Spirit Airlines Out of Houston

Any of you have any experience with Spirit Airlines out of Houston? I normally fly SWA, but willing to try something different to save money. Thank you!!

 

Make sure you check out all the fees/charges that the airline imposes or are associated with them.

I don't have personal experience with them however, my good bud lives in Katy and flew with them this past summer. He complained about baggage fees, seat fees, bottle water charges, etc.

 

You can get some great deals out of IAH, but the flight times aren't always ideal, and usmcbaby is right -- make sure you read up on the a la carte fees because that raises the price fast.

 

Spirit Airlines is the best airline in the world value wise. People that complain about Spirit simply don't do research or don't understand simple economic principles.

Yes, they charge for water. Yes, the seats suck. Yes, there's almost no legroom. Yes, they charge $100 for a carry on bag at the gate that you forgot to tell them about. But the fare is ridiculously low.

But with all that said, the fares are dirt cheap. On some routes to Vegas from DFW, I've paid $28 for that leg. In fact, my bag cost $30, so it was almost like my bag was going on vacation too.

You have to be smart to win while flying Spirit. Decline all of the extras and you can get yourself a great deal. Bring one checked bag or less that you pay for when buying your ticket online. Don't bring a carry-on bag. Don't select your seat (let them assign you one the day before departure when you check-in). Don't buy any on-board refreshments. And shop around their site for those special fares where they don't have a fuel surcharge (usually red eye flights).

If you're a person that has multiple bags, needs a "free" soda, needs to pick their seat so that you don't get stuck in the middle, then definitely fly another airline. The fees from Spirit will kill you otherwise. If you're gonna indulge in all of the add-ons, take American or another major carrier.

Everything considered, I fly American Airlines if the price is even remotely sorta close due to status. But I wouldn't hesitate to fly Spirit again if I could score some of those dirt cheap rates.

 

I flew Spirit out of IAH last May and had a 10:30pm scheduled departure flight. Due to an incoming flight delay it didn't depart until about 12:15 am
My friends flew Spirit out of IAH in September and had the same flight time. Due to incoming flight delay they didn't depart Houston until close to 1:30am

I've flown other Spirit segments before but the biggest issue is how they handle irregular operations due to flight delays etc. You're just stuck waiting in Houston until that plane comes in so you can get out. They're not going to fly in a plane from somewhere else to get you going and there are no other flights here they can bump you on.

With that said, I won't fly Spirit if it's going to cause heartburn that I'm not where I want to be when I want to be there. Also personally, I'd have to be saving at least $150 versus Southwest or United. Since I don't pay luggage fees on United it usually makes sense for me to fly United. But having to pay to select my seat in advance on Spirit, paying in advance for checked luggage up to 40 lbs (as opposed to the 50lb limit on United or Southwest) also comes in to play for me.

I've also had some pleasant and not so pleasant experiences from the Spirit agents at ticketing.

 

Thank you all for the replies. Not really interested in the extras, but I do need a window seat.