- Thread starter socuban
- Start date
Spirit FFL-SDQ $29
I flew this same route with Spirit the last week in August. I paid $9 each way plus tax which worked out to about $156 total. A great deal, but the airline truly is a cattle car. The flights have lousy schedules leaving FLL. 6am or 6pm. Some tips:
If you are arriving from an earlier flight, make sure you have plenty of time between your arrival and your Spirit flight departure. Spirit overbooks their flights in a huge way, especially with fares like that. When you check in for your Spirit flight you will often encounter very long, very slow moving lines. If you get in line 2 hours before your flight and wait in line for an hour, when you reach the desk you will be told that the flight is closed if departure time is less than 1 hour and you will have to buy antother ticket for the next flight. It doesn't matter to them if you have been waiting in line for an hour or more to check in. This has never happened to me personally on Spirit but I have heard many complaints about it and have seen it happen at FLL airport.
Sprit charges for all checked baggage. $25 each way for the 1st and 2nd bag. If you pre-purchase online, you will only pay $15 each way on the 1st bag. They do not guarantee that they can transport more than 1 bag per passenger unless you pre-purchase for 2 bags online Any additional bags over 1 bag that has not been pre-reserved online will be accepted only on a first-come, first-served, space available basis. During the holidays they have a baggage embargo and only 1 suitcase per passenger is allowed to the Dominican Republic
The planes are actually brand new but filthy inside! Nobody cleans these planes anymore I guess since they converted to an ULCC. These planes spend no more than 20 minutes on the ground between their arrival from their previous flight and the next departure and operate around the clock! The plane I took for my 6am flight to Santo Domingo spent the night going from FLL-Port of Spain Trinidad and right back to arrive back in FLL at 5:40am!The very instant the plane was unloaded we started to board.
Upon boarding the plane the flight attendant was making constant announcements to hurry up and get out of the aisles and sit down so everyone can board quickly. "And don't put anything except roller bags in the overhead compartment. If you do I'm just going to take it out and give it right back to you to put under your seat." We left for Santo Domingo on time despite (or maybe because of) the flight attendants constantantly telling everyone to hurry up.
The attitude of the cabin crew is hit and miss. Some are quite friendly, many are just surly and just plain nasty. Half of the airline's flight attendants were about to lose their jobs soon so maybe that was part of it. Few staff on board the aircraft can speak a word of Spanish despite that the airline now mostly serves Latin America. Often they yell and just talk louder to someone who doesn't understand them because they can't speak English. I have seen this a couple of times on their flights to Santo Domingo, and either me or someone else had to intervene and give some sort of translation.
Everything is for sale on board. Water, coffe soda, muffins, chips. Credit Cards only. There are no pillows or blankets at all on the aircraft. If you want to pick where you sit, you have to pay a fee online beforehand to pick where you want to sit. The fee depends on how desirable to seat is. If you choose not to reserve a seat online beforehand, you will be assigned whatever is left at random when you check in.
The flight back from Santo Domingo-FLL was about the same. Rude flight attendants trying to cause a stampede by telling everyone to hurry up and get on the plane and sit down, (they arrived about 5 minutes late), left ontime, on board service non-existant. Arrival in Fort Lauderdale is usually a nightmare, as the US Customs area is small and overcrowded. It's not like Miami Airport's facilities where there are 30+ immigration lanes open. My flight arrived just after midnight though so it was relatively quick. Sometimes however I have spent hours trying to get though US Customs in Fort Lauderdale (all just waiting in line. The customs officers themselves are much more laid back than at other airports like Miami. They are based at Port Everglades and deal mainly with cargo and cruise ship passengers. ) and it's extremely common for Spirit passengers to miss their connecting flights because they don't make it through in time.
All things considered, I got exactly what I paid for, and it can be a good deal, just make sure you know what you're getting.
If you are arriving from an earlier flight, make sure you have plenty of time between your arrival and your Spirit flight departure. Spirit overbooks their flights in a huge way, especially with fares like that. When you check in for your Spirit flight you will often encounter very long, very slow moving lines. If you get in line 2 hours before your flight and wait in line for an hour, when you reach the desk you will be told that the flight is closed if departure time is less than 1 hour and you will have to buy antother ticket for the next flight. It doesn't matter to them if you have been waiting in line for an hour or more to check in. This has never happened to me personally on Spirit but I have heard many complaints about it and have seen it happen at FLL airport.
Sprit charges for all checked baggage. $25 each way for the 1st and 2nd bag. If you pre-purchase online, you will only pay $15 each way on the 1st bag. They do not guarantee that they can transport more than 1 bag per passenger unless you pre-purchase for 2 bags online Any additional bags over 1 bag that has not been pre-reserved online will be accepted only on a first-come, first-served, space available basis. During the holidays they have a baggage embargo and only 1 suitcase per passenger is allowed to the Dominican Republic
The planes are actually brand new but filthy inside! Nobody cleans these planes anymore I guess since they converted to an ULCC. These planes spend no more than 20 minutes on the ground between their arrival from their previous flight and the next departure and operate around the clock! The plane I took for my 6am flight to Santo Domingo spent the night going from FLL-Port of Spain Trinidad and right back to arrive back in FLL at 5:40am!The very instant the plane was unloaded we started to board.
Upon boarding the plane the flight attendant was making constant announcements to hurry up and get out of the aisles and sit down so everyone can board quickly. "And don't put anything except roller bags in the overhead compartment. If you do I'm just going to take it out and give it right back to you to put under your seat." We left for Santo Domingo on time despite (or maybe because of) the flight attendants constantantly telling everyone to hurry up.
The attitude of the cabin crew is hit and miss. Some are quite friendly, many are just surly and just plain nasty. Half of the airline's flight attendants were about to lose their jobs soon so maybe that was part of it. Few staff on board the aircraft can speak a word of Spanish despite that the airline now mostly serves Latin America. Often they yell and just talk louder to someone who doesn't understand them because they can't speak English. I have seen this a couple of times on their flights to Santo Domingo, and either me or someone else had to intervene and give some sort of translation.
Everything is for sale on board. Water, coffe soda, muffins, chips. Credit Cards only. There are no pillows or blankets at all on the aircraft. If you want to pick where you sit, you have to pay a fee online beforehand to pick where you want to sit. The fee depends on how desirable to seat is. If you choose not to reserve a seat online beforehand, you will be assigned whatever is left at random when you check in.
The flight back from Santo Domingo-FLL was about the same. Rude flight attendants trying to cause a stampede by telling everyone to hurry up and get on the plane and sit down, (they arrived about 5 minutes late), left ontime, on board service non-existant. Arrival in Fort Lauderdale is usually a nightmare, as the US Customs area is small and overcrowded. It's not like Miami Airport's facilities where there are 30+ immigration lanes open. My flight arrived just after midnight though so it was relatively quick. Sometimes however I have spent hours trying to get though US Customs in Fort Lauderdale (all just waiting in line. The customs officers themselves are much more laid back than at other airports like Miami. They are based at Port Everglades and deal mainly with cargo and cruise ship passengers. ) and it's extremely common for Spirit passengers to miss their connecting flights because they don't make it through in time.
All things considered, I got exactly what I paid for, and it can be a good deal, just make sure you know what you're getting.
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Spirit = Flying guagua
Very true post. I experienced the exact same thing flying Ft. Lauderdale to Cartagena and back. Next time, I'll just pay the extra couple hundred dollars on another airline. The deal...ain't worth it to me.
That FLL international terminal is a piece of work, as far as Spirit is concerned. Any level of customer service, including by phone and even in-flight, is pretty substandard. They have kiosks, but they don't read passports. Newer planes, cabin wasn't well-maintained. You are truly only paying for the tiny-ass seat you're sitting in.
If you can afford the little extra cash, fly Jet Blue or Delta or Continental to the DR.
Very true post. I experienced the exact same thing flying Ft. Lauderdale to Cartagena and back. Next time, I'll just pay the extra couple hundred dollars on another airline. The deal...ain't worth it to me.
That FLL international terminal is a piece of work, as far as Spirit is concerned. Any level of customer service, including by phone and even in-flight, is pretty substandard. They have kiosks, but they don't read passports. Newer planes, cabin wasn't well-maintained. You are truly only paying for the tiny-ass seat you're sitting in.
If you can afford the little extra cash, fly Jet Blue or Delta or Continental to the DR.