Spirit today announced that Aug 1 they will start charging, UP TO $45, for carry on in the overhead compartment. What robbers. There flights to and from most destinations, all connecting in Ft Lauderdale or Detroit, can be beaten in most cases if you have time to check your options, and some latitude in dates. And God forbid you are not in the $9 Fare Club and do not prepay the fees online. Check this out: BREAKING: Spirit Airlines to charge up to $45 fee for carry-on bags | Gadling.com WHAT ROBBERS. I WISH EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY THESE GUYS, WOULD DO LIKE JET BLUE AND SOUTHWEST. CHARGE YOU FOR THE TICKET, AND THAT IS THAT UNLESS YOU EXCEED SOME SORT OF REASONABLE QUANTITY OR WEIGHTS ALLOWANCE.
I know! I saw that the other day and was thinking they must have said to themselves.. "how could we piss off our customers....?" the scary thing is these airliners always seem to copy each other on these fees, so I wouldn't be surprised if other companies started the same BS.. then they'll see even lower numbers flying and wonder why... Personally I hope that Spirit crashes and burns (the company not the planes) and other carriers will take note... they should cut flights to save money before doing something like this that will drive people away.... I don't even think I could fit my laptop case under those seats..... I saw some people suggesting its cheaper to FedEx your carry-on to your destination... which is might be true for domestic flights.
We recently had the pleasure of flying on the cheapo Mexican carrier VivaAerobus. They charge way-a-lot-extra if you check a bag, so everyone was doing carry-on. And the overhead bins were so packed that it was scary. I could see any airline wanting to charge for carry-ons if so many people are packing the inside of the plane that it's popping at the seams. Maybe that's why Spirit is charging? For the record, the VivaAerobus planes we were on were all 20+ years old. And most of them were late. And the seats don't recline. And somehow the screaming brats scream louder, or the parents are more abusive, or something, than on proper carriers. We now call the company TardeAerobus after flying on it (we debated calling it MuerteAerobus, but decided it didn't suck that bad, and we weren't ever actually scared while on their planes).
Ryanair is going to charge you extra if you use the restrooms on the plane in a couple of weeks. i remember an April fools day prank that an airline posted an ad on the paper that they were going to charge people by the pound & they posted a couple of prices for a couple of main routes, on the bottom of the ad they admitted the whole thing was a prank but people still called in & tried to book flights on the pay what you weigh scheme
In fairness if you're doing the ridiculously cheap fares where you basically only pay taxes the additional costs are acceptable, but if you're paying a full-fare such costs are a royal slap in the face and will send people running.... we'll see what they actually do.. if full-fare people run into these charges I expect these airlines will be filing bankruptcy within the year from lack of sales.
Really? No regard for the thousands of people that work there and their families that they have to feed, eh? As the wife of a Spirit pilot who travels often, if you saw the ridiculousness that people try to call a "carry-on" and how many of them they try to bring, you would understand this policy. The amount of gate checks that this results in slows the boarding process and delays the flights. It is $19 to check a bag if you pay ahead of time, $25 if you pay at the airport. Why should people be able to skirt that policy and delay flights by trying to carry-on a bag that could fit a grown man in it and will clearly not fit in the overhead? There is a policy in place; people have been working the system and causing issues. Only fair that, if you had to pay to check your bag, that the guy next to you paid, too.
I guess it all depends on the fare. I flew round trip to L.A. in February for $302 total (but not on Spirit). Even if I had to pay a few extra bucks for a carry on, it would have been worth it. However, if that same fare was $700, I would be appalled. For me, as long as the fare is cheap, I don't care if the only thing the airlines have to offer me is a bus that flies...it still beats the one that doesn't.
As course as it sounds... thats something that the upper management should be worried about, not I. From a consumer's perspective, I'm concerned that this will snowball to the other carriers further increasing the price of air travel, resulting in less tourism here and more of a burden on people who need to fly regularly. If this is being brought about by people abusing the carry-on system then that sounds like an issue to take up with the people who are working the ticket counter and at the gate. Most airlines have a little thing that you can place your carry-on into to make sure its within the size and shape allowed. If people are bringing more than that on then thats the fault of the ticket counter personal not doing their jobs to make them check bags, not a fault of the customer who only has a laptop bag with him. Some things simply CANT be checked as they will almost certainly be damaged from the handling of checked bags. (I've seen airlines literally throw bags from planes onto the tarmac 20 feet below and thus will never check anything that can't withstand that sort of fall) I suspect that Spirit airline will back away from this and at most will only charge for over-sized carry-ons or they will feel the wrath of upset customers taking their business elsewhere.
Life is right. If the ticketing agent isn't pushing people with large bags to check them then they should do so. It shouldn't translate into a bad policy being inflicted on travelers. It's getting harder and harder to fly, airlines are not doing themselves any favors by enacting more nasty policies.
