Spirit Airlines Is Officially The Worst Airline In America
Spirit Airlines market themselves as the cheapest airline in the USA and that’s what most people know them for. They adopted a business model and payment structure that was created by the European airline Ryanair in 1985, which allows them to offer flights at far lower rates than any other airline. But recently, they’ve come to people’s attention for a different, less positive reason. Spirit Airlines are officially the most complained about airline in the country.
The low prices that they offer are actually very misleading and the payment structure can get quite confusing. The price that you’re offered isn’t actually the full cost of the flight most of the time because there are all sorts of different charges that they add on top. While a lot of airlines charge extra fees, Spirit is on another level. If you fully understand their payment structure and you know where all of the extra charges come from, it is possible to get a good deal. But if you aren’t expecting it to work like any other airline, you’re going to get a nasty shock.
It’s not just the hidden charges that landed Spirit in hot water either. They’ve come under fire for their terrible customer service too and there have been some high profile cases in the media in recent years. Spirit got a lot of bad press when they refused to refund a former marine with terminal cancer because he didn’t pay the extra $14 for insurance on his ticket. This is just one of the many news stories that have surfaced about the sheer lack of customer service and the bad attitude that Spirit Airlines has.
But even though Spirit ranks at the bottom of the list in customer satisfaction surveys, people are still buying tickets because it can be a very cost effective way to travel. If you’re trying to keep the budget low when you’re traveling and you’re thinking about Spirit, here are a few things you need to know beforehand.
The $9 Fare Club
The $9 fare club is something that Spirit is well known for, even though it’s a complete lie. It’s a membership that you can buy to get cheaper air fares and early access to the best deals. The name $9 fare club actually refers to a 60 day trial membership rather than the full year, but even that free trial is now $19.95. If you don’t cancel that membership then it’ll automatically renew itself and you’ll end up paying the full year’s subscription. That’s going to set you back $60 a year, so the $9 fare club isn’t quite as attractive as people think it is. If you only travel once or twice a year, the savings that you’ll make really aren’t worth paying $60 for and when you combine the prices, you’ll end up paying more than you would if you went with a better airline.
Carry On Charges
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Most airlines these days let you have one carry on for free and then you’ll have to pay for your suitcase if you want to check one. That’s not too unreasonable and most of us are happy to do that. But Spirit doesn’t give you anything for free so unless you’re only traveling with the clothes on your back, the ticket price that is advertised isn’t what you’ll end up paying. The price for bringing a carry on varies a lot depending on when you declare it and whether you’re a member of the fare club. Members pay $24 if they declare it when they book, while non-members will get charged $35. If you wait until you check in online then it’ll set you back $36 for members and $45 for everybody else. When you arrive at the airport, any benefits of being a member go out of the window. Regardless of who you are, you’ll be paying $50 to declare your carry on at check in. If you get past that point and you don’t declare your bag until you reach the gate, you’re going to get charged a whopping $100 per bag. These charges are pretty ridiculous and Spirit doesn’t like to make it obvious either so a lot of people get caught out.
You Won’t Get Refunds
If there is a problem with your flight and it gets delayed or cancelled, most airlines will offer a refund if you want it. Spirit will only offer you points for another flight so you’re stuck going with them again. There have been a lot of problems with people getting bumped from flights and put onto later ones and there isn’t really anything you can do. This is worth remembering if you’re involved in an accident as well. It’s not likely to happen but if it does, you’ll struggle to get the compensation that you’re entitled to. You’ll probably have to get in touch with aviation accident lawyers to help you fight the case. With an increasing number of late or cancelled Spirit flights, this is something to consider before you decide whether to book with them or not.
You’ll Pay To Sit Together
When you book flights with any other airline, they’ll usually group the seats together if possible. But surprise, surprise, Spirit will make you pay if you want to sit together. You can leave it and you’ll be assigned random seats but that’s not really ideal if you’re traveling with kids. The price varies from $1 all the way up to $50 depending on the seats if you want to sit with your traveling companions. That’s per seat as well so it can easily spiral out of control. You might also want to pick a seat with extra leg room because Spirit pack as many seats as they are legally allowed onto each flight, so it isn’t exactly comfortable. But if you do want that extra space, you’ll pay $12 if you’re lucky or $199 if you aren’t.
When you add all of those extra charges up, you’re paying way more than advertised and when you get terrible service on top of that, it’s no wonder that they’re the most hated airline in America.
