What's the deal with Spirit Air and their alleged $88 flights???

Clinman says on Mar 10, 2008, 06:53:

The price of ticket is never going to be $88 for a round trip from USA to an international destination. The fees and taxes to Cartagena run around $125 not matter the cost of the ticket or the airlines you employ.
I believe the $88 special price is per one way ticket. The total for this introductary round trip would be around $300. I checked prices for Boston to Cartgena on a weekend flight (leaving on a non holiday Friday in June) and came up with $460 total which is a good price. American Airlines best price going into Barranquilla is around $610 for limited seats. Leaving from Boston and I would assume also NYC is a 2 stop flight. First arrives at Ft Lauderdale for short connection then onto Miami so this can be a hassle and make for long connections when tickets become scarce.

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nueva york bombero says on Mar 10, 2008, 07:20:

What? Who said roundtrip? Ofcourse it's one way without taxes.... and stop at Ft. Laud AND Miami??? Never seen that... you fly much?

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droble77 says on Mar 10, 2008, 08:56:

I think the sale ends tonight midnight.

It was $88 one-way, and with taxes plus $12 trip insurance, my total was $309

I think that's very good for 2008 fares, but there weren't too many dates to work with. I bought my CTG trip for Sept. and it's a short one, just 6 days.

Keep in mind there's also a $20 fee for each piece of luggage checked in. Prices for checked-in luggage recently doubled at Spirit, and it actually costs $40 if you don't pay in advance online!

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droble77 says on Mar 10, 2008, 08:57:

By the way I still see some dates for $88 from LGA but we're talking late September and in October.

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Mononoke28 says on Mar 10, 2008, 09:24:

Yeah, the fact that they're advertising it for $88 is a scam to me. You pay that one-way, before taxes, not to mention the fact that they will charge you extra if you pick your own seat and for each bag you check in. It turns out to be close to the fares of the other airlines.

Diana

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durito says on Mar 10, 2008, 09:30:

This is how spirit operates.

If you are smart about it you can get substantial discounts. It's not for everyone though.

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nine inch nails says on Mar 10, 2008, 09:47:

Yeah pack as light as you can. I even purchased bags on-line and had documentation but they still hosed me in FLL for an extra $10.

"They know nothing, they know nothing." J. Cramer

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droble77 says on Mar 10, 2008, 12:08:

Well to be fair to Spirit. . . Avianca and Copa also do similar promotions and their taxes are just as much as Spirit. Can't speak for AA as I have yet to fly on them to South America.

I think $309 which includes trip insurance is a damn good fare. Usually, I see fares to Cartagena from NYC that are at least $700!! The second lowest fare I see for the dates I used is $573 on Copa and that's on Orbitz.com, on Copa's website I got $724 lol.

It's true though that the check-in luggage charge is annoying and I assume you have to pay for your food as well. In that case, better to bring your own sandwich and a bottle of water, it'll probably be at least twice as good as any of those $5 deals that are offered on the plane. And I never bring more than one check-in bag and pack pretty light anyway. It's Cartagena people, light summer clothing although I almost never wear shorts. :-))

By the way, these flights are on the Airbus A319, a nice plane with leather seats, a step up from the MD-80s that Spirit got rid of a few years back but that Avianca, AeroRepublica, and AA still have.

Also, you arrive in CTG at 12:30 PM, the earliest intl. tourist flight of the day so you still have half the day to get your vacation going!

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azunoman says on Mar 10, 2008, 14:59:

I found tickets out of Las Vegas in September for two, round trip to Categena for $593 total. I just returned from Medellin and spent 640 each round trip form Phoenix. I don't know what all is included in that International Tax but what the hell.

Ready, Fire, Aim

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cali373 says on Mar 10, 2008, 15:23:

The fare I was looking at for Spirit air came to $492 TAXES INCLUDED from NYC connecting to fort lauderdale and then on to Cartagena.

Smile if you are a thinker!

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Chapin says on Mar 10, 2008, 18:09:

I managed to score tickets on Spirit to Cartagena. It came to under $300 roundtrip. I also manage to get tickets to Guatemala when it was $1 each way tax = less than $100 roundtrip. Only few dates available on both occassions but my schedule is open, specially traveling to those two places that I love.

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Mononoke28 says on Mar 11, 2008, 08:59:

Do you pay for your bags at check in, or does the final price include that fee?

Diana

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aztec says on Mar 11, 2008, 10:23:

You can pay over the net or at the desk. The price is higher at the desk.

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nueva york bombero says on Mar 11, 2008, 15:13:

Thanks!
Still searching.....
If I find something I'm planning another vacation on top of the two coming up.
I should probably work sometimes, huh?
I hope JetBlue announces flights on their website!

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