I recently flew Spirit Airlines to ORD from IAH (and back). It was a day spotting trip with @Aaron_Murray.
I’ll start with the story.
So we flew the early flight out of IAH which departed around 6AM. The aircraft was coming from Las Vegas, and it was on time. The airplane got to the gate, and everything was fine. We boarded on time, and departed. The flight was what you can expect. You have to pay for food…But the air fare was only $109 dollars which is super cheap. We didn’t have any bags because it was a day trip. So the cart came by, a few people bought stuff, but we bought ours in the terminal. We arrived in ORD 30 minutes early, which was good for us. Got off the flight, and took the bus to the rent a car place. Overall, for the ticket price, it was an amazing flight.
Yes, this is actually what I give this airline. It was well worth the price.
How to avoid high costs
Book your bags in advance
Check In Online
Try sharing bags
Don’t reserve seats
Don’t get any add ons
Make sure you bag is not overweight
In all honesty, you should not fly this airline if you have a family with you. It is perfect for day travel and not long term travel.
Summary
It is not as bad as you think. It is basically an airline where you get what you pay for. Do everything online, and you should be able to avoid high cost.
Good review and good job with the context. We all frequently hear horror stories about them, but because of how you laid it out as better for one type of travel rather than the broad all air travel in general makes it possible to highlight positive notes. Good topic!
Never flown on Spirit myself, but my opinion on low-cost carriers is that you have to set your expectations properly. If you want a more enjoyable experience, you have to pay for it. That’s just how it is.
From my experience, too many overlook the fact that low-cost carriers are providing a low-cost ticket (compared to other airlines), and are sacrificing privileges such as seat reservation and free snacks to do so.
I have never flown Spirit. In fact, my only near low-cost experience was Sky Airline a couple of years ago. However, in 2 months I will be flying EasyJet as my first real LCC experience. The flight will be LGW-SXF, and I really don’t know what to expect. I don’t expect much, though.
But I think that, for an avgeek, it really doesn’t matter if the seats are a bit uncomfortable or the tray tables don’t work. What matters is…you know, the plane stuff.
Flew with spirit on the KEWR-KFLL and they had a new A321 it was a great flight and I don’t know why so many people complain about spirit also the crew was nice and helpful as well great airline in my opinion
True. People don’t get it. If you complained on emirates, I would understand. But spirit isn’t something to complain about, because you get what you pay for 😂
While I don’t like Spirit, I have to admit both Spirit and Frontier are grouped into the same category and considered “bad” because of their pricing and such. But really, they are excellentin service and prices if you know how to handle them in a smart way.
