," it's called), and the absence of 'interline' agreements, you might have to fly another day.
They're not the only ones you have to worry about that... Allegiant is also very scary from that standpoint.
We have them flying out of GSP to the Orlando areas, but I think they only run 2 flights a week.. So, if a flight were cancelled.. It could be days before another one runs.
I do think Spirit is worth the gamble at times.. But, they'd have to be pretty significantly less than anyone else for me to take the risk. And, it'd have to be a situation where I didn't HAVE to be somewhere. I wouldn't fly on Spirit on Thursday so that I could catch a cruise on Friday.
From what I've read, the biggest problem with Spirit seems to be that if a flight is cancelled, you may be in for a very long wait. Although they have many routes, they don't fly very often on any given route. Between that and the planes being full ("high load factor," it's called), and the absence of 'interline' agreements, you might have to fly another day.
OP here. I did notice that aspect. The flight times and number of flights was very poor. It would be the biggest negative in consideration of them.
Has anyone flown Spirit Airlines lately? I was checking rates for flights for Atlanta to San Juan Puerto Rico on Google and their ad came up. The rates are at least half of Delta.
I'm not picky on flying. I usually fly Southwest. Is Spirit like Southwest?
I personally won't fly either one. My sanity is worth more than a cheap airline ticket.
I have never flown on them because we get perks from Southwest, but my neighbor swears by them!! She just paid $60 round trip from Chicago to Orlando! Of course you have to pay for your bags, but it was still a huge savings! She said she tries to fly with them whenever possible and their rates and service are always the best!
I personally won't fly either one. My sanity is worth more than a cheap airline ticket.
I have no problems with SW.. I've flown them twice and while the boarding is.. Unusual if you're not used to it... That's the only thing I noticed that separates them in any kind of not-good way from a legacy. And even that.. It's just different.. Not necessarily bad. Unless you check in really late and wind up stuck at C30 or something and are in a middle seat. Then it's probably pretty bad.
But, there's alot of ways that they are better. Baggage fees.. Ticket changes, etc..
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Labonte18
I have no problems with SW.. I've flown them twice and while the boarding is.. Unusual if you're not used to it... That's the only thing I noticed that separates them in any kind of not-good way from a legacy. ....
But, there's alot of ways that they are better. Baggage fees.. Ticket changes, etc..
yes!!!!
Consider ALL the options / things that can happen (Flu epidemic...)
Spirit needs to be < 1/2 SWA fares before I will even consider it. (as I might be surrendering my ticket on ANY other carrier if something comes up)
10 SWA flights in last 24 hrs. No problem...
34 flights booked FORWARD on SWA, no problem
I LUV how well they help my retirement portfolio (nice stock gains)
Companion pass is handy to use for friends / spouse! (Good for 1+ yr)
I have never flown on Spirit, but my wife has many times to go home on vacation. My observations are similar to others here. They usually have odd hours, at least for the flights my wife has taken. For example she has to catch flights that leave at 2 AM. The lack on interline agreements is a big drawback for us. We are in San Antonio, and Spirit doesn't fly from San Antonio, so to fly Spirit she has to go to Dallas or Houston. So if she wants to fly from San Antonio, we have to buy a ticket on a different airline to get from/to San Antonio to/from Dallas or Houston. She usually travels "heavy" (lots of bags) going outbound. So this means paying bag fees on 2 airlines to get her to her destination. This would pretty much wipe out any cost savings that would be achieved by flying Spirit. So what I usually do is drive her to Dallas or Houston for the outbound trip, then buy her a cheap one way ticket from Dallas or Houston for the return trip. She usually comes back with little in the way of luggage, so this works well from that aspect. However, what can, and has, happened is the Spirit flight on her return trip gets delayed. This causes her to miss her flight from Dallas or Houston. Since there is no interline agreement, then we just have to eat the cost of the one way ticket from Dallas or Houston. I then end up driving to Dallas or Houston to pick her up. As for the comments about Spirit charging for everything (airport check-in, carry-on bags, more leg room, assigned seats, food, drinks, etc.) that's true, but all of that is in the fine print on their web site, so no one should be surprised nor complain about that; you know what you are signing up for when you fly Spirit.
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only one flight on Spirit... and it was okay
