Re: um... wow
Michi
5/16/2012 11:58:52 AM
You are very wrong many of Spirit customers have flown with us and know what they are getting into. Not everyone checks a bag not everyone takes 2 carry ons why should the person that flies light get charged for someone that bring their whole RV/home with them.
The problem is if you buy a ticket from Travelocity or other web based agency they do a bad job of providing info about fees. If you go to www.spirit.com here you will find that all the fees are given to you up front with no hidden agenda.
Spirit wants You to purchase what you want or need and nothing else.
When you go to the movies do you require them to included the popcorn and drink with your ticket price? How about 5 bucks for popcorn and 5 bucks for a coke is that to expensive or are you the type that takes food and drinks in your purse.
Sure all airlines mess up. But every other one on which I've had a bad experience -- Virgin Atlantic, Delta, JetBlue -- do something Spirit refuses to do. They apologize. They give you some air miles, or a pat on the back and make you feel like they are sorry.
Spirit employees -- and this is not just me saying this -- seem to relish in your misery.
As for the fee, yea, the $100 carry on fee is the maximum fee--I understand that. But if one person has to pay $100 to carry on a diaper bag too big to slip under the seat, it's crazy. What about families who load up on food in the terminal before boarding? Will that shopping bad of salads and sandwhiches and juice boxes count as a carry on bag -- and unwittingly force someone to shell out $100 or leave the $100 worth of overpriced food he just bought at the gate?
Re: um... wow
Michi
5/16/2012 11:46:40 AM
Spirit always flys full over 85 to 90% capacity. So if you are looking for a ticket last minute Spirit will always be higher. All airlines pricing is determend by how many seats are available, more seat cheaper ticket, less seat higher priced ticket.
Plus the $100 dollar bag fee is to keep passengers from taking bags to the gate with out paying for them. It takes time away from the gate agent and flight attendant to charge for these fees so to make sure people pay at the counter instead of the gate they are charging a higher price. Also since Spirit has charged for carry on bags deplaneing is quicker. Spirit want pax to check the bag in the belly and not overhead bins. That's why the charge less for checked bags then carry-on.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Spirit and notice that you are bias because of it. No airline is perfect and anything that happened at Spirit could have happened to you at any other airline.
Just so your clear with the carry on bag fees. On line $35 at airport $45 and at the gate when boarding $100. All the news media explaining this in a wrong way not just you.
I just don't understand
tokyogai
5/16/2012 9:20:13 AM
I see why Spirit is making money- charging for everything, but I wonder how many loyal repaet customers they have? I would not even consider flying them- I don't need to pay to be treated poorly. I agree that this model has a limited life. By the time you pay for extras, it may be better to take a more civil carrier and also be treated better.
PredictableChaos,
You are probably right I see robotic flight attendants in our future. Maybe they will be nicer than humans. Well look at the bright side: Checking in and getting your ticket with automated machines is nice!
Hopefully Ultimate will get here and displace United which rules the Gallatin County airport.
Re: can Spirit really stay in business ?
Scott Raynovich
5/15/2012 6:14:39 PM
I don't get the business model either. "Be super cheap and low end?"
can Spirit really stay in business ?
Value Hiker
5/15/2012 2:55:52 PM
Passengers may complain about the unending fees, but analysts like Maxim Group's Ray Neidl say the Spirit business model is "brilliant."
I don't see any brillance of Spirit business model. Cutting out of the fat is a good practice for any business, but cutting to the bone is a really bad idea. There is a fine line between being a miser and being a robber. Investors will be ok to see the CEO cleaning his own office. (Does this guy have anything better to do ?) But they won't be happy to see Spirit charging customers $3 for plain water. It is not cost-saving, it is a ripoff.
Sorry Scott,
I'm afraid most of the industry is going the other way, with Spirit as the harbinger of the future.
Think of bus travel as the model we're moving to. How nice are the attendants on the bus? Oh, that's right, there aren't any. Now imagine an airline where the attendants are just like the bus - there aren't any. Still no legroom, but now it smells more like airplane fuel and old sweat. Take a deep breath. Ahhh.
"Ultimate Airlines" may have a tiny share of the market, but they won't fly to Montana anyway.
PC
The Spirit Squeeze
Tenacious
5/15/2012 2:28:28 PM
Spirit will be profitable for only a limited time. Sooner rather than later its reputation will overtake the myth of its low prices. And then those rude employees can all take their fees and shove them.
I don't care for Southwest because of it's no assigned seat policy. However, I don't get the same level of disdain from the Southwest employees that I get from the ones at Spirit. Spirit Airlines: always looking for new ways to bring you down.
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