Spirit is fine. I fly them all the time They just have a different business model...start with very low fares and then nickel and dime you along the way.

I just flew to STT from Ft Lauderdale. I had to pay $25 to check a bag (their weight limit is now just 40 pounds, but they'll let a few pounds slip). Over 40 lbs is supposed to be $25 more, over 50 lbs another $25, etc. As far as I know, there are NO free checked bags.

You can carry on a small bag (which will fit under the seat in front of you)...otherwise, it's something like $40 to put a large carry on up top. But, there are some exceptions and it seems you can put stuff up top, as long as it would have fit below...but I wouldn't count on it.

Generally, I don't waste $$ on assigned seats in advance. When I'm travelling with my family, I usually just check in 24 hours in advance and use the free "random" option (which has always put us together). But, I wasn't able to check in online for my STT flight, so that would mean waiting to check in at the airport and hoping for the best. The safest of course would be to just pay the crazy seat fees to not worry about it. I did pay $25 to get an Emergency Exit seat. Well worth it to guarantee the extra legroom.

Oh...no free snacks or drinks on the plane either! Bring your own or buy some of the "package" deals to save a little.

By the way...I'm not that impressed with St Thomas, but St Johns (just a short ferry ride away) is incredible!
All of the fees add up and it's frustrating, but it's still probably much less than other airlines total.

The baggage fees and seat fees are enough to keep me away, but recently there was a long thread on another forum that talked of some horrible stories of flight changes after booking. I am trying to do this from memory but one family had numerous flight changes that reduced their vacation by 5 days because of flights that they cancelled. They had to spend considerable time on the phone trying to figure it all out and ended up having to change their villa reservation, which they were fortunate to be able to.

This is not the first time that I have heard such stories and was told by a friend that works for a high end tarvel company that they will not book Spirit under any circumstances because their practice is to cancel flights that do not have enough seats sold.

If I pay $200 less for a flight that will charge me for my carry on, my checked bag, an assigned seat, and a glass of juice, I have not really saved on money, have I?

I acknowledge that Spirit Airlines can be frustrating but that flight to which Caracap refers is a sweet flight. Direct from Boston to STT! I should be so lucky.

I did not know that Spirit flew non stop. I thought every STT flight needed to go through FLL.

I am convinced that when you add it all up Spirit has no better fares than American or Continental.

Also there is NO baggage agreement with any of the brand airlines. So you if you fly another airline to FLL then you need to get your bags and then re-check in at Spirit.

There is none exception to the Spirit airline costing more than the others. If you happen to be lucky and get one of the door then you can do very well.

Billd

I should clarify we do stop in FLL!! They did change the flights on us by a day- but fortunately it worked to our advantage!!! I am hoping for the best- and will try to get seats together after check in opens- thanks for that tip!!!

Caracap:

Admittedly Spirit is a "goofy" airline with their pricing, but we've flown them many times (3 times to STT).

We've never had a schedule problem and were at the worst about 1 hour late. My daughter had the misfortune of being 4 hours late on a flight from STT to Atlantic City (via FLL).

The other problem with cancelled flights and rescheduled flights, mentioned above, might have had to do with the recent snow storms. I've had that happen on several occasions with other airlines to different cities....it happens.

Would I take Spirit again? Probably, if the (overall) price is right. Spirit recently ran a special.....$50 off......the round-trip flight from Atlantic City/STT was $177. (including taxes/fees). The only "extra" cost for us would be luggage, but we can carry it on-board, free.

Hope this helps.

F.I.

The cancelled flights had nothing to do with weather, in fact the flights are not for months. They were notified that the flights were cancelled but they rebooked them on new flights that reduced their vacation. Then they were stuck having to change dates for their villa.
This is not the first time I have heard of this, in fact, I recently read 3 different posts from 3 different people that had the same problem.

I don't really have the option to fly Spirit, but wanted to be sure that people are aware of the bad as well as the good.

We flew Spirit for the first time last July, LAX-FLL-STT.
The outbounds flight got changed twice. Each time, I negotiated with them, nicely on the phone, to get us on a more convenient flight at no charge. I don't think you need to buy seat reservations ahead of time. Not too many does. Just show up 2 hrs before flight, they will accomodate you. The in-flight service is standard. Bring your own food or snacks and buy drinks at airport, some bring empty bottles to fill up at airport's water fountain.
In all, Spirit is a good airline with cheap fares, and they will nickel & dime you.
I am still checking their fares for this summer.

Have a good trip.

Thanks everybody- I am feeling a bit better! Like I said, our flights were changed by a day & then reduced from 2 stops to 1- so right now all the changes that were made in the past months all worked to our advantage.

I totally get all the extra charges & what not- I feel like they are pretty clear about it on the website. I just hope we don't have any suprises once we get to the airport, like delays or cancelled flights (not because of weather).