Spirit Airlines Review

I have used Spirit Airlines several times for trips.  The main reason I use them is because the airport I fly out of is only 15 minutes away and Spirit is the only Major carrier using this airport.  The few other carriers located in this airport are private charter services.  This results in virtually no delays or waiting for a runway to clear.  This doesn't mean that delays due to weather aren't possible. 

I, luckily, have never been delayed on a Spirit flight. 

When I book my seats I always opt to pay a little more for what Spirit dubs "The Big Front Seats".  Unfortunately, for this trip I was not able to get this upgrade as they cut down on the number of these seats to only 8 on their new airbus. 

The best way to describe Spirit is a budget carrier.  Spirit has been charging for the first piece of luggage for over a year now, but has increased the price.  I purchased my tickets in January 2008, at that time, if you pre-paid for your luggage, it cost $10.00 one way for the first bag.  I did not see any notice that the fee would be going up so I waited until I was able to do my online check in. 

Oooops!  That was a mistake.  The fee for your first bag pre-paid went up to $15.00 one way and if you didn't pre-pay you would be charged an exorbitant $25.00 one way at the airport.  Our luggage cost us an additional $60.00 round trip.

Then I went on to reserve seats.  There are three of us and I wanted us all to sit together.  I selected 3 seats on the arrival flight and 3 seats on the departure flight.  That cost me an additional $50.00.

I have never encountered anyone rude on the planes; the staff is always helpful and friendly.

The seats on the new airbus are made for children.  My husband is 6' 2" and his knees were stuck in the back of the seat in front of him.  He was not able to put his feet on the floor.  I am 5'3" and just made it.  If I tried to put my legs out in front of me I too hit the back bottom area of the seat in front of me. 

The flight we took was from New Jersey to Orlando.  This basically runs as a shuttle.  There is no down time in between flights resulting in dirty planes.  The tray tables were dirty as well as the seats.

Spirit Customer Service is atrocious!  You cannot get anyone on the phone that speaks english clearly and you must repeat everything you say at least three times.  This in itself is very frustrating.

The Fare Club is not worth joining.  If you want a cheap Spirit flight I can suggest try to book early and check other sites like Travelocity and Cheap Air.  They have a limited number cheap fares, so if you see it, buy it. 

The only way to purchase tickets for Spirit Air is to do so online.  If you need to use Spirit's own web site, use caution when checking out because they will add travel insurance to your total.  Be sure to uncheck this if you do not want the travel insurance.  Why pay for it if you don't need it.

I was able to rate Spirit as Average only because I have never had a problem with them.  I would not recommend Spirit for a flight that will be more than 2 hours or if you have to connect.

If you need to get somewhere relatively close, and you find a good fare with Spirit, then I would recommend them, but don't expect anything more than rock bottom budget air transportation.