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WATCH OUT FOR SPIRIT AIRLINES $9 SPECIALS!!
Do you get the emails from Spirit Airlines offering you $9 specials on tickets? Often wonder how they do it, with gas prices soaring?
They are for real, and I have flown Spirit to Atlanta several times for less that $78 round trip. You just have to be willing to travel on the dates they offer the special fares.
Well, I learned first hand this weekend how they manage to survive in this economy with such cheap tickets!! I live right downtown and a cab can usually get to my house in a few minutes, so I never bother friends to take me to the airport. Well, last week no cab came and after waiting for a half hour I had to find someone to drive me at the last minute..that took another 20 minutes, on top of the half hour I'd already waited.
Armed with my Spirit Special $78 round-trip ticket to Atlanta, I went running into the airport with 42 minutes to spare, only to hear that their cutoff for checking in is 45 minutes. I tried several check-in windows, thinking I'd find a fellow human who would take pity, but NO, it is surely their policy to make you get in a new line to rebook another flight, as this one was closed out at 45 minutes. Very frustrating as the minutes ticked off, and I knew my booked plane was still sitting at the gate.
The new line was long, full of angry passengers shut out at the 45 minute mark. Most were even angrier when told what the re-booking fee would be!! To get on the next flight to Atlanta, Spirit would charge me $333. One way!!
There were 3 students in front of me, coming home from a vacation in the islands, looking happy and tanned with their Bo Derek braided hair. Their connecting flight had just landed, and they went straight to the Spirit window to check in for the flight home. Their glow faded when they were told about the exorbitant re-booking fees!
Not being happy to take no for an answer, I even tried to get to the gate, to see if there might be a 'human with a heart' there, but couldn't get through security without a boarding pass. Please pass this advice on, to all who fly, BE SURE TO PRINT YOUR BOARDING PASS ONLINE! You can do this on the airline website 24 hours in advance. I could have gotten on, even so late, with a preprinted boarding pass!
So this is the answer to the question "How can Spirit Air offer the $9 specials?" With all the huge fees they get from poor slobs who get totally screwed at the airport if they show up a minute after the 45 minute cutoff.
(The ending of my story is: I wouldn't pay the unreasonable $333 re-booking fee. I honestly would have canceled my trip before falling prey to such a rip off. I went home and re-booked a flight online, on a different airline, careful to avoid Spirit altogether, flying out the next morning for less than $100 one way. I used my original Spirit return ticket, making sure to get to the airport with hours to spare!!!)
Comments
That's ridiculous! Though it's impressive that you wouldn't let yourself get scammed and managed to save the $233. I wonder what Spirit Airline's PR department would think of this? Certainly not an image I would want my company to have! "Heartless agents deny woman boarding to make profit." Again, RIDICULOUS!
Posted by: marielle | July 17, 2008 2:26 PM
Was this 45 minute rule printed anywhere on the ticket or in the "terms and conditions" when you purchased online? If so, the airline is not at fault here. If it wasn't, you certainly have a case against the airline, and I'd write out some complaints to their Headquarters and anywhere else you can think of that might make a difference in their ticketing policy.
Posted by: Taylorblue | July 17, 2008 9:30 PM
@Taylorblue:
Regardless of whether this was printed anywhere or not, a ripoff is a ripoff. The author might not have a legal case (and I don't think she's looking for one), but $333 for rebooking a 1-way ticket is taking unfair advantage of customers.
Posted by: Don Pope | July 18, 2008 8:49 AM
How is that unfair advantage? Anyone who travels much should know that the rule is "get there at least one and a half hours ahead of time for a domestic and 3 hours for an international." If you are late then that's your responsibility, not the airline's.
Posted by: Dan C | July 18, 2008 9:22 AM
It is NOT a ripoff if it is clearly communicated in the terms and conditions. Actually, $333 for booking a one-way ticket 30 minutes prior to departure isn't that bad. ANYONE who travels nowadays should know that they need to be at the airport plenty of time before their scheduled departure time simply to ensure they clear the TSA checkpoints - around 90 minutes prior to departure for domestic flights and 2 hours for international.
Posted by: Mike | July 18, 2008 9:29 AM
WOW! Comments!! As a new blogger, I am so excited to see that someone actually comes in here!! Thanks!! My point of this blog was to warn folks to print their boarding passes ahead of time. Most of you frequent travelers probably know this already, but there are folks out there, like me, who have never been burned before. Delta (for example) bends over backwards to get paying passengers on the flights when there are seats available, right up to the last minute. I can vouch for that, I've walked on a plane as they were closing the door behind me. I'm sure Spirit covered themselves legally before they implemented this policy, but it is surely their policy! It has nothing to do with safety or security, but everything to do with getting money out of the poor suckers who show up late without a boarding pass! There was no reason not to put me on that plane, 43 minutes before the scheduled departure, other than to get more money out of me. So, yes, it was my fault for being late, but I learned a valuable lesson, as there are often extenuating circumstances: a late connection, traffic, car won't start, cab doesn't show, etc. PRINT THAT BOARDING PASS AT HOME BEFORE YOU GO TO THE AIRPORT!!!
Posted by: Kathy (Born to Shop) | July 18, 2008 2:27 PM
Why wouldn't you blame the cab company instead of the airline in that instance?
Posted by: Bob | July 22, 2008 11:58 AM
Legal, but immoral.
Posted by: road warrior | December 6, 2008 1:36 PM
So why do they want you there 45min before. So they can sell your seat to the people who were bumped off the prior flight!
Posted by: David | May 20, 2009 10:10 AM