spirit fee As someone who has to travel a lot due to business I am ok with this. The fee does not apply if you can place it under the seat. thus computer bags etc. are exempt. What people are bringing on today is ridiculous and creates issues on leaving on time and getting off the plane in a timely manner. If American and the others follow hopefully they will exempt their premium members as they do in other cases.
Instead of a gate check, why aren't the abusers screened at check-in? In all the years I've been flying I've only seen one ticket agent actually tell a person that they could not take their giant duffle on the plane. I've stood on enough boarding lines being belted by the moron in front of me with his 60 pound rucksack hanging off his back to wonder why they were allowed to get that far. Even at a gate located check-in desk, nothing is said until boarding begins. Spirit has attempted to make a business case of this new fee by stating that their fares are on average about the same dollar figure lower as the new fee. Even if true, that kind of convoluted reasoning is not going to wash with the public. This particular fee is and will be seen as predatory. Irrespective of your husband's career, he may be looking for a seat with a different carrier when Spirit's revenues decline.
I just received a nice email from Ben He explains how great for us customers this new fee is and all the advantages we will draw. How thoughtful of him!!!!!! I stopped using Spirit when they started to charge THREE DOLLARS for a glass of water (at the time liquids were prohibited in planes). And they refused to solve my suitcase problem. And I found much lower prices with the competition. Let's not say it has always been impossible to me (and non-US clients) to get the $9 fare. I don't really travel for business for 2-3 days, so one carry-on means only my purse, not even my computer... without toothpaste, and other basic toiletries. So, no choice but to also check a bag. Last times I came to Florida, I used Jetblue, which is great and used to fly Cancun-Tampa direct, not anymore, too bad), then last time AA, who at least offer drinks, blankets, pillows. At last my car, which is not a bad option, all considered . I mostly travel on transatlantic flights, we know exactly what size and weight is allowed in the flight (carry-on and checked). Not only Spirit abuse the customers, but they also take us for idiots, this email is an insult to our intelligence. I HOPE they will go down, sorry for the employees.
I too, Jenlieb, was disappointed when Jet Blue dropped the Cancun-Tampa nonstop. What an enjoyable little airline to fly on, hard to put in words just why, but both my wife and I always felt at ease when we were aboard.
Here's a reason for TJ to like Democrats: The Associated Press: Senators act to stop airline carryon charges
TO RIVERGIRL, FLOandJD, Mix (great points and that is all I need to say to you, sir), John Dish and even V, "Here's a reason for TJ to like Democrats", says Rivergirl. But read on to the first line of the link. "Six Democratic senators want to hit U.S. airlines with a tax if they charge passengers for their carryon bags." Yep, the tax and spend libs are at a again. The taxes will be passed on to the travelers, and the money will get poured down some feel good well by the Dems. Sorry, RG, not this time. FOandJD - Nice try with "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." That is a good point but beside the point of their latest rip off fee. There are clearcut policies for carry on and the dimensional limits. This policy is enforced on a regular basis and Spirit is happy to collect the money - as the should - for the morons who try to break it. If their employees allow it to get to the jetway it is their own fault. Spirit has taken to announcing, and I heard it on like 7 straight flights while I had a long layover 2-3 weeks ago in FLL, that "this flight is full and we are inviting passengers to check a carry on for free if you would step to the counter now". I heard it again twice on Friday at MCO including my own flight. For regular travelers, this is just an invite to get a free piece of checked luggage and whose fault is this? I suggest Spirit as the cause. On the other hand, when at the counter, it never fails that there are families of morons with multiple bags over the 50 lb or 23 kg limit, unpacking and repacking right at the scale. The fact that Spirit does not make them get out of line, instead of making the rest of us wait, is a typical bonehead move on Spirit's part. I honestly have so many friends who work at Spirit in CUN, MCO and FLL. Did you know that the Spirit employees here in Cancun are not even employed by Spirit? Only the Station Manager is. The rest work for a contractor and not Spirit. Actually there are new fees effective April 6 for flights August 1 and beyond. $9 Fare Club Members pay $15 Domestic or $20 International when booked online. Non $9 Fare Club Members pay $25-D or $30-I for the first checked bag if paid either online, phone or at checkin. Bags checked at the Gate are $45 both D&I. The website is not clear what $9 Club Members pay at check-in although I just called and was told by Daisy, who was certainly not named that by her parents in Singapore or wherever I reached her, that $9 Club Members had to pay $45 at the airport. She was adamant that her info was correct in spite of my protests that it made no sense that $9 Fare Members had to pay $45 while non-members had to pay $25/$30. I will email a friend to ask the same question. “Nobody brings their package to FedEx or U.P.S. and expects them to ship it for free,” said Ben Baldanza, the chief executive of Spirit Airlines. This guy is a total bonehead who could give a damn less about his customers. For example, "Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza hits ‘Reply All’ to a customer’s email and shows how much he cares about the people who fly his airline. He demonstrates a sad case of being out of touch with reality. The customers had written what has been characterized as a “long but polite” letter asking for a $376.84 refund to cover a trip ruined by a three-hour delay to their Spirit Airlines flight. The complaint was actually more about the rude treatment that he rec'd from Spirit employees than the money, according to Aviation.com. In an email meant instructing a staffer how to respond Baldanza wrote: “Please respond, Pasquale, but we owe him nothing. His reply, which has been widely reported, was "Let him tell the world how bad we are. He's never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny." Ben holds his customers in such high regard. What about, "Sorry sir, we screwed up. This is not how we want to operate." Then give him nothing, a full refund, a voucher for a later trip, or whatever. At Spirit, Ben's rudeness has a trickle down effect to staffers. Read on: Aviation.com also quotes the Orlando Sentinal who got the following amazing quotes from one Alison Russell, Spirit Airlines’ director of corporate communications in North America: “No, we really don’t believe we have anything to apologize for regarding Ben’s e-mail.” “I can tell you that Ben cares enormously about our customers and our customer service. Ben said what is exactly true: that we don’t owe the customer anything. People can and do post whatever they would like on the Internet. But it cannot alter your adherence to your company policy or your procedures.” “Truthfully, I’m genuinely not concerned,” she said. “People are going to have a blog for good things or bad things. We are very pleased with our customer service, we are very pleased with what we do.” John my friend. I too, as you know, travel often. I can get a pretty full backpack, with computer and power supply under the seat in front of me. But most people traveling, even on business, are more often than not, going to be overnight more than one night and getting everything in something under the seat is a long shot. Forget non business travelers and really forget families on vacation and for sure forget my precious daughter who changes outfits about 5 times a day. I think she takes a suitcase to the office, just in case the weather changes. What ultimately matters to me, and I am sure to most of us, is how much the flight is going to cost. Using Jetblue as an example, I can get my fare and I know it includes one checked bag of 50 lbs or less, a carry on that will fit in the overhead or under the seat and a personal item that can fit under the seat. With Spirit I now have to forecast, before I book as I certainly am going to compare fares and schedules, what the heck I need on the trip, how I will pack it, will I have to check a bag, what can I get under the seat, I can never again sit in row 1 as there is no seat in front under which I can put anything, will I have to put something in the overhead, is it cheaper to check a bag or put something in the overhead and then compare all those numbers. Then I have to see if I can qualify for the hard to qualify for dirt cheap promos to which the answer is usually NO. A lot of work vs reward to deal with Spirit. Plus, they used to have 2 per day from CUN-FLL-MCO but a year ago they cancelled the 2nd one leaving CUN. There is no other connection for the early flight so I have to hang out at FLL for 4 1/2 or so hours. Spirit is determined for me to use Jetblue or American between CUN-MCO. Jeez RG, as we discussed, it is a curse to have time to post here and be a fast typist as we just go on and on. Am I sounding like V, my good friend, in terms of defending my position? Jaja. Cheers and love to all,
TJ - You do know that I never thought for one second you would like a new tax, even if you might agree with the frustration that led to its proposal. And to be honest I didn't agree with it either, even though I fully see why Congress wants to push the airline industry on this point. Good customer service is an attitude; it starts at the top of any org and trickles down from there. If the head of a company is a selfish pig then all employees and customers feel effects from that. Spirit will suffer because of its poor policies towards customers, I'm sure it already is suffering. That's not to say that people should be able to bring monstrous carry-on bags on board a plane, they shouldn't.
