Who has flown Spirit?

[fdcg27]

We will be going to San Juan the middle of next month.
Deals on flights seem non-existent unless you're willing to accept ridiculous times in transit with long layovers and absurd arrival times.
With something more suited to our schedule preferences, Spirit ends up being hundreds of dollars cheaper than any other airline all-in.
I'd prefer Southwest but I don't know that I want to pay another $800.00 or so to fly with them.
Who has flown Spirit and what were your observations?
They do have a fleet of fairly new leased Aibuses and they have grown to decent size with lots of destinations.
How good or bad is the experience?
One side of me says pay more and know what you're getting while another says we should give Spirit a shot.
What do those who've flown the airline have to say?

 

[SatinSilver]

They receive tops marks for price and not losing luggage. While score last in baggage and change fees, customer satisfaction, cabin comfort, involuntary bumps, frequent flyer program and lounges. Never flown with them but they're probably better than those sub-contracted air carriers that fly the RJ's for the big names.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurab...-worst-airlines-in-america/#1c825249e953

My friend flies Jet Blue a lot and likes them because of the low price. He flew from CLE to Florida for $13, booking a day or two in advance, one-way direct at a decent time. He said others pay hundreds and he showed me the booking invoice on his phone. Return flight was around $70 or so. This was last month. Long story short, JB ranks behind Spirit plus their planes are newer as you mention. So worth a short. Hopefully your flight time is early to help avoid delays.

 

[Food Scientist]

I've flown Spirit many times for work and pleasure. Honestly if you pack light and just bring/buy food and drink before the flight, it's really not as bad as everyone says. If you read their rules and fly like a modern traveler, i.e., not needing to go to the desk because you weren't prepared, then your fine.

My only real complaint about them is that I've been stuck in line for 30 minutes because they didn't have a separate bag drop line from the check in line, other than that about the same complaints I have with any other airliner. One thing I really like about them is they will actually check your zone number and if you try to cut in line, then back to the line you go. Rarely seen any airliner do that.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted by SVTCobra
One thing I really like about them is they will actually check your zone number and if you try to cut in line, then back to the line you go. Rarely seen any airliner do that.

I've seen this here and there.
I recall a UAL flight to TPA from CLE where a couple of big fat guys who thought they had status with the airline and apparently didn't were trying to board at the front of the line.
Trick no good since the gate agent told them it wasn't happening. They glowered and rumbled about how United had ruined Continental, which hubbed at CLE, although CAL was no more than okay in our experience.
There was also a woman who tried to pretend that her cat carrier didn't count as a carry on.
Once again, trick no good and she and hubby had to gate check one of their bags.
This was a completely full flight, so there was no mercy to offer.

 

[14Accent]

Spirit is... Spirit. It's an ULCC carries that charges for everything, and promises nothing other than getting you where you're going. The main downfall of these type of carriers is they have very little way of recovering from IRROPS. Delta, United, AA, etc. all have many more flights and more options available if something goes askew.

I'm not a huge low-cost airline fan, as I like to be somewhat comfortable when I fly. This becomes more difficult (and cost prohibitive) when flying internationally, so I understand the appeal. Heck, I'm flying to Tampa in a week and chose Frontier because the one-way fare was $36 all in! It was such a good deal that I popped for a "stretch seat" in the first row of the plane, and it still came in at half the price of the next-cheapest option. Plus, it's a non-stop flight.

On the way back, I'm flying Delta through JFK. Frontier had a decent deal for a non-stop, but I happen to like flying and have never been to JFK. Oh, I like checking out new airports too.

 

[JHZR2]

We flew them a few times from Atlantic City. Fine enough if you're aware of the policies going in. Planes were fairly rattty as I recall. From a major airport we haven't observed a big cost benefit compared to Others, but YMMV.

 

[DoubleWasp]

If you have wide shoulders, make sure you get an aisle seat. If you are tall, don't sit in a window seat. I am not a linebacker by any means, but my shoulders are wider than the seats.

Emergency exit seats are highly recommended. I routinely use a 45 liter backpack completely stuffed as a "personal item" (included in fare) and have never been called on it.

My way of flying Spirit is as follows:

I make sure I don't get enough sleep, I bring Sailor Jerry in regulation bottles marked "Listerine", and a good neck pillow. I hit the restroom and empty 2 1.5 ounce bottles and one bladder, board, and go straight to sleep watching one of those movies that's a knockoff of an already terrible movie on my phone. I highly recommend "Bad Nun" if that's your thing.

Don't pick an emergency exit seat that's facing the attendant's jumpseat unless you like waking up to a judgemental gaze. I'm not married, so that still spooks me and ruins my my experience. Also, that seat is below an overhead bin with a raft in it, so you're left with no alternative to place your personal item than another bin or under someone else's seat.

Do not forget to dose up on your Vitamin C, Zinc, and Selenium. Airplanes are flying petri dishes. I also wear a surgical mask while flying. It's become common enough that of don't look like a complete weirdo anymore.

 

[eljefino]

Looked at them briefly but for a family of 4 they either didn't guarantee adjacent seating, or we couldn't figure it out.

 

[hpb]

How many hours is the flight?

 

[Jimzz]

Just flew to/from Jamaica on Spirit.

As said they are a ultra low cost carrier. Seats do not adjust, no inflight entertainment, no free snacks/drinks, seat padding very thin, even have to pay for carry on bags, etc...

So for shorter flights they are ok. The one we were on was a little to long IMO.

 

[Rolla07]

I flew spirit once and plane was new and flight was good. Hardly enough to give you a proper advice.

 

[slug_bug]

I swore off Spirit several years ago because of several very late departures... over 4 hours late. I decided to give them another chance in early 2018 because I read an article that said they had really improved their on time performance. 1st flight was round trip to Florida, on time, good experience. 2nd was round trip to Texas, on time departure, 20 min. late on the return, still happy. 3rd trip to Florida again. Broken plane on departure, 6 hours late. Kept telling us it would be ready in an hour...for 6 hours. Ended up booking on Delta because I had an appointment I needed to get to. Spirit refunded my money, but, It cost me an additional $400 to book on Delta. Guess I'm going to have to wait another couple of years before I try them again.

Bottom line: They are cheap. Read their luggage restrictions carefully so you don't get surprised at the gate and they are a good deal. However, if you have a scheduled event that you need to get to, either book your flight to arrive WAY before the event or don't fly Spirit. They just don't have the resources to recover from an aircraft hardware issue quickly.

 

[bubbatime]

Cattle cars. Get to know your neighbor. No leg room. They cram you in their (removed - mod).

Look at JetBlue. I just looked and they had some VERY affordable flights from my local airport to San Juan.

 

[slug_bug]

I swore off Spirit several years ago because of several very late departures... over 4 hours late. I decided to give them another chance in early 2018 because I read an article that said they had really improved their on time performance. 1st flight was round trip to Florida, on time, good experience. 2nd was round trip to Texas, on time departure, 20 min. late on the return, still happy. 3rd trip to Florida again. Broken plane on departure, 6 hours late. Kept telling us it would be ready in an hour...for 6 hours. Ended up booking on Delta because I had an appointment I needed to get to. Spirit refunded my money, but, It cost me an additional $400 to book on Delta. Guess I'm going to have to wait another couple of years before I try them again.

Bottom line: They are cheap. Read their luggage restrictions carefully so you don't get surprised at the gate and they are a good deal. However, if you have a scheduled event that you need to get to, either book your flight to arrive WAY before the event or don't fly Spirit. They just don't have the resources to recover from an aircraft hardware issue quickly.

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted by slug_bug
I swore off Spirit several years ago because of several very late departures... over 4 hours late. I decided to give them another chance in early 2018 because I read an article that said they had really improved their on time performance. 1st flight was round trip to Florida, on time, good experience. 2nd was round trip to Texas, on time departure, 20 min. late on the return, still happy. 3rd trip to Florida again. Broken plane on departure, 6 hours late. Kept telling us it would be ready in an hour...for 6 hours. Ended up booking on Delta because I had an appointment I needed to get to. Spirit refunded my money, but, It cost me an additional $400 to book on Delta. Guess I'm going to have to wait another couple of years before I try them again.

Bottom line: They are cheap. Read their luggage restrictions carefully so you don't get surprised at the gate and they are a good deal. However, if you have a scheduled event that you need to get to, either book your flight to arrive WAY before the event or don't fly Spirit. They just don't have the resources to recover from an aircraft hardware issue quickly.



If you fly enough, you'll eventually swear off every airline. I flew Spirit to Florida a few months ago. The flight attendants were super nice and made the flight very enjoyable.

But you need to do the math. After you add up all the fees you'll pay on Spirit, it might be more expensive than Southwest or United or American

 

[Kira]

Hmmm....It's time to look at their route map and website.

 

[wag123]

The biggest problem with Spirit is... if your flight gets cancelled for some reason (weather etc), good luck getting where you were going.

 

[demarpaint]

They were OK nothing great. I prefer Jetblue.

 

[xBa380]

Being 6'5", legroom is extremely important to me… Which is why I fly southwest almost exclusively due to their generous ~32" pitch give or take, the best domestically in economy. I want to say Spirit and Frontier are both 28"… Even on United with 30-31", it's brutal. I physically won't be able to sit, so I avoid booking with Spirit completely.

Plus, Southwest has far more ‘perks' and I'm willing to spend a little more… Cancellation policy, two free bags, carry-on, etc… Plus, always amazing service and every flight we have ever taken has been on time or early.

A few months back we were going down to Orlando with a friend. We had Southwest, he booked Spirit. His flight was to leave at 10am or so, direct and arrive at like 12:30-1pm. Our flight was 3pm or so, with a connection in Nashville, arriving at 7-8pm. On the way to the airport he got notification his flight was delayed 3hrs. He turned around and went home. Shortly after, got another notice it was delayed another 2hrs. So now, our flights were supposed to leave at the same time, give or take. He got to the airport and guess what? Another delay. We were on our flight, did our connection and arrived to Orlando 45mins before he did.

Our flight only cost about $30 more than his did at the end of the day, round trip. I think now he will be sold on "splurging' the extra $$$ for Southwest. This is not the first time I have heard horror stories of significant delays with Spirit, as many mentioned, especially if anything goes wrong equipment wise. Not enough support to remedy issues quickly.

 

[ragtoplvr]

Flew with them a few times. Just a carry on, the overhead bins were stuffed full due to their checked bag policy. Boarding and unloading slow due to the overhead bins. Putting bag under the seat cuts your meager leg room. Good as any other cattle car airline. For a few hours, tolerable. Longer flight might want to pay for some comfort. They have been on schedule +- 15 minutes for me.

Rid