Comments on: Spirit Raises its Middle Finger at All of Us – Says DoT Made It Do So

By: “Spirit Airlines’ Unintended Consequences Fee: Drawing The Wrath of Lawmakers and Regulators”. | The Flyer's Advocate

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:07:25 +0000

[...] without penalty. The Travel Insider took Spirit to the woodshed in its insightful piece, ‘Spirit Raises its Middle Finger at All of Us – Says DoT Made It Do So,’” Mitchell [...]

By: Marc

Marc — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:33:38 +0000

Spirit gives new meaning the the term “pillage and rape”, with the 40 pound luggage weight limit even for international flights. Not even water or soda escapes their charge. The only thing left free is toilet paper, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they put locks on the bathrooms and demand your credit card number before opening them.
I’ll rent a car before ever flying with those swine again.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:12:53 +0000

Wow. Sounds like Soirit is being coached by the head of Ryanair…

By: Multined

Multined — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:47:27 +0000

I agree. Who believed their gimmick-ads for $9 fares? Some airline on a busy route with competition should try selling all tickets on the plane for one price and junk the seat fees, baggage fees, change fees, etc. It used to be that way on the East Coast and West Coast shuttles [BOS-LGA-DCA, SFO-LAX] before the coming of sophisticated load management computer programs. And some airlines made money by flying and serving passengers! Does load management really maximize revenue?

By: Philb

Philb — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:21:24 +0000

Good analysis, but I think there’s another reason not covered here. By going to a 24 hr cancellation policy, Spirit loses the ability to pocket those cancellation fees and forfeited tickets when customers make a mistake or change their mind right after making a reservation.

By: Ann

Ann — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:13:20 +0000

Actually, there’s a 4th reason this is ridiculous nonsense. Airlines were required to give passengers 24hrs to cancel a reservation once booked (something they have conveniently not mentioned). So what’s happening here is that Spirit is now not getting the 24hr float on those dollars. It has nothing to do with ‘taking a seat out of inventory’. They just can’t ask for a credit card to instantly charge anymore, they have to wait 24hrs to charge it out. (In reality, they ought to be offering a discount for instant purchase, rather than a fee.)

Spirit is not the bargain they make themselves out to be. Unless you’re flying naked and don’t care about where you sit (what’s the point of advance seat assignments? they shoehorn you in anyway), the fees will kill most of the “discount”.

And just for good measure… If you bought an airline ticket on an airline that a travel agent could book through their GDS, you always had 24hrs to purchase a ticket – there are very, very few fares that require instant purchase (most of those being in markets outside the US, so US rules on ticket purchases has no bearing anyway). It’s only been on airline websites where this “instant” purchase stuff has taken place, and only because the airline didn’t give you a choice.

Websites are your best friend? Bah. Find a good travel agent and you’ll be much better served. Consumer beware.