Help - Talk me out of using Spirit Airlines

I have enough points on Southwest to pay for the flight u one-way, but not for the return.
I am about 5 months away from my trip, and the return on Spirit is the exact time and airport I want to return to. It's also the cheapest (even with bag fees). With that said, I have heard at least a dozen horror stories.

All the other flights are 40% higher, and many don't fit in this perfect time slot. Should I roll the dice and book Spirit for a one way flight?

 

It will be the biggest gamble of your trip!

Don't fly with any high expectations.
Spirit will likely charge you for them anyway!

RICHARD

 

How tall are you?

I have flown spirit, and never had a horror story. I have just had somewhat uncomfortable legs by the time I landed.

You don't need to be talked out of anything, you just need to assess the dollar figure you place on the comfort or other differences you get with other airlines.

 

One of my FB friends flew Spirit and posted this picture of the interior of the plane being held together by tape.

 

It's funny you ask, I am 6'5 tall. For me it's not about comfort, all coach flights are uncomfortable. For me, it's about leaving semi on time, and landing semi on time. The appeal of this flight is the time, it will get me back to Baltimore exactly when I want.

 

Do it. I've used them twice out of PHL and have yet to have a problem. Personal bag or pay for checked bag at booking, and no surprises. I know a few people who've taken them, but only one couple had an issue. They didn't prepay carry on and checked bags, so were PISSED at the charge. I told them ahead of time, but they forgot.

Anyway, I still consider it a gamble to fly with anyone when it comes to timeliness, but Spirit and Allegiant have been notorious with it. I got completely grounded by Frontier once and put in a motel, but people like them, too. But yeah, take a shot. Good luck and hope it works out for you!

 

Flying out of Detroit I have never had a timeliness issue with spirit. But they do have less legroom if I recall, so if regular coach is uncomfortable ...

 

The average age of Spirit Airlines fleet is about 5.3 years, but at 6'5" you will not be comfortable in a standard seat. I would suggest the big seat upfront, or at the least, an exit row seat, you will have to pay for these upgrades. I think there is another row of seats behind the "big seat" that has more than average legroom.

I have flown on Spirit several times because the schedule worked out best and the "all in" price was great. My best fare was $195 roundtrip Philly to LAS, baggage and exit row seat included. All of the big airlines are going to emulate this no frills type of fare structure, they are losing share to Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant. It's a race to the bottom.

 

The week before Christmas, there were horror stories on the local LV news about passengers stuck for days waiting for Frontier to get back to 100% operations after a snow storm in Denver, but we flew them on Christmas eve and had a great flight for 2 people for a total of only $126 (including bags) LV to PIT. They are a gamble, but it helps if you have some flexibility and cheap rooms to stay at if they get grounded. PS., I would only use these airlines on direct flights, so I don't get stuck in a connection city.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone, helped me make a decision. The schedule for Southwest comes out in 7 days for this time slot. If the one way price is within $40 of Spirit's "all in" price, I will probably take them.

Pro - It's Southwest and will probably be on-time & I will accumulate points for flying Southwest.

Con - The flight on Southwest will probably depart Las Vegas 5.5 hours earlier than the Spirit flight, which means 5.5 hours less Vegas time.....

 

I'm a big believer in you get what you pay for. Does Spirit charge for a veteran pilot? Or can you save a few bucks and get a fresh faced newbie pilot?

 

Actually many of the inexperience pilots are on American/Delta/United flights. Many of those connection flights for those airlines are contracted out to 3rd parties and their pay is horrible.

 

I too have never had a F- experience but will agree with the legs part. I fly from CLE to ATL on Spirit sometimes which is great for under $100 RT and only a 1hr45min flight. I have flown from CLE to LAS though and at around 4hrs30min the flight is a little rough as the legroom is extra tight and Im only 5 ft 7.

Ive just never had a bad enough experience or a string of bad enough experiences not to want to save hundreds of dollars...

 

Believe Spirit and Frontier are being investigated for not following maintenence protocol, I wouldn't step on a plane run by either company even if you paid for it

 

your flight was canceled

 

I've flown Spirit a few times and it always got me there in one piece and more or less on time.

They would charge you for the seat belt and the restroom if they could!

Most annoying part was their live-action infomercial for their stupid credit card, acted out by the FAs at high volume just prior to descent.

They do not serve my primary market so I don't fly them very often, or even have the opportunity.

 

I have primarily flown Spirit and Frontier this year. I've not had any issues outside of using TSA Pre-Check. Flights have been timely, staff has been helpful, friendly and comedic. I rarely pay for a seat (exception is long flights) and I've not had a need to pay for luggage, I'm a light packer. I've saved a ton & logged many miles. Go for it! If it goes awry it's only one way and it's the return trip so you're not spoiling precious vacation time.

 

Connie & I flew Spirit from Minneapolis to Vegas for the Super Bowl weekend, then flew back on SunCountry. The plane looked to be brand new, the flight attendants were great, we only brought a small bag apiece that qualified as their personal item. Everything went smoothly. But I'm 5'10" tall and there was no room between my knees and the seat ahead of us, so if you're 6'5" it's going to be painful. We were glad we came back on SunCountry. I don't know if I'd fly Spirit again. If there was a reason to evacuate the plane quickly, I'd be pretty worried about getting out.

 

I hate Spirit. They seriously suck. I have been in seats that don't even recline. They nickel and dime you for everything. Anything goes wrong with the weather anywhere in the country and you can have megaproblems because of the ripple effect from schedule backups. Like you have mentioned, Southwest is often 33-50% higher.

Yet I have flown them several times because Cleveland has limited travel options to Las Vegas; Frontier seems just as bad, from what I've read. If you can get a nonstop and the price is that much better, then take the gamble. And yes, it's always a gamble with these clowns. Worse case they cancel your flight and you have to stay in Vegas an extra couple of days.

 

I used to take Spirit to Myrtle Beach only because they had direct flights from LGA. It was only about an hour and a half flight so not too long but I couldn't stand them either. Cramped seats, charges for everything and in my experience a horrible on-time record. I had to cancel a flight once so I had a credit with them. I could have used the credit to get to Vegas for free, I opted to pay for a flight on a different airline instead of having to fly across the country on Spirit. They are that bad, in my opinion.