Spirit Airlines: The Good, The Bad, and The Miscellaneous
The Good
Right up front, I should tell you how much the airfare cost. Drum roll please…$0.01 each way per person (plus taxes and mandatory fees). No, I did not put the decimal in the wrong place. That is one cent. Spirit is known for dirt cheap fares and I think one cent per flight takes the cake. Now, we had to pay the usual taxes and fees but that totaled only $78.80 for both of us. If you can avoid the assorted additional fees (see The Bad) that Spirit is famous for, you could’ve made this trip for under $40 per person.
I feel weird saying this after reading horror stories about Spirit’s service when things go downhill, but I think Spirit seems to executes their concept fairly well. The boarding process was quick and efficient, in our experience at least. I think we may have even left the gate early on one leg. The onboard service was far from fancy but what can I expect for under 40 bucks. The crew seemed to be in fairly good spirits and did their duties as expected. The food available onboard for purchase was reasonably priced. All in all, from a value perspective, you get quite a lot for $40 compared to the experience you get from other domestic carriers for 2-5x that price.
The Bad
As I stated above, Spirit is famous for charging you fees for everything. They claim to be the first “ultra low cost carrier” in the US. I suppose that means offering one cent fares then nickel and dime-ing you for EVERYTHING. Want a glass of water? You have to buy it. Want to pick your seat in advance, even if it’s a middle seat? You must pay. Want an agent to print your boarding pass at the airport? It is rumored that will soon cost $5. One of the fees you are most likely to encounter is the fee to bring a carry-on bag. You can only bring on a personal item for free which must fit underneath the seat in front of you. If you want to bring a carry-on bag or even check a bag, expect fees of at least $30 per leg per bag. We paid to carry on one bag between the two of us so our final airfare totaled $138.80. Still, an incredible deal for two people.
Also, for all you people who might happen to have legs, you will probably be uncomfortable aboard a Spirit aircraft. Spirit really crams their planes full of seats resulting in what is the least legroom among all domestic carriers. I am around 6’ 1” and I was very uncomfortable on our return flight on board an Airbus A319. The metal rod on the edge of the seat-back pocket was jamming me right in the knee cap and I could not find a comfortable position. The A320 isn’t much better either. The seats on this plane have no recline at all. However, the seat-back pocket is replaced with a mesh net which is much softer on the knees. The A320 was tight but was more comfortable overall than the A319.
The Miscellaneous
I would only recommend Spirit if saving money is your chief objective when selecting a carrier. However, you must do your research and manage your expectations. You must also be flexible. Spirit doesn’t have the most desirable flight times, probably because they are trying to squeeze into already crowded airports. Also, I cannot confirm that this is true but Spirit supposedly doesn’t have many aircraft available as backup should your flight have a mechanical. To make matters worse, they do not have an arrangement with another airline to offload passengers should they have to cancel a flight. So if you woke up on the wrong side of the bed and nothing is going the right way on your day of travel, do not expect Spirit to make it any easier.
Would I do it again? I might if fares this cheap come around again with one caveat. I would pay the 10 or 20 bucks extra to set in an aisle seat for some extra comfort. Otherwise, I’ll gladly pay double or triple the price for the relative “luxury” of American Airlines. Woah, that sounds weird.
-Ben
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