**Disclaimer, I am upset and should probably count to 10 or even 100 before operating this heavy machinery I call my Mac, I try to think positively and give benefit of the doubt whenever possible, but this time…oh what they heck!?
In the light of Spirit Airlines now charging for carry-on bags, yet another charge they slam their “guests” with, I thought I would post a little rant/theory/make me feel better post.
I happen to be one of the not-so-lucky future passengers of a Spirit Airlines flight and have been on their whirlwind scheme for some time.
Ahh, it all started when a friend told me to look into their super fabulous, can’t beat it, special, $9 fare club, in which nothing is EVER $9. Fantastic! Oh wait, it costs around $40 a year to be a member of this club…and it renews automatically…surprise! Whatd’ya save? NOTHING! I said Whatd’ya save? NOTHING! So glad I’m a member, should rename it $9 Fake Club.
So a good friend of mine is getting married in Las Vegas this October and a fellow bridesmaid and I wanted to get a head start and book our flight now so we are paid in full and ready to enjoy the wedding and not have to worry about extra costs etc. right before the wedding. So I found what I thought was a good deal on a Spirit flight and thought I’d put that elite membership to use at least once for the $80 I’ve already spent on the pointless thing.
I picked out our departure and arrival times, got to the screen where we had to pay to check bags, erg, $20+ each way, I’ll carry mine on, it’s a long weekend and we get our dresses pressed for free, I’m golden (hahaha, if I only knew what Spirit had in store for me in a few months). So I got my two flights, checked a bag for my friend there and back and get to the next screen, book flight right? NOPE. Want to pick your seat? It’s going to cost you! It was a great spread, like a baseball game, where the seats in the front are highly priced, about $32 each, then you move to the exit rows, where there is more leg room for about $20 each, then you have your middle rows ranging from $12-$16 and finally your back few rows for $8 each. If I wasn’t already, now I am thinking…what did I pay for in that first fee when I booked my departure and arrival? I was nervous to click continue, but I was already so far in and had another traveler in toe, so I couldn’t back out now (wishing I would’ve). So I clicked continue and it asked me if I’d like to breathe on this flight and that would be an additional $57 per person, per hour of the flight, just kidding, but it wasn’t too far off considering all of the other charges they had segmented out. Only to find out now they will be charging for carry-ons too…not so golden anymore, I’m thinking.
Ok, so I’m a little peeved about all the charges and how it ended up costing $40-$65 more than what was listed after we picked all of our necessary accommodations.
Not done yet!
So, I’ve booked travel quite a bit for myself and others in the corporate setting and have received updates when booking in advance that there are changes in your itinerary, usually a 5-10 minute flight time difference. I received a few notices and went to read through them all the other day and the last one gave the departure time 4 HOURS LATER THAN WHEN I ORIGINALLY BOOKED MY FLIGHT!! This has got to stop! Haha, not yet! I can see little Spirit Sprites dancing with glee as I am getting put through the ringer, not very nice if I might add. They will be hearing from me.
I’m not even sure how many strikes they are at, but good ol’ CNN reports…Spirit Airlines to charge for carry-on baggage! Again I ask myself, what am I paying for in the initial cost? I guess gas, payroll, fees from airports, parts, ?, ?, couldn’t tell ya.
A stupid policy move if you ask me, what in the Hell are we paying for in the first place? Their PR people must be short on oxygen, must not be able to afford it on their flights. From someone in the PR field, a consumer, traveler and blogger 
, I think they should add this charge in the beginning, in the initial ticket price, and boast how you DON’T charge for carry-on bags and people will like you…look at Southwest, I’m sure they are calculating in baggage fees to their ticket prices somehow and telling people they love bags and that bags fly free, like little stowed away pets or something and look how people are raving…it’s all psychology. People don’t want to pay more than what the initial cost is, whether it ends up being more or less one way doesn’t really matter. This goes back to the KISS concept, Keep It Simple…Stupid!
On that front I did get some good news, which is also good news for the customer service rep who will get to hear these complaints when I call to see if I am even flying in the same week as I wanted to before…
Dear Jennifer,
Earlier this week Spirit Airlines announced new policies that affect carry-on and checked baggage. The new policies will go into affect for travel after August 1st, but for customers such as yourself that purchased before April 6, 2010 you will still receive one free carry-on bag in addition to a free personal item, checked bags can be pre-purchased online for a discount, and as a special one-time privilege you will be granted Zone 1 boarding for all of your flights that take place on or after August 1st. For more details on the new policies, please click here. As always, we thank you for your business and look forward to serving you on your upcoming Spirit Airlines flight!
Wow-wee! Shucks, they really DO care! Sure. They are looking forward to serving me? Really? Looking forward to serving me a hot, steaming, pile of
–towels–
Come on, I’m not that crude…well I’m sure this isn’t the last of it and I will probably get served what you were thinking I was going to type before this roller coaster flight experience ends. What is Zone 1 by the way? I get to sit on the stuffy plane for longer than everyone else? No thanks. I only have enough money to pay for air during my flight, not before!
I will keep you posted, but in the mean time, in Ineedtojetset fashion…
(TIP: Beware of the Spirit Sprites that lurk on pages 3-47 of their booking process!)
I hope they get this figured out for the sake of all those other helpless travelers out there.
