Spirit Airlines Customer Reviews and Spirit Airlines Passenger Trip Reports

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Trip 1 - Family flew to Florida for Christmas. I had researched and understood all of their luggage charges and policies, so I had no issues there and understood everything I was charged. In total flying Spirit in the last 2 months I am 3 for 3 on delayed flights. It always seems to be something with Spirit. First delay I will accept as weather related due to East coast storms - delayed a red eye flight from Denver to Ft. Lauderdale by 2 hours. Second delay (return trip) for 1 hour+ to change a tire from Ft. Lauderdale to Denver. Trip 2 - Next trip Denver to Las Vegas. 1 hour+ delay no reason yet. Still waiting for more flight information. Bottom line is there is a very high percentage chance that any Spirit airlines flight will be delayed (or even canceled from what I know of others experiences). So as long as it doesn't matter if you arrive a couple of hours (or a day late) then the value in the savings from flying Spirit is fair - it covered my rental car in Florida for Trip 1 above. If you don't want to be late, don't fly Spirit. Spend the extra 25% or more in costs to fly another airline.

Spare yourself the hassle and fly with another airline. 2 hrs late leaving Detroit and 4 hours late leaving Cancun. Kept delaying flight, said mechanical problems, flight attendants said delayed due to weather etc. Customer service both in the US and Mexico is horrible. Paid for bags on Internet to save time, when we got to the airport, was told it would cost more money, that they never received payment. When we further insisted that we had already paid $195 for 4 suitcases and 1 carry on, was told $10 additional charge plus $25 for overage. Also charges outrageous fees for suitcases and weights are not the same for US and Mexico. They charge for all beverages and food - outrageous prices. Will never fly this airline again. Seats do not recline and planes are dirty.

Save yourself the trouble and fly another airline! These were the worst flights I have been on. Seats were taped together. This might be alright for a quick day flight of a couple of hours, but beware - the seats do not recline so sleeping is not possible. Very tight quarters. I'm 5 ft 4 and 120 pounds, and I couldn't reach down to tie my shoe. They wont even give you a drink of water without charging. Awful airline. Customer service was horrible.

Portland, Oregon to San Diego on 1/22/13 and San Diego to Portland on 1/29/13. I got a round-trip ticket for $61 with all fees included. I went to the airport prior to my trip to measure the size of backpack I needed. When I got to the airport I printed my boarding pass for free, and was able to bring my backpack on for free. If you go to the airport to print your boarding pass make sure to get their 2-3 hours ahead of time. The seats onboard were quite comfortable. I have seen quite a few people mention the seats were very tight, and their knees touched the back of the seat, but that was definitely not my case. I am 5'5 and had no problems. You do have to pay for any food that you want, but that wasn't a problem for me. I will definitely be flying with them again soon.

My family was to fly from Denver to Fort Lauderdale. We were to leave on our cruise by 3pm in Miami at the latest. We were not notified the flight was changed to Chicago and then on to Fort Lauderdale to arrive at 10.15 on Sunday night. Obviously that was not going to work for us since our cruise ship would already have left. We tried to talk to the people at the Spirit counter in Denver who just walked off. We tried to call customer service and after an hour wait talked to someone who did not care, we had to purchase a flight on American Airlines at the last minute to get us to Miami in time to get on our cruise ship. They changed our flight home and we did not get home until Tuesday, January 29 2013 at 11.00 when we were supposed to get home Sunday night. Had to fly from Fort Lauderdale to LA and have a 6 hour layover from midnight to 6.20 and then fly to Vegas and then on to Denver with no sleep. Took 14 hours to get from Fort Lauderdale to Denver. The planes are old and they charge for water.

Traveled from MSP to Fort Myers and back Plane was on-time and even early. If you educate yourself about Spirits baggage and (other) fees you will be fine. If you don't then you shouldn't complain. No issues other than they will try to sell you on their Credit Card which can be irritating. Overall a very good experience.

They charged $50 for me to carry on my small bag, staff including the supervisor were very unaccommodating, made me sit in the airport for over 6 hours for something that was their fault - with no apologies. This was my first experience flying Spirit and I will never fly this airline again. The rates look too good to be true and they are, once they are done nickel-and-diming you, the fares are the same as any of the major carriers, and their customer service isn't 10% as good.

My flight from Ft. Myers to Boston was 3 hours delayed because they said they didn't have a crew. There was a crew in the waiting room who told us they offered to fly our flight up to Boston and have the crew we were waiting for take the next flight. Management felt it was better to continue to inconvenience us. Don't even try to get a boarding pass over the Internet, type in your name and confirmation number and now they want your membership number, they want you to get one of their credit cards. $50 for a carry and if your running late it's $100 at the gate.

Both my outgoing and return flight were delayed (no weather problems). They charge for everything! I had to pay extra for my carry-on, which every other airline allows me to take for free. They charge for water and soda. The seats are cramped and the large man behind me was bumping my seat the whole 3.5 hour flight! The seats on the first flight didn't even recline. Their "low prices" ended up not being so low after all of the extra charges. Overall, a terrible experience!

DFW to BWI over Inauguration weekend. Bought round-trip tickets for my family of 5 for less than $750 (total). Couldn't beat the price or the service. Of course, I realize that Spirit earns its money from add-ons, but so does every other airline now - if you are not a very frequent flier. In addition to being a "Gold - lifer" on AA, I have earned almost 100K points on Spirit. The downside is that it has been difficult to find a segment on Spirit that only requires 2,500 miles for a free ticket, but because the fares are usually so inexpensive, I'll just keep paying for these ultra-low fares, when I can find them. We generally check 3 bags for our family of 5 and carry light snacks onto the plane. Look forward to my next low-fare flight!

Spirit Airlines is in fact cheap, for good reason. They cram you into a rock hard seat like sardines and offer food and beverages for ridiculous amounts. If you take a bag you are charged inflated rates even if you check in online. I could find no way to check-in in excess of 24 hours for lower baggage rates and within 24 hours they charge you 50% more with no exceptions. None of their employees has the authority to make anything right. My personal opinion, and that's all it is my opinion, they are masters at the rip off and leave you with no alternatives except to pay their inflated rates for their poor service. I would recommend everyone stay as far away from Spirit Airlines as possible. Worst airline I've ever been on.

Very disappointed with Spirit. I flew from Dallas to Puerto Rico. The check in process is horrible, baggage fees are ridiculous, and the flight was extremely delayed which seems to be a habit with this airline. Yes, it is cheap for the ticket if you don't have any baggage and at the end you pay more for inconvenient and fees than other airlines. I will never fly this airline again and I wish to pay for a better flight. Sprit is a joke.

I had a positive experience, but it took some work and research. S. FL to Boston. We were 3 people traveling for a long weekend so we checked one suitcase for $60 round trip. Each took a small backpack and measured to make sure we had the right dimensions for a free carry-on. I checked in on-line and selected random seat assignment (free) and we were seated together in the last row. When we got to the airport check in was smooth. Once I passed TSA I bought a bottle of water for 2.29 because I heard it was 3.00 on the plane and I carried it on without a problem. Staff courteous. The woman at the gate noticed my friend's Dad has trouble walking and actually moved us all to row 15. Flight left on time. Scheduled to arrive at 10.00. Off the plane, collected luggage and in the car heading out of the terminal at 10.20. In general, Spirit does try to squeeze money with all kinds of fees, but if you can travel lighter you can save a lot of money.

If all goes well with weather, and you know how to play their baggage games, it is possible to get where you want to go cheaply with Spirit. But if anything out of the ordinary occurs the airline will cancel the flight, and leave you stuck for days, they will not bring in a replacement crews to make up a cancelled flight and will not re-imburse for the flight if you find alternate means of transportation.

I chose to fly Spirit Airlines for the cheap fare. I will pay double next time not to fly Spirit. The plane smelt and the tray tables were duct taped up in our row because they were broken. The flight was delayed for an 1.5 hours going to St. Thomas from Ft. Lauderdale and was delayed 3.5 hours on the way home. They made 13 people get off the plane so we could take off with the proper weight and took off basically all of our bags. We did not get our luggage for 4 days. You get what you pay for!

They charged $50 for me to carry on my small bag, the staff including the supervisor were very unaccommodating, made me sit in the airport for over 6 hours for something that was their fault - with no apologies. This was my first experience flying Spirit and I will never in fly this airline again. I have travelled extensively and had some very poor experiences flying, but this is the only time that I have ever been so dissatisfied and felt so ripped off that I have vowed never to fly the airline again. The rates look too good to be true and they are, once they are done nickel-and-diming you, the fares are the same as any of the major carriers, and their customer service isn't 10% as good.

From LAX to Chicago, flight cancelled, took 3 hours to get to attendant to work out different flight. On way back from Chicago to LAX, the pilot did not show up. 3 hours later, we took the pilot from the next flight that was in the queue. Connecting flight in Vegas - since we missed the flight, they would not put us on another airline to get us home. Ended up driving to LA at 10pm and did not refund me that leg of the trip!

Ft. Lauderdale to Montego Bay, Jamaica and back. Online, noticed that when you get to the section to select your seat for the flight, they charge you $10 for simply making a seat selection. Also noted that, where most airlines allow for a 50 pound checked bag limit, Spirit only allows a 40 pound bag limit. When I asked the Spirit Representative why Spirit has a 40 pound maximum when the industry standard is 50 pounds, all I got was a smile and 'that's what makes us different'. The only possible answer to that question is charge a little on the front end to attract passengers and then cheat them on the back end with excessive fees. As mentioned here multiple times, $3 for a bottle of water inflight is nothing less than gouging. The airlines are aware that we cannot bring our own water into the airport and airport convenience stores are priced similarly, so their answer is to charge us $3 for each bottle of water? Not sure who decides legroom requirements for their planes, but I have to agree with the other reviewers who said legroom was unacceptable in these planes. They entice you with low fares and nickel and dime you so much that any real savings is negated with all of the extra fees.

My flight from Las Vegas to Chicago was delayed 7 hours on 21 Jan 2013. They updated the website 9 hours before departure that the flight was delayed 2 hours. They kept increasing the time of departure by 2 hours and made all passengers wait at the airport. No staff for a long time who could provide an explanation for the delay. I have experienced delays before but the airlines always tried to put me on a different flight even it wasn't their own. Spirit refuses to put you on a different airline. Spirit looks cheap while booking, but they have insane baggage fees. Even the carry on bag has a fees which is $50 each way. They don't serve any beverages in flight for free. Even water needs to be purchased. Staff are rude and not helpful. After this experience of delay, I have realized its not worth flying via such unreliable airlines to save a couple of hundred bucks.

Flew to Dallas/Ft Worth last night (01/20/13) with a stop in Chicago. They charged fees for all luggage (including carry-on). I paid $50 for my 1 suitcase. I was unable to check-in on their website and therefore, was unable to take advantage of the $30 luggage fee available there. Flight departure was over an hour late. Due to my tall stature, I requested to be seated in the Emergency Exit Row. They sat me in the EE row on the first flight but not on the second. I sat with my knees jammed against the back of the seat in front of me all of the way to DFW. They charged for everything, including water. There were many other issues but, to list them all would take more time than I currently have. I will not use this airline again.

We planned this trip in September. That being said a nightmare from the get go. Original flight was changed costing me a vacation day. Horrible seats on flight from Atlantic city. Return flight from Ft Meyers was changed again and now my return flight home (which was supposed to leave at 9.25) is not departing until 11.59, with an arrival time of 2.20 am. Spirit used to be a bargain airline! I will never fly this airline again. They entice you with points you can't use and bump you from your flights.

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