On the plus side, Spirit finally has TSA Precheck.
We actually fly Spirit pretty often. When you can get round-trip airfare for $50-100 pp, it is hard to say "no." Their checked bag fees are the same as the legacy carriers. We've actually had really good customer service from them as well. I know they get a lot of hate, but for the price we pay, we've been pretty happy campers.
Same here. I haven't experienced any more delays than I would have with any other carrier either. I often see people that I have to conclude are idiots posting complaints about delays that are weather related and I've also been in the airports and heard people complain. Yes some people are truly that stupid that they don't understand that the same snowstorm or severe thunderstorm effects every other airline flying into or out of that same area.
Next week I'm flying non-stop on Spirit from Fort Lauderdale to Cleveland to bring our 5 year old granddaughter down here to stay with us for three weeks. The cost for the 3 roundtrip flights with a checked bag for her both way was $217.49 total. That isn't per flight but the total for all 3 flights. Last year my husband and I flew non-stop again on Spirit from Fort Lauderdale to Las Vegas and the cost roundtrip for both of us with a shared checked bag was $134.40 total, not a piece.
I've been bringing our granddaughter down for 2-3 weeks stays 3 times a year since she was 2. She will be starting school next year so boohoo this is the last year we can do this. We also fly up once a year for a family event. Thanks to Skype, Face Time, Spirit Airlines and occasionally Allegiant Airlines we have been able to have a very close relationship with her despite the distance.
My husband flies several times a year for business and his company uses other carriers. He says except for Jet Blue and only marginally Southwest that anymore the other carriers really aren't any better than Spirit for what they offer and comfort. I should add that we've heard great things about Air Alaska but have never had the opportunity to use them. I used to fly at least 4 times a year on other carriers before I started flying Spirit and the only difference I for me was that I stopped at Hudson News to buy a bottle of water and now just take an empty bottle and fill it up before I get on the plane. Every time I check Spirit's prices against other carriers the cost is always at least $100-$200 and sometimes more with other carriers. Those are some darn expensive free bottles of water for the extra money to fly other carriers!
In the 15 roundtrip flights we made last year we easily saved at least $2000-$2200 if not more. The money we saved flying Spirit plays for our Legoland and Disney annual passes, the exchange fees to spend the weeks in Orlando and Sanibel and other fun stuff we do while our granddaughter is here. That is where my priorities lie. The snobs who won't fly this "low cost/class" in their opinion carrier are welcome to enjoy those expensive bottles of water or soda and miniscule bags of pretzels. LOL
I'm editing this to add that I'm retired and my husband's job allows him a huge amount of flexibility in setting his own work schedule. We are very fortunate to be able to travel when the fares are the lowest. I refuse to fly at holiday times, paying higher prices and putting up with extremely crowded airports. It seems like every holiday we see on the news that people are stuck sitting in airports due to delays because of weather conditions, computer issues and other problems. We frequently go somewhere over the holidays but living in Florida we have so many great places to go with the timeshares that are within driving distance that we are once again very spoiled.
