Spirit Airlines review - by Debbie Coulson

23 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I have never flown such a messed up airline as Spirit. Our whole trip was a disaster. Our flight to Cancun was diverted to a stay over in Ft. Lauderdale with a flight to Cancun the next day. Charges for bags at $20 each. Charges for everything in flight, water too. Cramped seating, dirty plane, 3 hour late flight and our new luggage was run over by a truck.

Spirit Airlines review - by M Richards

23 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Unless you have no other choice, take another airline. By the time you pay $10 per bag, $2 for a cup of ice and soda, and give up the hope of any leg room what-so-ever, you are paying dearly. The overhead bins are stuffed to the max before everyone is on the plane due to the charging per bag - if you don't pre-pay for your bags it is a $20 fee per bag at check in. The idea is right but the service is poor.

Spirit Airlines review - by C Ross

8 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

ATL-MCO-SJU and back through FLL instead of MCO. Never flown Spirit before. Spirit does not have a first class per se, but a bigger seat. The seats are wide, seat pitch isn't anything special but the width allows you to sit sideways if you wanted to. No IFE but on the A319. Crew put in above average effort and muffins served were good.

Spirit Airlines review - by W Burke

31 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Atlantic City to Orlando return. The flight down to Orlando was average. The plane was dirty and the crew didn't go out of their way to help the passengers. The return flight was much better. Crew was excellent, plane was cleaner and the service was better. I would use Spirit again, because it is so easy to fly out of Atlantic City.

Spirit Airlines review - by B Koenig

27 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I went with a group to Guatemala in February 2008. Long-to-short: Spirit had changed our itinerary and our group leader misread the new one. We arrived back in Guatemala City for our flight out on Saturday. However, our flight had actually left on Friday! We had to buy one-way tickets back to the US on another airline. After the group leader filed a complaint with Spirit they refunded our entire Spirit ticket price and luggage charges. I'm ok with that even though the return flight cost three times the round-trip ticket and luggage price on Spirit. Lesson learned: Read your Spirit itinerary carefully.

Spirit Airlines review - by J DeVoll

19 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Saturday, March 15th. Flight scheduled for departure at 1:35 p.m. from Tampa, Florida to Detroit. At 8:06 p.m. flight canceled with several different stories of why. Baggage was not released to the baggage claim until 10:00 p.m. Representative came out with a small amount of possible flights to get travelers home. Several people were picked up from the Tampa airport at midnight and bussed 5 hours away to Fort Lauderdale to fly out at 7:00 a.m. to Detroit. Others were bussed to Orlando to be flown out on 3 different flights. This only covered maybe a 3rd of the passengers. The rest of us had to fend for ourselves, scrambling to find anything that would get us close to home. After an hour and a half of trying to get information regarding hotels reimbursement, flight reimbursement, etc with no luck. I had to call my elderly parents to drive an hour back to the airport to pick me up. I was able to locate another flight for Sunday evening, but was able to fly out "stand-by" earlier - with another airline. We were told that Spirit did not have any available flights out of Tampa until Wednesday at the earliest. I have been trying to get in touch with anyone from Spirit Airline since Saturday evening. I have not yet been able to contact anyone. This is the poorest excuse for customer service I have ever seen.

Spirit Airlines review - by K Parra

16 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

We paid for an all inclusive vacation in Cancun, and were scheduled to fly from LaGuardia to Ft Lauderdale, then to Cancun. When we landed in FT Lauderdale at 3:00 on Friday afternoon, we were advised that we missed our connecting flight (not our fault). At the ticket counter, they were only willing to rebook the connecting flight on Sunday - 2 days later! They refused to put us up at a hotel, and had an attitude. They were perfectly comfortable leaving us stranded in the airport for 2 full days. To make matters worse, we soon found out our luggage never left NY! But, it gets better! Try to call customer service, or anyone in the company - absolutely impossible to speak to anyone. The rude ticket agent in Fort Lauderdale lied to us and said there were no managers or supervisors for us to speak to. They even threatened to call the police if we didn't move away from the ticket counter. (There were 28 passengers misplaced with us on this flight). We eventually purchased additional tickets from American Airlines to fly from Miami to CanCun the next morning, and had to get a hotel by the airport. But to add insult to injury, when we told the ticket agent at Spirit that we were not going to book on their "sunday connecting flight," we were told they would consider us "no shows" and cancel our flight home from Cancun. Stay away from Spirit. No Customer Service. An absolute nightmare.

Spirit Airlines review - by D Harrison

12 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Beware of the club spirit promotions! You have to opt out on the reservation site, or your credit card will be charge $9, and then $29.95 for a year membership. You can cancel online, if you even notice it on your credit card bill. I tried all day to connect to customer service, and when I finally got through, she hung up on me when I asked to speak to her supervisor. Then, when I finally got through to another rep that night they also hung up on me.

Spirit Airlines review - by K Yearman

10 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I've flown Spirit twice with no problems. Ft. Lauderdale to Port au Prince on a $9 fare. Plane left on time, attendants were good. Used Spirit this week for Fort Lauderdale to Managua (once again a $9 fare). Planes left on time, attendants were great on both flights. Paid for one bag going down, two bags returning. No problems. The lines at Ft. Lauderdale are really long - but it seems to me that most of the delay comes from people who haven't paid for the bag online, don't have their documentation ready, etc. I would allow 2.5-3 hours for international check-in at Fort Lauderdale.

Spirit Airlines review - by S Smith

10 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I have taken Spirit Airlines for several years and up until recently I was very pleased with their service. My boyfriend and I will go to nearby airports to take advantage of the great deals. We left Atlantic City to travel to Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 24 2008. We usually check in at least one bag each. The flight was delayed an hour and a half but that's not the problem. When we arrived in FLL that's when it all fell apart. It took us and hour and half to get our luggage. It wasn't just our bags, it was the whole flight. All the passengers were waiting. After it was all said and done, our bags had been placed at the US Customs gate and each bag had to go through customs. No explanation, No apology. The only reason why I fly Spirit is because I get the good airfares, other than that I would use a more reliable airline.

Spirit Airlines review - by D Malay

7 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I booked a Big Front Seat ticket and was told at the ticket counter that it was oversold. I've been on the phone for three days straight to get reimbursment with no luck. The customer service rep I spoke with was rude and did not speak English - she was located in the Phillipines. I still have no resolution to this, having still paid for a business class ticket that I was not allowed to use. This used to be a great airline that I flew with 6 or 8 times a year between Florida and NJ. Now that it's gone streamline and a la carte ("for your convenience" as they like to float!) it is a complete joke when it comes to customer service. Bring another airline to Atlantic City Airport and get Spirit out of there!

Spirit Airlines review - by R Thomas

4 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

$9 club membership. Got numerous fare under $10 each way, one for $24 from Atlantic City to Las Vegas, and one for negative $1. Carry on your bag to avoid luggage fee, and bring your own snack/lunch. Splerge for a soda ($2), so you pay an extra $1 here, but so what. Planes are new, comfortable, and the flights was great, basically on time.

Spirit Airlines review - by Marc Phillips

2 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Whatever you do, do not book flights on Spirit using third party travel websites such as Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, etc. Spirit will not let you select your seats or check in online if you use these websites. This policy resulted in me and my family having to sit in the very last row of the aircraft. Other than that the staff was very friendly and the flights were on time.

Spirit Airlines review - by Mike Jenkins

28 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Cheap fares, great seats, friendly staff, no delays. My wife and I have flown Tampa-Detroit six times this year, and no problems with the actual flights. However, good luck if you have a problem. We were double-charged for pre-checking baggage ($5 instead of $10 if you do it online) over two months ago, and I don't think we'll ever see that money. If you are going to call, it had better be between 9-4 Eastern on M-F. Their reservation line is 24/7/365, but too bad that they don't give a squat about customer service. It's outsourced, so you're dealing with non-English speakers the whole time. If all you plan to do is catch the Red Light fares and not check baggage, then you cannot beat Spirit. However, if "Murphy's Law" applies to you when you travel, plan on a "normal" airline instead.

Spirit Airlines review - by Mike Parks

25 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Absolutely awful. Queued for ages at La Guardia to check in for our flight to Florida, then as the departure to Detroit neared, the check-in staff called them all forward and we were left standing there for about an hour while they checked in passengers that couldn't be bothered to get to the airport on time. When we funally got to the check-in desk, I was told that there were no groups of seats available (as we had left it late to check-in), and they could only offer four single seats. So I was in 6B, My wife was in 17A, my 14 year old son was in 8E and my 12 year old was in 14B. I'm sure they give you crap seats as 'punishment' for not paying for allocated seating. There is no in- flight entertainment, and you must pay by credit card (they don't accept cash) for any drinkls (including water). Remember, you also have to pay between $10 and $20 for each piece of checked baggage. When you add up all of the extras that make flying just about bearable nowadays, you'd be better off to book with a reputable airline.

Spirit Airlines review - by Mark Baughman

19 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

DCA-FLL-DCA Big Front Seat. My first experience with this airline and I had to buy expensive ticket at last minute during holiday weekend for family emergency. Horrible service at both airports. Little signage. Planes late both ways, no information. In FLL - their main airport - total confusion as to how to check in. Staff friendly, just not available nor aware that the mess was not what one should expect. FA's on FLL-DCA leg were awful. Unprofessional in announcements, inattentive to passengers.

Spirit Airlines review - by Bob Koehler

19 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Spirit Airlines charges $10 for each checked bag if purchased online and $20 for each checked bag at the airport. Plus they charge $2 for a soft drink or water on the plane. On top of that, they lost my luggage. I flew to Orlando - my luggage flew to Tampa. I was told that they would send my luggage to my hotel that evening. The luggage never arrived that evening. Nor did it arrive the next morning. This seemed odd because Tampa and Orlando are very close to each other. After my lost baggage didn't arrive that evening, I had to wear the same clothes for two days. For the return flight, I mentioned to the women at the Spirit check-in counter that Spirit had lost my luggage. One of them casually replied, "Oh, that happens all the time." It's quite obvious that Spirit Airlines employees and the CEO simply do not care. Giving them one star is too generous.

Spirit Airlines review - by Renee Mancino

12 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Dealing with Spirit Airlines is absolutely a horrible experience. You cannot speak with a live customer service rep, and you can not contact via e-mail. My flight was cancelled out of Chicago O'Hare because of a major snow storm. Spirit does not post cancellations or delays on their website, nor on the automated phone system even though they offer updates. I went to the airport assuming my flight was leaving, only to find out that it was cancelled four hours prior to departure. The customer service rep at the Spirit check in agreed that I would get a full refund, but refused to print me proof of the refund when I asked for it. I was told it would come in an e- mail. I did receive the e-mail stating that sorry, but I purchased non-refundable tickets. I contacted my credit card company that I used to purchase the tickets online, and they did some digging and found proof that Spirit's policy is to give a full refund if the cancellation is involuntary. My credit card company gave me a full credit and plans on dealing with Spirit directly. They also credited me for the pre-checked baggage I paid for. Spirit told me they do not refund pre-checked baggage. I was lied to again and again. I would never book a flight through this airline again.

Spirit Airlines review - by D Purviance

7 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

FLL-MCO-FLL. Big front seat. No complaints, flights left/arrived on time. Crews adequate but not over professional. Airbus A319 both ways was clean and front seat comfy and well worth the few extra dollars. The outbound crew served the cabin and the inbound, very tired crew from Detroit was not about to get up during the 40 min flight to try and make any extra money for the airline. It is too bad since everyone around me was ready to buy some liquor and drinks. Overall a good experience. Would use again.

Spirit Airlines review - by Ross Andrews

22 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

My wife and I along with two friends recently travelled to St. Thomas USVi from Detroit via Ft. Lauderdale, FL with Spirit. The travel experience was consistent with the reduced fares and pretty much as expected. Upon arrival in St Thomas we discovered that my wife's bag had not made it to St. Thomas. We have made every possible attempt to contact Spirit via their various baggage handling numbers and other than speaking with the baggage agents at the various airports (they appear unwilling or unable to do anything) involved have never actually succeeded in talking to a real person. We have left numerous messages and sent many emails and still no response. So my message to one and all - if you can't get it in a carry on bag, choose another airline.

Spirit Airlines review - by P Luther

17 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

ATL-FLL roundtrip. Good basic transportation. Newer Airbus A319 with leather seating. Friendly staff with no attitude. Traveled with pre-printed boarding passes from website, and proper sized carry-on bags, which simplified the process. Overall great value for money.

Spirit Airlines review - by Mike Clark

3 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

I recently travelled Spirit Airlines on a daytime service from Las Vegas to Fort Lauderdale. The check-in staff were friendly and helpful. However Spirit doesn't have e-checkin kiosk at Las Vegas airport which might have made check-in a little quicker. Pre-boarding commenced 35 minutes prior to departure. I had purchased one of Spirit Airlines " Big Front Seats" as I am a bigger person. The seats and extra legroom in this part of the cabin was definitely worth the extra, $95.00 USD on this 4 hour flight. The cabin crew onboard the flight were fantastic. They were funny and entertaining without taking it too far. They were also very polite and courteous. I would highly recommend Spirit Airlines.

Spirit Airlines review - by Doris Swanton

23 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

I was on a redeye flight from Las Vegas to Fort Lauderdale. The last row of seats was empty and when I tried to sit there was told by the only female flight attendant on the flight that the row was reserved for a possible medical emergency, if one should arise. During the whole flight the only people I observed sitting in those seats were flight attendants. At times the flight attendants were sleeping. The type plane was an A319 and there were a total of three flight attendants on the plane. I believe the flight attendant was lieing just to save the seats for themselves. Why would an airline leave six seats unsold just because there may be someone who might have a medical emergency on a plane.

Spirit Airlines review - by L Benton

23 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

We were able to fly between Washington National (DCA) and Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) for $17 each way (plus tax), so I am not complaining. We had no problems, but on both legs it was slow boarding, and questionable if all the carry on bags were going to fit in the overhead compartments. There is a $2 charge for water and soft drinks, more for snacks and alcoholic beverages. Ice is the only freebie. Checked bags are $10 per bag if purchased on- line, $20 if purchased at check-in. Leather seats were fairly comfortable but close together. No headsets for music or barf bags.

Spirit Airlines review - by P Browning

14 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

FLL-DCA-FLL in the soon to be eliminated Spirit Plus. The flight out was late in boarding and late in departing. No announcements of any kind were made to the waiting passengers, many of them with small children who were all get grumpy. I finally approached a Spirit employee and asked when we would know the status of our flight and why no announcements had been made. The employee shrugged and told me not to worry, that any ground delay would be made up in the air. It wasn't. On board, service was fine. Spirit Plus flight attendant was very friendly and offered great service. Though, I have to say, the aircraft was pitifully dirty. The flight attendant, in the safety announcement, welcomed us aboard one of Spirit's brand new A 319s...and it was a shambles...crumbs and wrappers on the floor and seats...already lots of skuff and ink marks all over. The flight back was the same story: late arrival of aircraft, late boarding, no announcements made to passengers at all. Spirit gate area in Terminal A at DCA is a distaster...terrible signage and their gate is alongside a construction site. While that's not their fault, they could make some effort to let everyone know which gate is theirs...many Spirit passengers wandered around wondering where their gate was. On board, service was so-so. The Spirit Plus flight attendant seemed bored. She spent most of the flight sitting in her jump seat reading a book. I can't say that I will never fly Spirit again, but I certainly won't choose to like I did this time. I think their new business model is having a terrible effect on their personnel, and it's showing in the level of service.

Spirit Airlines review - by J Magermans

4 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Our flight from Orlando to Detroit was wonderful - very smooth and the pilot was quite talkative and interesting. Everything was fine ... until we started to land. My 15 year old daughter was not well and just as we were landing she vomited all over (as there were no air sickness bags in the backs of our seats). She was extremely embarrassed and apologetic. One of the stewards (male) was helpful in giving us paper towels and plastic bags to clean up with. He treated our daughter with empathy and understanding. However, there were 2 female attendants who stood at the back of the plane with scowls on their faces and my daughter overheard one of them say "Just get off the plane I want to get home". They could not have been more unsympathetic or useless and their comments were greatly unappreciated. We have always been very happy with our experiences with Spirit and I was very upset with our treatment on this last flight.

Spirit Airlines review - by M Faust

27 April 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Great flight to and from Atlantic City & Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood Int'l Airport. Planes were clean. Attendents pleasant. Just wish the terminal in Lauderdale had an area where food could be purchase since I had to be at the airport at 5am and nothing was open to purchase food after going through security. Website is extremely friendly to first time users to book and print out boarding passes.

Spirit Airlines review - by Hae Eun Park

20 April 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

I had a good experience the first leg to LaGuardia from Los Angeles LAX. Nothing out of the ordinary. Staff seemed friendly. The way back, however, was a completely different story. When we checked in, they told us we wouldn't make our connecting flight and told us to rebook two days from our original date with no explanation why. We got a refund and came back 2 days later, checked our bags in, passed security, and waited at the gate. Then we noticed the time had changed for a departure 3 hours later, thus making us miss our connecting flight yet again! No announcement, no notice. The next available flight wouldn't be until 5 days later! The staff seemed overworked, stressed, and rude. They wouldn't give us additional compensation and we couldn't afford to stay another week, so it was either live at the airport for a week or buy another ticket on another airline. We ended up spending 700 dollars buying tickets on ATA airlines instead and sleeping at the airport. Needless to say, we were tired and not very happy.

Spirit Airlines review - by V Davis

12 April 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

Spirit has a great money-maker in leaving Las Vegas. They set the time at "12:30 am". Sure, I should have noted that was a full day earlier than I intended to check out of hotel, return rental car, etc to make the flight, but truth is I looked at the date only. So, imagine my shock when I got to Spirit's desk to check in Friday night, 10:00 pm for my "12:30 flight" and the clerk told me that I'd missed my flight by exactly 24 hours. He went on to tell me that I shouldn't feel bad because "23 to 25 people every night" miss this same flight. OK, so I feel better. Temporarily. I had booked business class, but that didn't count since I "missed" my flight. I could be stand-by tonight - and "since at least 20 folk will miss tonight's flight", my chances were pretty good of making it - coach. Oh, one small detail: "it'll cost you $70 cash at the gate to get on the flight." I about croaked. The low-cost airline had a Vegas-style game going. Do the math: 20-25 misses per night, $70 re-booking fee next night - adds up to about $1400-$1600 extra revenue per Vegas trip. Solution: use available technology on web-site to flash a warning about the crazy date and time combination so that the less-detailed fliers among us have some warning. At least at the casinos you know you are being milked! Crew was nice, seats OK, plane clean. Not their fault that corporate is playing games. Nearly 2 dozen misses a night - Every night - is not just one person being inattentive to details.

Spirit Airlines review - by Curt Clevenger
4 April 2007

My wife and I have made a number of trips to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Fort Myers from Atlantic City, NJ. I live much closer to Philadelphia, but the ease of check-in, boarding and immediate take-off from a not very busy airport has us sold. The all-new fleet of Airbus jets with leather seats is a nice touch. Being a member of Spirit Plus makes insanely low fares available a number of times each month. And it costs less than half to park your car!

Spirit Airlines review - by Carlton Laird
17 November 2006

Boston to Myrtle Beach. Was a great experience. Clean plane. Great crew. Left on time each way and arrived early at each destination, a truly pleasant surprise. Will continue to use Spirit as much as possible. My only complaint is that there is currently no flight from Providence,RI to Myrtle Beach.

Spirit Airlines review - by K Walters
22 August 2006

FLL-LGA. Check in was a breeze thanks to there self checkin machines. I was wondering what kind of service I was going to recieve considering I only booked the flight four days before for just over $200.00. I must say I was pleasantly surprise. The aircraft was new and very clean and the cabin crew was exceptionally nice and welcoming. The only complain I have was with the boarding process which was a bit unorganized but I think it was because of newly enacted security procedures. It also took me a while to get my luggage when I reached LaGuardia. LGA-FLL. The flight was on time, same clean, new nice aircraft. Overall the service I recieved on this airline rival those on some of the majors.

Spirit Airlines - by K Trills
5 July 2006

Chicago O'Hare to Florida Southwest (Ft. Myers)return. Both flights were excellent - affordable for a family of four, on time, a friendly crew on each trip, with little or anticipated turbulence (TS Alberto was a minor factor on the return trip but expected turbulence was announced prior to departure). Counter crews were attentive and friendly but the Airbus A320's were somewhat dirty. The short turnaround from previous arrival's may have been a factor. Flying into and out of Florida Southwest continues to be a pleasure. It defines what an airport should be - accessible, clean, and easy to navigate. You feel welcome when you arrive. I would recommend Spirit and hope to fly with them again. Patronize the smaller, low cost airlines. I cannot justify spending significantly more money for the same routes and equal service.

Spirit Airlines - by Eric Williams
21 February 2006

The flight was delayed for 2.5 hours due to ATC. Once on board, the flight crew was inviting; they apologized for the delay and thanked the passengers many times for flying Spirit Airlines. Flying in Spirit Plus was a treat but didn't measure up to the described service on the website. Having purchased the airfare and class-of-service six months before the flight, I was hoping for something "special". The seats were large and comfortable and the cocktails were complementary. The free snacks were nothing more than what was on sale in the main cabin. Being a "business-class" traveler was far from "special". Our attendant was pleasant but appeared to be exhausted. I tried to be appreciative but, he was non-responsive and wanted nothing more than for this journey to be ended. So after the cocktail and the nachos, I was happy to be on my journey on a safe, new Airbus 319. I paidfor a trip to Florida and I received a reliable and professional experience. For a low cost carrier, the cabin crew and flight deck offered an excellent experience; I was there safely and content!

Spirit Airlines - by  G Estes
1 September 2005