Spirit Airlines, Cartagena-Ft Lauderdale

nbase41 says on Sep 16, 2008, 23:51:

Wow, I love this airline, I flew to Guatemala City once where it was somewhat foggy. The pilot tried three times to land, then headed to Cancun for fuel and time to have fog burn-off. I like that he put safety first instead of "toughing it out". Everything is to date wonderful with them, stuff happens, but I am happy so far! And no, I don't work for them....wish I did.

BASE Jump Naked !!!

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christobeldawg says on Sep 17, 2008, 00:08:

not to rain on the parade but I counted on them for the 450 roundtrip airfare to Bogota from Atlanta, but on the website, it says, any day you choose, not available. So I called them, and after about the third call, finally got somebody, and he suggested that I just go to the airport, on the day of the flight, and hope for a cancellation. Please...

admittedly, arriving can feel great too

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bigtexas1974 says on Sep 17, 2008, 03:11:

Good to hear!

"Sex is one of the most wholesome, beautiful, and natural experiences money can buy." - Steve Martin "You don't appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get a little older. Little things, like getting spanked every day by a middle aged woman."

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cdy says on Sep 17, 2008, 06:45:

Thanks for the update, will be flying them to PTY in October and CTG in November,
was there much of a wait in CTG to get to the counter?

Have flown them once before, to CR, flight was fine but it was a zoo at the checkin counter in FLL, took about 2 hours to get through it, plus their terminal at FLL reminds me of a Greyhound terminal, too many people not enough seats and one bathroom for the whole place once you get past security.

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toneloc24 says on Sep 17, 2008, 07:06:

I would assume that flying during Monday-Thursday, weather permitting, things should generally should go as planned, for any airline. Tuesday - Thursday, most flights aren't full in general, as less people travel during those days.

Glad you had a good experience with them. The over-the-top nickel and diming, overall lack of customer service and concern, truly makes me think that it's a better idea to pay more. Good luck trying to call them, esp. from Colombia.

God forbid anything were to happen in flight. I'm sure it wouldn't be out of the realm for the bartenders, umm, flight attendants, to come down the aisle with the credit card readers to charge for oxygen usage and a life preserver. LOL!!!

One time was enough for me. It's Delta and Avianca for me from here on in. Some price deals need to be ignored.

"PBH is dead!!!!"

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droble77 says on Sep 17, 2008, 08:29:

Just came back from a trip to CTG on Spirit and was very satisfied with this airline.

My flights were from New York (LaGuardia apt.) to Ft. Lauderdale and from FLL to CTG.

All flights left and arrived on time or early. In CTG, my luggage was the 2nd one out.

FLL is a busy hub airport for Spirit; so if you're flying directly from FLL, it's true you should get there 3 hours early since you can't check-in online for intl. flights. Also, as mentioned above, their terminal area gets very busy during the morning and evening peaks. But when I landed yesterday in FLL at 5:00 from Cartagena, the terminal was almost empty and the whole immigration/customs process plus the recheck-in of luggage was prompt and smooth. By 7:00 PM, the terminal was full of people coming in for their connecting flight home, the evening wave of flights which starts around 7:45 PM.

No major complaints about Spirit for my part. It's true you have to pay for the food, I saw the menu and didn't think what they had to offer was worth it, unless you need an alcoholic drink when you're flying. :-) It would be nice if they could offer a complimentary soft drink or juice and at least some nuts/pretzels. . . but the most important thing for me is that they are ON TIME so I can live without the food.

Just buy a sandwich at the airport before you fly. I bring on board a Balance bar and a bottle of water bought at the airport as I usually don't like to eat on the plane anyway, unless it's a really long flight.

My only other minor complaint is that on some flights, there was too many announcements over the PA by the flight attendants, when I just wanted to nap and not hear them for awhile. The ear plugs helped a bit but it was still quite annoying, especially for the early morning 6:30 AM flight to FLL from NYC.

By the way, the flights were mid-week and were at least 95% full except for the one from CTG back to FLL yesterday which was around 70% full. I also noted a lot of gringos on the FLL-CTG flight last week.

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scumbuster says on Sep 17, 2008, 09:51:

I will be flying Spirit out of FLL to Bogota Fri. Oct 17. It actually takes 2 hours to check in? Glad I didn’t decide to make a connection from another airline there the same day. I would have had about 50 minutes from my arrival from Pittsburgh to catch the flight to Bogota. I questioned if this was possible and opted to fly in the day before and visit relatives and spend the night there. Guess I need to get to the airport early the 17th.

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nueva york bombero says on Sep 17, 2008, 11:14:

I'm trying them for the first time in November, NY to Cartagena......we'll see.....
I'll keep ya posted!

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nueva york bombero says on Sep 17, 2008, 11:14:

For $90 each way....how could you not!!!??!!

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august says on Sep 17, 2008, 11:48:

Has anyone else noticed how Spirit hasn't been sending their regular email announcements about bargain flights as of recent? Is that sort of thing over now or am I just not getting the emails for some reason?

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spy1983 says on Sep 17, 2008, 12:32:

True story....I came into Ft Lauderdale June 9th and checked two. They would bags. Returning Sept 7 went there a day ealry to discuss their new policy of checking only 1 bag. They would not help me and I had to leave my piece of luggage and some clothes in Cartegena. Never again. I dont care if they are free. I even had my ticket that showed they let me check 2 bags into colombia.

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toneloc24 says on Sep 17, 2008, 13:45:

August - I'm about to cancel that $9 Club farce deal, before the trial period ends for me. I've already read horror stories of people still being charged even though they cancelled prior. I'm awaiting the same, low expectations.

Each time that I received one of those e-mail alerts, within an hour of checking, I'd never see anything close to that deal on their site. Happened over a 6 week period.

I'll stick to the majors. I agree with Spy1983.

"PBH is dead!!!!"

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Saltador says on Sep 17, 2008, 14:12:

Have flown round trip on Spirit, Chicago-FTL-CTG three times now. No problems. Saved around 500 dollars each trip.

I did a lot of research and discovered that they do not guarantee you can bring two checked bags, only one. So I check one and do a carry-on and a small backpack.

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droble77 says on Sep 17, 2008, 14:30:

I've been getting too many emails from Spirit about their fare deals. And I thought the flights to CTG and BOG were always limited to one check-in bag?? I booked the flight online back in March and if I recall correctly, you could only pay for one check-in bag which I did around May/June for $10 each way just a few days before the price was going up to $15 each way.

It's true though that if you like/need to pack a lot, then Spirit might not be the airline for you; although nowadays, you will usually have to pay quite a bit for a 2nd checked bag at the other airlines, at least Avianca sometimes has deals for a complementary second piece of luggage on certain flights.

I recommend you pay for your luggage in advance and reserve your seats as well, which you can do up to 90 days in advance. I did that and got very good seats, at the exit row (extra leg space) or at the front of the plane (you're one of the first to get out and clear immigration). You have to pay for the seats but at least for me, it's worth it to reserve a good seat in advance (like at the exit row), it's like paying for a little upgrade. In other airlines like Continental, you have to be an Elite-level frequent flyer to get a good chance of sitting in the exit row or at the front of the plane (get off quicker and jet engines not as noisy at the front).

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