Spirit Airlines - Your First Time Is Always The Best

[+ azdr0710]

mostly because flight times/itineraries were very convenient for me (and also because I wanted to see for myself what all the fuss is about), I flew on Spirit Airlines for the first time recently.....

online booking was easy and not fussy......if you're flexible, look around for various days and times for widely varying fares.....remarkably, the time and day I was hoping for was among the lowest fares available....Spirit's notorious add-on charges can be acceptable if you're careful and know what you really need and don't need....I ended up adding seat selection (I get claustrophobic if not on the aisle) and one carry-on (which, nicely, includes boarding in an early group)......other add-ons weren't needed.....even with the add-ons, the final total was remarkably low......

arriving at the gate, I realized this particular airport's original design from decades ago did not lend itself to crowds.....as with most airlines, passengers get eager to board and start crowding the narrow roped-off lane despite not being in the announced group......I tried to be part of the solution and not part of the problem and stood way back well out of anybody's way......but I soon realized after a vague pre-boarding announcement and no further announcements, "Group 1" had been allowed to proceed on.....dodging passengers blocking the approach and not in line, I fairly quickly was on board.....

upon my first glimpse ever inside a Spirit cabin, the rows of seats without passengers in them looked noticeably spacious......but I quickly realized that is because all seats are exposed sheets of metal with a (compared to other airlines) thin layer of cushioning for your butt and back.....so there is technically more distance between seats because there is less padding and material!!......eventually, I realized even this mirage to be just that because there is actually very little room between rows.....except for exit rows, of course, the seat pitch on Spirit has to be among the lowest around.......no First Class cabin, but there is the option to add-on purchase of a "Big Seat" up front.....the flight was entirely full and felt very crowded....those doomed to a middle seat who aren't small, like my neighbor, a regular 20-something male, may squirm and twist trying to get comfortable......

in fact, the seat pitch is so low that there is no conventional tray table (there isn't enough room)......instead, a fold-down "shelf", measuring about 5" x 10", serves that purpose......

I'm certainly not a travel snob, but on this particular flight (and other Spirit flights??), many passengers appeared to be inexperienced travelers and/or not particularly aware of travel customs or courtesy.....these days, terms like "white trash" and "unsophisticated" are thrown around too freely, so I will refrain from using those words........

all drinks and snacks are sold, even water......during the flight, the flight attendants nicely made two passes thru the cabin with the sales cart hawking their wares.....gotta say that Spirit should abandon the sale of water and offer it for free (perhaps filtered water in paper cups instead of single-use plastic bottles?) since dehydration on flights is a known health concern.......

all flight attendants and cockpit crew were very upbeat, friendly, and professional.....was glad to see one passenger busted for sneaking her very small backpack into the crew's overhead......the poor dear had to then suffer the entire flight with it under the seat in front of her....

yes, I'd fly Spirit again......but only after adding on seat selection and a carry-on and only after making sure it's my only option at a comparable fare......later the same day, I was on my favorite airline, Southwest, and it felt like I was on Emirates or Qatar!

 

   

[mike carey]

So, not quite the same as Air New Zealand from Queenstown to Auckland, @azdr0710?

[pubic_assistance]

On 9/30/2022 at 1:44 AM, azdr0710 said:

I'm certainly not a travel snob, but on this particular flight (and other Spirit flights??), many passengers appeared to be inexperienced travelers and/or not particularly aware of travel customs or courtesy.....these days, terms like "white trash" and "unsophisticated" are thrown around too freely, so I will refrain from using those words.......

I recently found myself on Spirit for the same reason: perfect flight time at a remarkably cheap price.

Overall I agree ...the add-on pricing is manageable for quick flights with carry-on. But the pricing DOES attract too many first time fliers who possess ZERO understanding of common courtesy or flight safety standards. Maybe I am more of a travel snob than you, because the general chaos in flight with dozens of people misbehaving rattled my brain. I would never repeat.

[Becket]

You are a braver man than me. But the detailed report was great. Thanks.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

F9, NK and WN are all airlines I don't fly.

Far too many atc, weather and ops delays these days to not fly with an airline who has strong interline agreements.  The loyalty I show to a couple of airlines has paid itself back in spades when the shit hits the fan and a seat magically becomes available on the next flight.

Travelers want it both ways:  To pick the ultra-low airfare that's not making the airline any real money while still complaining about paying for checked bags, delay reaccomodation and size of seats.  

It's just not realistic.  Nor should it be.

[Guest]

If Spirit Airlines (or Frontier) is the only airline you can afford to fly on, you can't afford to fly... Wait until  you can afford to fly on a real airline. 

[+ azdr0710]

2 hours ago, Unicorn said:

If Spirit Airlines (or Frontier) is the only airline you can afford to fly on, you can't afford to fly... Wait until  you can afford to fly on a real airline. 

Is this statement addressed to me or to the general public?

Edited October 6, 2022 by azdr0710

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

5 hours ago, Unicorn said:

If Spirit Airlines (or Frontier) is the only airline you can afford to fly on, you can't afford to fly... Wait until  you can afford to fly on a real airline. 

If you're going to play this silly little game, you'd do better saying that flying commercial isn't real flying and that you don't get out of bed in the morning for less than a BBJ. 

Good satire requires a bit more effort. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, azdr0710 said:

Is this statement addressed to me or to the general public?

Just as a fact of life (general public). 

[MikeBiDude]

17 hours ago, Unicorn said:

If Spirit Airlines (or Frontier) is the only airline you can afford to fly on, you can't afford to fly... Wait until  you can afford to fly on a real airline

12 hours ago, Unicorn said:

Just as a fact of life (general public). 

A bit elitist? Millions fly Spirit/Frontier as they have no other choice they can afford. You’re implying they should just stay home?

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

4 hours ago, MikeBiDude said:

A bit elitist? Millions fly Spirit/Frontier as they have no other choice they can afford. You’re implying they should just stay home?

To @Unicorn's defense,

Similar comparisons could be made to eating a prime cut of meat at a steakhouse🥩 versus eating a hamburger at McDonald's 🍔.

Some people may suggest that if you can only afford McDonald's, then you really shouldn't be eating beef.  Are the millions of people who eat at McDonald's (myself included) wrong?  No, they aren't.  But are they really eating beef??? #MysteryMeat

[MikeBiDude]

28 minutes ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

Are the millions of people who eat at McDonald's (myself included) wrong?  No, they aren't.  But are they really eating beef??? #MysteryMeat

As a consultant in the food and beverage biz I can assure you, yes McDonalds is serving beef, not #MysteryMeat 😉

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

57 minutes ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

To @Unicorn's defense,

Similar comparisons could be made to eating a prime cut of meat at a steakhouse🥩 versus eating a hamburger at McDonald's 🍔.

Some people may suggest that if you can only afford McDonald's, then you really shouldn't be eating beef.  Are the millions of people who eat at McDonald's (myself included) wrong?  No, they aren't.  But are they really eating beef??? #MysteryMeat

There's been zero mystery to McD's beef for decades now. 

Google makes it easy, indeed. 

https://www.eatthis.com/this-is-where-mcdonalds-gets-its-meat/

[EZEtoGRU]

On 10/5/2022 at 8:15 PM, Unicorn said:

If Spirit Airlines (or Frontier) is the only airline you can afford to fly on, you can't afford to fly... Wait until  you can afford to fly on a real airline. 

News Flash:  No US carrier on a domestic flight is worth a damn these days....including in first/business class.  They all suck.  Whilst Delta is likely the best of a bad bunch, that isn't saying much.  At this point, just be happy you get from A to B in one piece.  Any expectations beyond that will disappoint you.  

[Guest]

4 hours ago, EZEtoGRU said:

News Flash:  No US carrier on a domestic flight is worth a damn these days....including in first/business class.  They all suck.  Whilst Delta is likely the best of a bad bunch, that isn't saying much.  At this point, just be happy you get from A to B in one piece.  Any expectations beyond that will disappoint you.  

I haven't had bad experiences with American, Delta (I had to fly them into Iceland in August, since American doesn't fly there), or even low-cost JetBlue. Southwest is also a good low-cost alternative. The horror stores I hear about Spirit and Frontier, including the video earlier in this string, makes me wonder why anyone would fly with them. They cancel flights on a whim and have no customer service. I wouldn't fly them no matter what my financial straights. American (and I'm guessing Delta and United) have "Basic Economy" fares to compete with Frontier and Spirit if money is really that tight (Economy fares aren't that much more). 

"Chris" and I have flow both American and British Airways on their nonstops from LAX to LHR, and we both prefer AA in every aspect from food to seat comfort to service. We are going to Italy in early May, and are going BA this time on a code-share because the AA flight was $1200 per person more expensive. We're landing at 11:30 AM in LHR, and had to purchase separate flights on BA to go onward to VCE (Venice) for a 13:30 departure, because that wouldn't code-share with AA. I called BA to ask if they could just check our bags through (one BA flight to another), and he said he didn't know "They'd have to figure that out at the airport"! Obviously, if we have to go through baggage claim, customs/immigration, etc., it would be a tight connection indeed. What's so complicated? Also, unlike on AA, I had to pay $135 extra to get a seat assignment in business class to get him a seat next to mine (AA covered this for me because of my Executive Platinum status). Of course, Skytrax gives BA 4 stars and AA (and all other US carriers) 3 stars for some reason. Politics?

[EZEtoGRU]

6 hours ago, Unicorn said:

I haven't had bad experiences with American, Delta (I had to fly them into Iceland in August, since American doesn't fly there), or even low-cost JetBlue. Southwest is also a good low-cost alternative. The horror stores I hear about Spirit and Frontier, including the video earlier in this string, makes me wonder why anyone would fly with them. They cancel flights on a whim and have no customer service. I wouldn't fly them no matter what my financial straights. American (and I'm guessing Delta and United) have "Basic Economy" fares to compete with Frontier and Spirit if money is really that tight (Economy fares aren't that much more). 

"Chris" and I have flow both American and British Airways on their nonstops from LAX to LHR, and we both prefer AA in every aspect from food to seat comfort to service. We are going to Italy in early May, and are going BA this time on a code-share because the AA flight was $1200 per person more expensive. We're landing at 11:30 AM in LHR, and had to purchase separate flights on BA to go onward to VCE (Venice) for a 13:30 departure, because that wouldn't code-share with AA. I called BA to ask if they could just check our bags through (one BA flight to another), and he said he didn't know "They'd have to figure that out at the airport"! Obviously, if we have to go through baggage claim, customs/immigration, etc., it would be a tight connection indeed. What's so complicated? Also, unlike on AA, I had to pay $135 extra to get a seat assignment in business class to get him a seat next to mine (AA covered this for me because of my Executive Platinum status). Of course, Skytrax gives BA 4 stars and AA (and all other US carriers) 3 stars for some reason. Politics?

My comments were related to domestic airlines on domestic flights and clearly stated as such.  You're talking about international flights which is a whole different kettle of fish.  So apples to oranges.  

BA hasn't been a particularly good airline for some time now.  There was a time they were very good...not anymore.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, EZEtoGRU said:

My comments were related to domestic airlines on domestic flights and clearly stated as such.  You're talking about international flights which is a whole different kettle of fish.  So apples to oranges.  

BA hasn't been a particularly good airline for some time now.  There was a time they were very good...not anymore.

Well, when we flew back at the end of our last cruise from Boston to LAX, we were upgraded to 1st class on AA's transcon service, and that's pure luxury. 1-1 seating, luxury bedding, filet mignon dinner with 5 courses. They have this kind of service on flights from LAX to BOS, JFK, PHL, and MIA. Here's the first class:

And the business class also has lay-flat seats:

 

LAX, SFO, JFK, PHL, DFW, and MIA also have super-premium flagship lounges (even more luxury than the Admirals' Lounges):

Edited October 7, 2022 by Unicorn

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

3 hours ago, Unicorn said:

Well, when we flew back at the end of our last cruise from Boston to LAX, we were upgraded to 1st class on AA's transcon service, and that's pure luxury. 1-1 seating, luxury bedding, filet mignon dinner with 5 courses. They have this kind of service on flights from LAX to BOS, JFK, PHL, and MIA. Here's the first class:

And the business class also has lay-flat seats:

 

LAX, SFO, JFK, PHL, DFW, and MIA also have super-premium flagship lounges (even more luxury than the Admirals' Lounges):

 

I'm an AA Concierge Key, which is the top of the food chain with them, so I say this with tough love for American, but what they offer as a premium product isn't really all that impressive.  It no longer leads the pack and hasn't for over a decade.

I get access to Flagship and Flagship First Dining whenever I travel, so I'm there weekly.  It's better than the Admirals for sure, but it's no UA Polaris.  It's nowhere close to actual super-premium lounges like AC's Signature Suite, SQ's J/F lounges, AF's La Premiere, CX The Pier or EK's First Class lounge in Dubai.  Flagship Lounges are wildly inconsistent.  DFW is always a mess, while JFK is usually pretty solid.  MIA is hit or miss.

AA's current seating is outdated and many times, broken down.  Their catering is boring.  The wine choices are crap.  Service is hit or miss, depending on the crew.  

This will likely change for the better once the new J-class seat is installed.  I forsee AA rebranding and overhauling the whole premium experience...  And I hope it's for the better. 

I show loyalty to my airline, but I'm not blind to the realities of it.  When I get to fly JAL, SQ, EK or QR, I realize how far US airlines need to go to become even remotely competitive for the premium market flyer.

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, BenjaminNicholas said:

 

I'm an AA Concierge Key...

You obviously travel a whole lot more than I do, so your opinions are probably very solid. You would agree, though, wouldn't you, that AA flights to LHR are significantly better than BA?

[EZEtoGRU]

1 hour ago, BenjaminNicholas said:

 

I'm an AA Concierge Key, which is the top of the food chain with them, so I say this with tough love for American, but what they offer as a premium product isn't really all that impressive.  It no longer leads the pack and hasn't for over a decade.

I get access to Flagship and Flagship First Dining whenever I travel, so I'm there weekly.  It's better than the Admirals for sure, but it's no UA Polaris.  It's nowhere close to actual super-premium lounges like AC's Signature Suite, SQ's J/F lounges, AF's La Premiere, CX The Pier or EK's First Class lounge in Dubai.  Flagship Lounges are wildly inconsistent.  DFW is always a mess, while JFK is usually pretty solid.  MIA is hit or miss.

AA's current seating is outdated and many times, broken down.  Their catering is boring.  The wine choices are crap.  Service is hit or miss, depending on the crew.  

This will likely change for the better once the new J-class seat is installed.  I forsee AA rebranding and overhauling the whole premium experience...  And I hope it's for the better. 

I show loyalty to my airline, but I'm not blind to the realities of it.  When I get to fly JAL, SQ, EK or QR, I realize how far US airlines need to go to become even remotely competitive for the premium market flyer.

I fully concur with everything Ben has said here.  I have been an AA Executive Platinum member nearly since it's inception so many many flights on AA for many many years.  AA's service quality decline since the merger with USAir has been astounding.  None of their current offerings hold a candle to what they used provide.  AA recently announced that their domestic on-board Flagship First product will disappear by 2024.   I've been in Flagship First(FF) transcons multiple times this year.  On one trip (BOS-LAX), I was the only person in the FF cabin.  Service still sucked.  The purser managed to skip several of the dinner courses...and he only had one passenger to serve for the entire 5-hour flight.  First world problems to be sure, but when one is paying big bucks for 5-hour flight, it matters.  

These FF transcon flights are a tiny portion of the domestic flight options that AA offer within the US.  AA standards have fallen so much that I'm not sure there is much difference between an average domestic flight on AA versus Spirit.  

[CJK]

On 10/7/2022 at 2:04 AM, Unicorn said:

I haven't had bad experiences with American, Delta (I had to fly them into Iceland in August, since American doesn't fly there), or even low-cost JetBlue. Southwest is also a good low-cost alternative. The horror stores I hear about Spirit and Frontier, including the video earlier in this string, makes me wonder why anyone would fly with them. They cancel flights on a whim and have no customer service. I wouldn't fly them no matter what my financial straights. American (and I'm guessing Delta and United) have "Basic Economy" fares to compete with Frontier and Spirit if money is really that tight (Economy fares aren't that much more). 

 

For years I had top tier status with Delta (Platinum and then Diamond once it was created) and mid-tier status with United. Both were attained based on segments, not miles, which meant 150+ flights on DL and around 30 on United. I would wind up on other airlines several times a year. 

AA domestic is definitely a step below DL and AA. Domestic First is glorified coach. The difference between Domestic First and International First or Biz is akin to the difference between Dixie cups and Waterford crystal.

I could tolerate Spirit by continually reminding myself it was a short flight. Really, the worst part of flying Spirit was the behavior of the other passengers. Southwest was my least favorite airline. FA antics, festival seating and a seemingly higher number of kids on the flights made flying LUV migraine inducing. 

I have a soft spot for Frontier. When Leo Mullin was running DL into the ground DL became a horrible airline. I moved my business to AirTran, which was a really good operator. Reserved seating, upgrades and professional FAs!

Unfortunately, AirTran did not fly everywhere. One of those places was Reno, so I wound up flying DL from ATL. There were only four people on the flight to Reno. While there, my boss had a heart attack and went to the hospital.  I was not going to leave her in NV alone, so I told her I would change my flight to the next day, by which time her husband would be in NV from NC. I called DL, explained the situation and they wanted about $3k to change the return flight, which would have included repricing the segment I had already flown to Reno.

So I went to the airport thinking a flesh and blood agent would be more helpful than a phone agent. The check-in agent asked me to stand at the side of the check-in area while she got a manager. The station manager came over, heard the situation and still insisted on over $3k. (Is it any wonder DL wound up in bankruptcy with that kind of customer service?)

Frontier's check-in desk was next to DL. A man there had been listening to this and motioned me over. He was the Frontier station manager. He said they would fly me back to Atlanta the day after next. They would submit my ticket to DL and whatever they were reimbursed would be the charge. No additional charge for me. The DL manager said, "You cannot do that." The Frontier manager pointed to the floor and said, "See where the green carpet starts? I can do whatever I want when I am on the green carpet."

I had no issue paying a change fee, and that year alone had paid hundreds of dollars to change tickets. DL's policy in this case was not only punitive, but it was their attempt to make a huge profit off of my boss' heart attack. It wasn't until Mullin was fired and his anti-customer policies were rescinded that I went back to regularly flying DL. 

BTW, for international flights, the ME3 (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar), Singapore and Turkish are so much better than any American carrier. Flying over the Pacific, Korean Biz (Prestige) upstairs on an A380 is my fave. The seats are so far from one another, the upstairs is quiet, the bar and coffee lounge are nice places to escape from your seat and the bathrooms are ginormous. Yes, there are middle seats in the middle block, window seats do not open to the aisle, although they do have useful extra storage bins and the seats are lay-almost-flat, but the top deck is often pretty empty so every seat not being an aisle seat rarely matters, I have no problem sleeping at a four-degree angle and the quietness, away from economy which is on the lower level, is awesome.

Edited October 8, 2022 by CJK

[Guest]

I empathize with @CJK and his troubles with Delta. I had a couple of bad experiences with United, stopped flying them, and have since flown about 900,000 miles with American without any bad customer service experiences. It's amazing that airlines often don't seem to instill on their employees the importance of good customer service, especially towards their most loyal customers, versus trying to make a quick buck. My next non-AA flight will be on a JAL codeshare to Tokyo and HCM City near the start of the year. The seating arrangements don't seem as spread out as AA's flights on the same route, but, again, for reasons I don't understand, code-shares on other airlines seem to come out considerably cheaper than AA's flights. 

[+ azdr0710]

if it makes anybody feel any better, here's a fight on Emirates!!

 

 

[CJK]

1 hour ago, Unicorn said:

I empathize with @CJK and his troubles with Delta. I had a couple of bad experiences with United,

Just to be clear, my issues with DL were not bad customer service. When Leo Mullin ran the airline they adopted bad policies. The result was the airline went bankrupt. American Express financed the post-bankruptcy airline, Mullin and his crew were fired and the airline rebounded. 

The last time I flew AA was an absolute clusterfluck. I flew up to Philly for a funeral early in the morning and took the last flight back the same day. AA was hundreds of dollars cheaper than any other airline and the flights were direct both ways.

Flying back to ATL the airplane had to make an emergency landing in CLT. Several people panicked on the flight. I told the young lady sitting at the window in my row that there was probably nothing to worry about. I pointed out that if it was a real emergency, we would see firetrucks and ambulances as we landed. I spoke too soon. As the plane neared the airport, we saw hundreds of flashing strobe lights. Every emergency vehicle in NC must have been on that runway.

The plane rolled to a stop but could not taxi to the gate. We sat for a couple hours before buses came out to get us. We then waited in the airport for several hours while AA arranged for a new plane. We got on the new plane but then the crew timed out, so we went back to the terminal and waited for a new crew. How did they not realize the crew was going to time out?

We finally got to ATL at five in the morning. The train was not working so we had to walk a mile to the T Concourse. Our luggage was still in CLT. I actually had checked an empty suitcase, having flown up with funeral clothing for my sister and her family who did not plan on going to a funeral when they had headed north. (My BIL's dad had died.)

A week or so later it was reported there had been a maintenance issue, totally AA's screw up. I got an email giving me 1,500 airline points because of the inconvenience. Heck, my entertainment screen did not work once on DL and they credited me 15,000 miles. The AA points were basically useless because I would have to fly AA several more times to get enough points to actually use for anything, so AA really just did nothing to make up for the inconvenience. 

I grew up flying Allegheny Airlines, which became USAir before folding into AA. Everyone called it Agony Airlines, but AA is worse than Agony ever was. 

[CJK]

33 minutes ago, azdr0710 said:

if it makes anybody feel any better, here's a fight on Emirates!!

 

Word is they will serve you on the plane then arrest you for being drunk in the Dubai airport.