Spirit mia-santiago

pmey27

Member
Oct 12, 2006
339
0
16
Does anyone have any comments on Spirit? I have never flown them and will be in 2 weeks from Mia to Santiago. Normally I go MIA to POP on American but Spirit has a flight for $203.00
 

Mariposazul

New member
May 5, 2005
143
2
0
Nothing is free...(luggage, food, drinks, choice of seat, headphones, etc.)
Less leg room.
Kind of dirty (food crushed on the floor @ my feet).
Cranky staff (on board). The 3 men appeared to be w/o sleep.

HOWEVER-----great hours.....great price.....

Just take a carry-on. Pack a snack. Bring your own headphones. Move to an empty seat (once everybody is on-board).


I loved Jet Blue...as many snacks as you want, personal tv/movies/music. You can pick your seat. Lots of leg room and similar hours.
 

socuban

New member
Nov 24, 2002
509
41
0
Nothing is free...(luggage, food, drinks, choice of seat, headphones, etc.)
Less leg room.
Kind of dirty (food crushed on the floor @ my feet).
Cranky staff (on board). The 3 men appeared to be w/o sleep.

HOWEVER-----great hours.....great price.....

Just take a carry-on. Pack a snack. Bring your own headphones. Move to an empty seat (once everybody is on-board).


I loved Jet Blue...as many snacks as you want, personal tv/movies/music. You can pick your seat. Lots of leg room and similar hours.

Dead on. I'm on Jet Blue for the next flight, but like Spirit's schedules better.
 

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
I've flown with Spirit many times from SD to Ft. Lauderdale - Orlando. The prices are cheap but then you have to pay for drinks, etc. Fortunately, the flights are short and I just eat a good bfast. Unfortunately, they started charging for luggage and worse changed their flight hours to the very early morning. I've started flying with American because of that and the prices are almost the same.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,163
6,333
113
South Coast
One of Spirit's hubs is in Atlantic City, NJ, close to our home, so I always used them to fly to Palm Beach and FLL to visit my parents when they lived there. Never the least problem. Always flew AA to SDQ though.

HOWEVER, for the first time, I originally booked with Spirit to SDQ for our December trip, mostly so we didn't have to drive to Newark, NY or Philly. It was cheaper than AA too, at least at first glance. Within a month they changed the connection in FLL twice [made it a 9 hr lay-over!], and by the time I added in the cost of our 4 bags it was higher than AA. Plus if you want to choose your seats in advance, which we always do, it was another $7.50 per flight leg, so add another $60 for that. We canceled everything, and ended up with a direct flight on AA for $200 less than Spirit. To me Spirit is great only for a quick trip to Florida with a carry-on only. It pays to check other options.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
113
Southwest is taking advantage of Spirits luggage charges and so are other airlines...

I think I will have daughter check with jet Blue to FLL...

I have had good luck with Spirit, so I do not complain..

HB
 

BPL888

Active member
Sep 7, 2004
468
16
38
Spirit Frequent Flyer Miles

One of the complaints I had with Spirit is they have made using thier Frequent Flyer Program very difficult. You have to submit your request and then they counter offer. The last time they just flat out refused to let me book a frequent flyer trip anytime in January, even thier flights that went in the middle of the night and I asked 11 monthes in advance. Thier customer service is impossable to get a hold of. Luckily I had a direct number for a customer service rep from a previous problem so she reluctantly helped me book a January flight that includes spending a night sleeping on the floor on Ft Lauderdale! I used to use them a lot and also used thier credit card a lot so I could earn two free trips a year. But if they make it that hard to use the miles what's the sense. I stopped using them and thier credit card. Say what you want about American Airlines but I have had no such problems with them. I would like to start using Jet Blue more but it doesn't make sense to split my miles between two airlines.
 

suarezn

Gold
Feb 3, 2002
5,823
290
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55
Well I hope I'm wrong since is good to have choice, but I don't see Spirit flying to STI for long. I flew them down there about a month ago and the was almost completely empty - About 10 people on board - and the guys own at STI told me that was always the case, so I don't see how they can make any money that way. I do like the hours...but their nickel and diming is to the extreme...
 

kjdrga

New member
Mar 25, 2002
424
5
0
also you can only check 1- 50lb bag on spirit...you can not pay for a 2nd bag and the first can not be overweight (I called to verify this). At least these are the restrictions around the holiday season...that to me was the deal breaker... I'll be going AA, two free bags and many options if a flight is delayed and I miss my connection in Miami.

I'll be using them to go DCA-FLL next weekend for the first time, I figure if its $3 for a soda might as well get a cocktail for $6.

Also AA prices for the holidays have come down over the last week. Jetblue just matched their prices yesterday and today.
 
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El Tigre

El Tigre de DR1 - Moderator
Jan 23, 2003
2,306
57
0
My mom flew them a few weeks back and said she liked it. And like suarezn mentioned...plane was half empty.
 

JC171

Member
Oct 20, 2002
352
6
18
I Think that You get what You pay for..If Youre the Type of Travelor..that doesnt care about Meals,Free Drinks,Who Travels Light,who doesnt have any special requirements,Lives near a City that Spirit flies from..Then Spirit works out well for you
especially when you find those dirt cheap Fares.I Once flew Spirit Fort Laudardale to Santo Domingo for about $110 RT all taxes included...and thats hard to beat.
I bring my own snacks on board..Travel Light..Dont care for advance Seat assigments.
If You need any of the Above them dont fly Spirit as they have horrible customer service & charge for everything.
I dont mind flying them as long as their fares are atleast $75 cheaper than other Airlines.
So if they meet your price needs go for them..its a short flight anyways..so sit down and relax..enjoy the flight or atleast try.
 

Mariposazul

New member
May 5, 2005
143
2
0
Which airline is better for Christmas/Christmas-Eve flights (with multiple connections)?? Or does it even matter???

Jet Blue
American
Delta
Spirit
Etc.

What is your opinion?????
 

edm7583

New member
May 29, 2007
388
32
0
Huge fan of Spirit here, but you get what you pay for. They are only worth it when you get a super cheap fare. Is service bare bones? Well, yes. But you will hardly get luxury service on any other carrier. My last trip with them was last month Fort Lauderdale-STI Some observations..

-Since the last time I traveled with them, they reconfigured the A319 to put one extra row of seats, making the seat pitch the tightest I have ever experienced on a US carrier. In order to fit all the seats, the economy seats NO LONGER RECLINE. I couldn't put my tray table all the way down. My belly got in the way. (That has never happened to me with any other airlines) They now have the maximum number of seats the FAA will allow on both types of aircraft (A319 and A321)

-Planes are new but FILTHY! They are no longer cleaned between flights. In fact in Tampa, as the arriving passengers were deplaning single file on one side of the jetway, the staff was already boarding the aircraft with departing passengers boarding single file on the other side of the jetway! (This is only possible for domestic segments)

-Flight attendants are really the luck of the draw with this airline, ranging from pleasant and friendly, to surly, to downright nasty. As the plane is boarding go down the aisle and takes anything out of the overhead bin that is smaller than a roller bag and tells its owner to put it under his/her seat. Even on Latin American flights, few flight attendants speak more than a token amount of Spanish. This becomes a major issue when explaining to some passenger that they have to pay for their water or juice and that the only take a credit card, or when the time comes to hand out immigration forms on flights to the US.

-During the holiday season, they will accept only ONE bag on flights to and from the DR (and some other destinations) and it cannot be overweight. Year round restrictions of one bag apply on all flights to and from Colombia, Peru and Haiti

All this aside, for round-trip flights under $200, it's totally worth it. (Assuming you aren't the type of person who has the compulsive need to take all your worldly possessions with you when you travel.) And they are profitable, so they must be doing something right.