- Thread starter BPL888
- Start date
Spirit Airlines Sale
I hate flying with one stop but tolerate it. I couldn't imagine doing two stops, no matter how good the price is.
While I have flown...
Spirit in the past, and they do offer many different pricing models, I must concur with you that 2 stops probably involves way too much time in airports. Not to mention you have doubled your chances to be delayed and/or your luggage lost/misdirected.
A quick search reveals AA #2087 out of Boston on 1/28/09 with a return on AA #2084 on 2/4/09 is $459.30 w/taxes. That still makes Spirit a better dollar value.....but the AA flights are non-stop....and...no luggage charge for the first or second bag (unless they are overweight).
So if you hypothetically take two bags each way on Spirit, you need to add $40 each way to the price. That now puts you at under a $50 difference with a non-stop on AA versus 2 stops on Spirit.
Score one for AA here.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
Spirit in the past, and they do offer many different pricing models, I must concur with you that 2 stops probably involves way too much time in airports. Not to mention you have doubled your chances to be delayed and/or your luggage lost/misdirected.
A quick search reveals AA #2087 out of Boston on 1/28/09 with a return on AA #2084 on 2/4/09 is $459.30 w/taxes. That still makes Spirit a better dollar value.....but the AA flights are non-stop....and...no luggage charge for the first or second bag (unless they are overweight).
So if you hypothetically take two bags each way on Spirit, you need to add $40 each way to the price. That now puts you at under a $50 difference with a non-stop on AA versus 2 stops on Spirit.
Score one for AA here.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
Stops and Spirit $9 Club
Good point about the bags. One of the stops is only to take on passengers without a plane change, but the chance for problems does go up. That price also supposes that you are a member of thier "$9 Dollar Club" which involves a membership charge , unless you have, and use, a Spirit Air Mastercard (which I do). Also Spirit Air customer service is non existant. Try calling them sometime. They won't even pick up the phone.
Good point about the bags. One of the stops is only to take on passengers without a plane change, but the chance for problems does go up. That price also supposes that you are a member of thier "$9 Dollar Club" which involves a membership charge , unless you have, and use, a Spirit Air Mastercard (which I do). Also Spirit Air customer service is non existant. Try calling them sometime. They won't even pick up the phone.
In this particular instance, I would agree that AA would be better. I'm a huge fan of Spirit, but their best deals are on point-to point service from Fort Lauderdale. Living in Florida, this is great for me but for people up north the difference is marginal and the service is non existant. It's flying public transport plain and simple. On connecting flights, their fares are not bad, but not that great of a deal. No Spirit airline flight is worth $343 dollars. $150-$200 for an international flight, yes its worth taking them.(Which i often get from Florida to DR) But for that price I just assume take AA
One more thing to consider is that there is usually a tight connection if you are arriving from their Latin American flights and connecting to points north. Terminal 4 is an absolute madhouse most of the day, and Immigration and Customs facilities, as well as TSA screening facilites, are woefully inadequate since because of Spirit, this terminal handles far more passengers than it was designed for. In the late afternoon, many Spirit Airlines flights from Latin America arrive within a few minutes of each other. (In addition to Air Jamaica and Avianca flights) Expect long lines both at US customs and then on security screening for your connecting flight.
One more thing to consider is that there is usually a tight connection if you are arriving from their Latin American flights and connecting to points north. Terminal 4 is an absolute madhouse most of the day, and Immigration and Customs facilities, as well as TSA screening facilites, are woefully inadequate since because of Spirit, this terminal handles far more passengers than it was designed for. In the late afternoon, many Spirit Airlines flights from Latin America arrive within a few minutes of each other. (In addition to Air Jamaica and Avianca flights) Expect long lines both at US customs and then on security screening for your connecting flight.
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I was....
a huge fan of Spirit until they sent my luggage as well as 20 other passengers' luggage to Punta Cana (I flew into SDQ) and never told anyone (a) that all the luggage was not boarded; (b) let us stand at the carousel at SDQ for over an hour searching for our luggage until I finally called them...then they informed me/us that the bags were diverted to Punta Cana.
Additionally, your second paragraph concerning the problems of Spirit at FLL are spot on. While some of the delays through immigration and customs could be solved by adding more inspectors, Spirit could try scheduling incoming international flights a little better.
Connection times are indeed tight and to add insult to injury you are forced out of the international terminal once through customs and must again undergo security screening to board any connecting domestic flights.
All that having been said, if you are traveling FLL to SDQ/STI/PUJ and back with no connections, they certainly represent a good option.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
a huge fan of Spirit until they sent my luggage as well as 20 other passengers' luggage to Punta Cana (I flew into SDQ) and never told anyone (a) that all the luggage was not boarded; (b) let us stand at the carousel at SDQ for over an hour searching for our luggage until I finally called them...then they informed me/us that the bags were diverted to Punta Cana.
Additionally, your second paragraph concerning the problems of Spirit at FLL are spot on. While some of the delays through immigration and customs could be solved by adding more inspectors, Spirit could try scheduling incoming international flights a little better.
Connection times are indeed tight and to add insult to injury you are forced out of the international terminal once through customs and must again undergo security screening to board any connecting domestic flights.
All that having been said, if you are traveling FLL to SDQ/STI/PUJ and back with no connections, they certainly represent a good option.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
Sprit will fly to Santiago
I saw in today's El Caribe newspaper that Sprirt will start flying FLL/STI on June 19, 2009. According to the article there will be an introductory fare of $9.00.
I saw in today's El Caribe newspaper that Sprirt will start flying FLL/STI on June 19, 2009. According to the article there will be an introductory fare of $9.00.
