Spirit Airlines Says: "Don't Fly With Us"

[lugnut33]

I think it's great. Why are you complaining - the checked bag fee is actually going down. Shouldn't you be THANKING the people you are addressing sarcastically here?

NO!! You are willingly accepting add-on charges. When is enough enough?

I bet you'd be all up in arms if the government decided to add-on a "Tax Filing Fee". In order to file your taxes you have to pay $10. That's essentially what the airlines are doing.

 

[Hannathy]

It would be one thing is ALL the carriers do this, but they don't. The one who doesn't is still doing OK:



I hope the other ones fee themselves out of existence.

There are somethings that one should expect to come with the fee you pay to fly. Just like a car, you can buy a standard car but it still comes with brakes, seats, and wheels. By willing accepting these fees you travelers are telling the airlines they can add charges for everything and you're happy with it. Part of flying includes bringing some luggage, or do you fly with nothing?

Somebody brought up the one day trip, that's ridiculous.

So you liked it better when you didn't see the charges? do you think they didn't charge you before? Before everyone paid for everybody whether you brought anything or not. This way everyone pays for themselves and only themselves.

One day trips happen a lot, not as much as before but they still happen.

 

[Lewisc]

Some cars come with a CD changer, DVD player, GPS system, bluetooth etc. Some don't.

You'd have a point if an airline charged extra to use a seatbelt.

A lot of threads on DIS are started by passengers who are upset with SWs fares. SW is trying to charge a profitable fare. Other airlines are appealing to passengers who look for an unprofitable fare and are willing (or don't know) to pay for extras.

How many bags should be included in the fare. A large carryon bag? One checked bag? Two checked bags?

Maybe there should be a requirement that airlines include the cost to check one bag in the displayed fare. Allow an airline to offer a credit (reduced fare) if a passenger decides not to check a bag. That would eliminate an airline benefiting from infrequent fliers who don't read the fine print. It would also make it easier to compare fares between different airlines. Kayak has an option to include the cost for checked bags when they compare fares.

A day trip isn't uncommon for some business fliers.

It would be one thing is ALL the carriers do this, but they don't. The one who doesn't is still doing OK:



I hope the other ones fee themselves out of existence.

There are somethings that one should expect to come with the fee you pay to fly. Just like a car, you can buy a standard car but it still comes with brakes, seats, and wheels. By willing accepting these fees you travelers are telling the airlines they can add charges for everything and you're happy with it. Part of flying includes bringing some luggage, or do you fly with nothing?

Somebody brought up the one day trip, that's ridiculous.

 

[discott71]

Me too...I pay for what I want to bring, why should I subsidize the family that is traveling with a checked bag at 49.5 lbs, a overly stuffed carry-on and a barely acceptable personal item for each of their 4 family members for a 1 week vacation? I can pack myself and my partner for two weeks in one checked bag and two personal items that we fit under our seats. Rarely do I carry on anything larger.

That's nice for you, but for a family of five those fees add up fast. With little kids, packing lightly is not an option. Each one of us always has a carryon and personal item. My kids have their favorite blanket or stuffed animal in there and some clothing to last the whole vacation. We then check in one bag (for all of us) for some extra room to bring back souveniers.

I think this is ridiculous and hope other airlines do not follow their lead. The airlines should control the size and the weight of the carryon - not charge for them!

 

[lugnut33]

So you liked it better when you didn't see the charges? do you think they didn't charge you before? Before everyone paid for everybody whether you brought anything or not. This way everyone pays for themselves and only themselves.

One day trips happen a lot, not as much as before but they still happen.

I liked it better when I paid a decent price and actually received some service.

In the end it's the Wal-Mart mentality that's winning out. As long as it appears cheap nothing else matters.

 

[discott71]

It would be one thing is ALL the carriers do this, but they don't. The one who doesn't is still doing OK:



I hope the other ones fee themselves out of existence.

There are somethings that one should expect to come with the fee you pay to fly. Just like a car, you can buy a standard car but it still comes with brakes, seats, and wheels. By willing accepting these fees you travelers are telling the airlines they can add charges for everything and you're happy with it. Part of flying includes bringing some luggage, or do you fly with nothing?

Somebody brought up the one day trip, that's ridiculous.

 

[Tara]

NO!! You are willingly accepting add-on charges. When is enough enough?

I bet you'd be all up in arms if the government decided to add-on a "Tax Filing Fee". In order to file your taxes you have to pay $10. That's essentially what the airlines are doing.

Seriously, your attitude and misdirected anger is offensive. By your own posts, you must be a traveler who checks baggage as you are blaming those who don't check bags. Well, you will be paying less. You can still carry on a bag for free - it just has to fit under the seat. So I ask again - what are you complaining about?

The airlines are trying to make a profit. Read this board - it's all about people wanting to book the absolute lowest fee. I am willing to pay what I consider REASONABLE and if that's a carry-on fee that keeps people from bringing oversized bags on planes, then awesome. SIGN ME UP.

I compare Southwest with other carriers out of my city all the time. The fares for other carriers are always a bit less than Southwest, but they seem to be very carefully designed to be the same once you add in baggage fees. Southwest's fares are higher but I pay them. (I just swallowed hard and booked some very high Southwest airfare - higher than I've ever paid.) If you aren't willing to pay a reasonable fare but you are still determined to travel, the airlines have to find some way to eek out a little more revenue.

If you would get over your misplaced anger, you'd perhaps be able to take a little bit longer view of the history here. When the liquid regs went into place, people started checking bags in droves. It was really kind of nice to fly for a while - planes were loading much more efficiently. But the airlines were practically hobbled by the dramatic spike in baggage they were handling. Every one of those bags costs money to handle. So to try to balance the scales, they started charging baggage fees. And what happened? People started carrying on more baggage again. Boarding processes slowed down again, people started carrying on more than they should, and now the flight attendants' union is complaining saying that 80% of FAs have reported injuries due to carry-on bags (or 80% of FA injuries are caused by carry-on bags - I can't remember what the statistic was). I see what Spirit is doing as a sensible way to try to create a balance between checked and carry-on baggage. Why should people who want to avoid paying for bags that really ought to be checked be allowed to slow down the boarding process, potentially delay flights (you ever been on a flight where they were trying to get people to get settled so they could leave on time? It can get ugly.) and potentially injure other passengers with their bags? This way people who want to bring a bigger bag on-board still can - they'll just pay for it, just as they would if they check the bag. Those who were simply avoiding the fees can now check their large, heavy bags at a reduced rate. Spirit is closing a loophole.

 

[pooch]

Me too...I pay for what I want to bring, why should I subsidize the family that is traveling with a checked bag at 49.5 lbs, a overly stuffed carry-on and a barely acceptable personal item for each of their 4 family members for a 1 week vacation? I can pack myself and my partner for two weeks in one checked bag and two personal items that we fit under our seats. Rarely do I carry on anything larger.

Just don't understand the "bring EVERY stitch of clothing, the entire medicine chest and the bathtub" mentality. We're not traveling to a 3rd world country!!! DD (25) and I check one bag for the 2 of us and carry an oversized handbag each for an 8 day trip. Lighten up folks!!!

 

[discott71]

Just don't understand the "bring EVERY stitch of clothing, the entire medicine chest and the bathtub" mentality. We're not traveling to a 3rd world country!!! DD (25) and I check one bag for the 2 of us and carry an oversized handbag each for an 8 day trip. Lighten up folks!!!

Again, easily said by someone who doesn't have kids. Trust me, throw a few kids in the mix and you will NOT be traveling so lightly. Don't be so quick to judge. These charges add up fast for families and are ridiculous!

 

[JennMouse32]

this is why driving is being more and more appealing, its getting to be cheaper to drive and much less of a hassle than flying​

 

[lugnut33]

this is why driving is being more and more appealing, its getting to be cheaper to drive and much less of a hassle than flying​

I agree, it's becoming more appealing.

 

[JennMouse32]

i like the driving anyways.. get to spend time with whoever you are traveling with, get to see the country it can be very nice... i priced it out to fly as opposedto driving down to tdisney this year.. and driving is a heck of a lot cheaper once all the extra fees for flying are added in..​

 

[Hannathy]

Again, easily said by someone who doesn't have kids. Trust me, throw a few kids in the mix and you will NOT be traveling so lightly. Don't be so quick to judge. These charges add up fast for families and are ridiculous!

I disagree! Heck I used to bring a lot more stuff when I was young and childless. People on these boards travel to Disney like it is a wilderness adventure. It is a major theme park, in civilization!

Don't forget to throw in the "cost" of the extra days it takes to drive vs fly. For some people time off is a lot more scarce than money. Plus driving has a lot higher risks involved.

 

[lugnut33]

And sometimes I have a checked bag and sometimes I don't.

They should just start advertising flights for free... then add the * for the fine print:

Sidewalk Fee: $10
Automatic Door Fee: $10
Check-in Fee: $15
Crabby Worker Fee: Free
Check-in Luggage: $25 per bag
Carry-on Fee: $30
Seat to sit in: $20
Comfortable Seat: Forget about it, you don't have the money
Folding Table use: $5
Shoulder Damage From Food Cart: Priceless
In-flight Updates From Cockpit: $1
Rude Flight Crew: $20
Bathroom Usage Tax: $10 ($500 if you don't pre-purchase)
Fat Tax: Depends on your weight (I'm a fat guy, so I can say that word)
Scale use to determine fat tax: $5
Smooth Landing: $15
Rough Landing: $2
Friendly Goodbye after flight: $32

Well, I think I've just come up with your new ala carte pricing.

 

[discott71]

I disagree! Heck I used to bring a lot more stuff when I was young and childless. People on these boards travel to Disney like it is a wilderness adventure. It is a major theme park, in civilization!

Don't forget to throw in the "cost" of the extra days it takes to drive vs fly. For some people time off is a lot more scarce than money. Plus driving has a lot higher risks involved.

Well I guess everyone is different. I know for my husband and I personally, we would travel pretty lightly if it was just us.

I do agree with you about the "cost" of extra days to drive down. I would never consider it as much as I dislike these additional air charges!

 

[lugnut33]

If you fly the airlines that don't do all the add-on fees then those add-on fee airlines will be forced to drop them.

 

[petchie]

That's nice for you, but for a family of five those fees add up fast. With little kids, packing lightly is not an option. Each one of us always has a carryon and personal item. My kids have their favorite blanket or stuffed animal in there and some clothing to last the whole vacation. We then check in one bag (for all of us) for some extra room to bring back souveniers.

I think this is ridiculous and hope other airlines do not follow their lead. The airlines should control the size and the weight of the carryon - not charge for them!

Instead of 10 carry-ons. Pack 2 bags that you check. Kids clothes do not take up a ton of room. $19.00 each way for you and your husband to each check a bag. Then you lower the carry ons to a more manageable 5.

 

[goofy4tink]

When I first started flying to WDW, it cost close to $300. We didn't pay for checked bags. Then, fares started to drop like a rock. I got to the point where I would be distressed if I paid more than $150 to fly there!! The airlines spoiled us. Now, we are complaining about the fares being too high..people want to know when the fares are going to drop. Personally, I don't have a problem with anything under $250 pp. I have flown with kids, I get it, I really do. But...flying is not a god given right. If it's too expensive to fly, then don't fly. You can always drive.
Charging for carryon bags?? It had to happen eventually. I will be surprised if other airlines don't pick up on it. Obviously SW won't ...no need. But, other airlines just may. I know that when I flew both Delta and Airtran last week, there were a lot of passengers cramming oversized bags into the overheads. It was really nuts. One lady actually got up on the seat across the aisle from the overhead bin she was trying to shove her huge bag into. She wanted more leverage to shove harder. It fit, but there was little room left over for anyone else!!!
I think the fees are a bit steep though. I would think that something in the area of $20 per carryon bag would make more sense. People are trying to avoid the checked bag fees by stuffing everything they need into a carryon bag. Yes, I used a large Vera Bradley backpack for my underseat bag and an LLBean rolling duffle (medium) for my clothing..it fits perfectly into the overhead..wheels in, unless my seat is one of two vs three. those overhead bins are a lot shorter. And I was gone for over a week.

It holds up the plane a lot when people have to get their myriad bags down upon arrival..they stand there and do what needs to be done, usually slowly, which holds others up who have already taken their bags out and are waiting patiently. If there was less in those overheads, passengers would be getting off a lot more quickly. Then, passengers would be allowed to board more quickly...with fewer bags to be stowed, they will be settled more quickly and the plane can leave. Much less turnaround time.

But, there are always going to be those passengers who want the very cheap airfare as well as no charges for checked bags much less carryon bags. And that is not going to happen. It will force airlines out of business. Be sure to do your homework when booking airfare. Be sure to read everything there is in order to see what your particular airlines' policies are. That way, you can make an intelligent choice.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Again, easily said by someone who doesn't have kids. Trust me, throw a few kids in the mix and you will NOT be traveling so lightly. Don't be so quick to judge. These charges add up fast for families and are ridiculous!

Although I do not have kids, do not be quick to judge yourself that I do not travel with them ever. We tend to take my partner's sister and her kid with us and again, we don't need nearly as much as the majority of travelers seem to believe they need to bring.

 

[Brian Noble]

Ultimately, air travel is not a necessity, it is a luxury. At some point, the overall fare structure is going to stabilize at a level that allows any suriving carriers to fly profitably. That's probably going to require further *significant* reductions in capacity, and/or at least one of the larger carriers going out of business. In other words: fewer people will be flying, and they will be paying more. Unless oil suddenly becomes nearly free, there's no other way out---and oil prices have been climbing again as the world economy recovers from the most recent recession.