Airlines.....Spirit?????

[northerngal]

We are looking for flights. Can anyone tell me is Spirit as bad as they use to do? they are so much cheaper!

[RickG]

Something I posted on another forum:

We've flown Spirit and had the no-frills experience. I just add $100 to the price of each ticket to account for a reserved seat and carryon fees and go down a day early.

We've witnessed folks in Ft. Lauderdale who were standby for the single daily STT flight, not get on the flight after a misconnection the previous day due to a weather delay - no hotel room, no booking on another airline and starting their second night in Ft. Lauderdale. All per the Spirit contract of carriage.

Cheers, RickG

[nikkiki]

I've flown Spirit to STT twice. We are carryon only types of travelers, and we don't care if we get to sit next to one another. It works for us - for now. At $350 ORD - STT, I just couldn't beat the price.

[kklay]

We used them about 4 years ago out of Ft. Lauderdale and didn't have an issue although we were in the "Regular" seats and my knees and my husband's knees had INDENT marks from the seat pocket in front of us. We were coming in from a cruise for my daughter's wedding and flying back down to St. Thomas for another week on St. John with friends, so we only flew one way on Spirit. I would NOT, however book them for a whole vacation - just too many stories about delays, mechanical issues etc. and Spirit does not have reciprocal agreements with other airlines. I'm not going to risk loosing days out of my vacation for the difference in fare. When I've checked their prices against other airlines, same dates, flight times, I've found the savings NOT to be that great when considering all their add-ons.

[Teresa_Rae]

We flew Spirit once, it was not a good experience and after they nickel and dimed us to death with all their extra fees, we hardly saved any money...of course, I didn't know about the fees until I'd reserved our villa and other flights for our dates were high...our dates were flexible so if I had known about the fees, I would have gone with a different airline.

Anyway, Cory's experience is one of my favorite posts here ever:
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/v ... 4b#p281141

[GratefulDad]

Warning! Warning! Warning Will Robinson, danger, danger, danger!

[mahojim]

Going through that mess as we speak.
I don't know... I think securing a faster flight home would be smarter.
Always found ourselves a villa, secured a Jeep, then played our cards with the airfare.
Then again, we always do our business down there during "off-season".
The airfare is usually relatively reasonable for our dates, so we'll most likely not be too picky. Just never tried what you others have with getting the airfare first. Not sure why. Got to learn more about that, one day.
We're just lucky enough to go without spending an overly outrageous amount on airfare.
We've taken Spirit. It SUCKED. I'm 6ft 3, My Sweet Amy is handicapped..we were scrunched.
That's the price you pay... unless you pay for the "big seats"? Maybe I'll look at those this trip.
The sooner we land on STT the better, and we all land at the same time anyway, so no big deal.
Look at the island as we land, and then go down those steps as we hit the tarmac.
Knowing that it's time time relax our shoulders...smelling it coming on.... mozy to the luggage carousel next to other folks who are cranky from the flight cracks me up...anxiously awaiting the beginning of a vacation...
Not even sure "the big seats" are worthwhile... getting drunk on a plane...
A travel day with sitting and waiting until we get there is just as exhausting as it is satisfying.
It's foreplay. As long as we get there, it's all groovy.
Too long until we get back to STJ...( check out my ticker... )
What's the price of being placid and serene..?
Getting there is an easy chore.
Leaving is the problem!!!
Smiles-
MJ

[kklay]

Well Said MJ!

My ticker is a little better time-wise than yours. Hope our Ohio group gets the opportunity to meet you and Amy in the near future. We'll have to have a few frosty beverages.

[JJShaw]

We fly them..they are close to us as far as travel...we dont buy seats...just get the random ones and never had a problem sitting together...and do a back pack (its free) and have checked bags with them in the past...In fact we just got in from a flight from Ft. Lauderdale round trip from Myrtle Beach for a cruise 476 + 120 for bags for 5 of us (596.00 for 5 with 2 checked bags ) and our flight was early getting back to Myrtle...flights for us are always on time..but our work schedules are flexible if there should be a problem...therefore I don't have a problem flying them as any of the airlines can have delays..you just have to decide is it worth it to save the extra...We are also booked with them for both of our upcoming trips...(we paid 526.00 for our trip in 3 weeks.. Our friends on USAir from Clt paid 1594.00) we think it is..its nice to have extra to spend on Island instead of spending it on plane tickets..just my 2 cents...hope this helps..

[Puddlejumper]

I flew on Spirit one time and really liked it, but I purchased the big front seat because it was a red eye flight from LAX to FLL to connect to SJU. The aircraft was very clean. Knowing all the issues, I would still fly them for the right price. We live near Myrtle Beach, so using Spirit for an island trip in the future is possible. My family are all experienced travelers, Spirit doesn't scare us. You just have to plan for it, and for us that means no checked bags, be prepared for arriving a day late, and no space in the back of the bus for my large self.

[Stella7474]

We booked Spirit for a trip to Vegas - read all the rules, paid for our checked bags up front...upgraded to the "big seats" (65.00) - fare was still cheaper. BUT delayed leaving 2 hours (all other flights from O'Hare to Las Vegas on time) - on the way home we left on time - BUT landed at O'Hare and they had No gate...trapped on the Plane on the tarmac for 2:15 minutes....On top of the delays...what a rattle box of a plane - we fly 4-5 times a year all airlines and NEVER have I been in a plane that made so much strange noise..it was quite scary. So for the 200.00 saved - I would never fly them again.....and I would never jeopardize a day on the island - few lost hours in Vegas I can deal with but island time no way.

[mahojim]

While I was window shopping for airfare, I also noticed that Spirit charges $90 for your checked bag, while United charged $50.
Unless I missed something, it's a no brainer for me.
Smiles-
MJ

[northerngal]

well we went with Spirit. Our checked bags were $21 each plus the tickets were over $200 cheaper with better flying times. We'll see. I was VERY reluctant to do this but with a $1000 savings we can take a boat trip while we are there and dinner!

[JJShaw]

While I was window shopping for airfare, I also noticed that Spirit charges $90 for your checked bag, while United charged $50.
Unless I missed something, it's a no brainer for me.
Smiles-
MJ

First checked bag is 30 each way..unless your a 9 dollar fair member then its 21.

http://www.spirit.com/OptionalServices