Is Spirit Air Worth the Money You Save?

After a quick Google search, it’s pretty clear that Spirit Airlines, “the leading Ultra Low Cost Carrier in the United States, the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Latin America,” is not a favorite among travelers. Sure, their prices are significantly less but they charge you for every little detail and it’s no surprise as their website clearly states every imaginable charge. So why does everyone hate Spirit if they remain as transparent as dried Elmer’s glue?

While I can’t speak for the world, I can offer you this completely unbiased review of my international flight to Lima, Peru via Spirit Air. I found out firsthand if the price savings were worth the hassle and explain every step of the way.

Read the Fine Print, Or Pay For It

The low cost airline offers a Spirit 101 link that educates you on what you can expect when you fly with them and what to expect when it comes to fees. The site is also well designed and very user friendly.

Even though everything is undoubtably explained, their charges are still absurd. For example, I traveled with a 55 liter backpack that was not even filled to the brim. If I had filled the bag one more inch, I would have crossed over into the oversized bag zone. We’re talking about a backpack here. Not a wide rolling bag filled with an abundance of shoes and purses. A backpack. Not to mention that it costs $120 (roundtrip) to check this thing in, now I had to worry that one more inch sends me to the $160 range. Over a backpack, people. But, they did explain this to me before I booked, so it was no surprise.

Spirit 101 Review

Save $20 and Print Your Boarding Pass Yourself

Yup. Little things such as waiting to print your ticket at the airport will set you back another $20. Sure, $20 may sound convenient if you’re running late, but you probably chose Spirit to save money, not to throw it up in the air.

On top of that, when you’re traveling internationally, as I did, they fail to mention that you can’t print your boarding pass on the return flight beforehand. I have to admit that it caused a bit of my NY side to come out thinking, “How can they charge twenty dollars for their mistake?!”

Well, they ended up not charging us and apparently all international flights go through this procedure according to one of the passenger we had chatted with. I must have missed this section in the Spirit 101 link.

Want More Legroom? That’ll Be $75

I did my fair share of research on Spirit and asked anyone and everyone I knew what their experience was like. The universal tip: legroom was nonexistent. So you go in knowing there is no legroom, no big deal right?

Wrong again. I’m 5’4 and my knees were hitting the seat in front of me so I can’t imagine someone even remotely taller than me sitting there. Did I mention it was a six-hour international flight too? Yeah, that was not as cozy as their marketing led me to believe.

But, I had to remind myself that I signed up for this non-reclining lifestyle in an effort to save some hard earned cash and had to pretend it was no big deal.

Yes, You Pay for Snacks Too

You want some Pringles? That’s $2.50. How about some soda? Hand over $3. You will pay for any little snack your late night heart desires. In the beginning, it was easier to ward off the snack cravings, but once the hours started adding up, having willpower became a struggle.

After about five hours, the plane was filled with the smell of Ramen and adults and young travelers alike dined on the fine college noodles as if they were being discontinued like the Siracha debacle.

ramen

I was just as starving for dinner as the rest of the plane, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend the money on something as overpriced as Ramen noodles.

International Spirit Air is a Different Beast Than Its Domestic Buddy

While I can’t say that flying Spirit domestically was an ideal situation, it was not the worst. Flying it internationally was the worst. I’ve never experienced something so terrible and these type of experiences are where the hatred for Spirit is bred.

It all started when we had a ten hour layover in Lima, Peru. Yep, a ten hour layover thanks to the fact that Spirit only flies one time out of that busy airport. We didn’t check this part out prior to booking. It was a fact that would have never crossed my mind. So why that does matter if you only need one flight?

Since they only had one flight out, a 10:50PM flight at that, they don’t open until 7:00PM. Therefore, everyone who was stuck on a decent-sized layover, like myself, would be left carrying their bags across this tiny area outside of where you can actually check in. You can’t check in online beforehand and no representatives are available to answer questions until 7:00PM.

We literally sat and walked around a cage-like enclosure for hours upon hours until the counter opened.

By six o’ clock, we posted up at the soon-to-be Spirit section and made sure we were one of the first in line. We watched the team of two to three people rapidly grow to twenty five, but it was close to 7:15 by now and the counter was still not open.

Fast forward to 7:25 and we were all waiting in line as the team of twenty five employees went through a pre-shift meeting right in front of us. Did I mention that they were supposed to open at seven?

Once that mess finally cleared up, a young woman with a clipboard started working the front of the line manually checking everyone in. She made it to the first six people, including us, and no one was on the list. Could it be because no one could check in beforehand? Absolutely.

Combine this confusion and panic (remember, this is the only flight out) with a thirty minute delay in check-in and the non-locals were starting to get restless.

Despite having what seemed like an employee per customer, the line moved slower than that last drop of honey. Employees waited for customers to fill up certain checkpoints before they were allowed to move on, and from a customer’s viewpoint, we waited way too long at each checkpoint and grew more and more impatient.

When all was said and done, it took us about an hour to check-in and we were only fifth in line (and technically the third family to go).

When Traveling FROM South America, They Mean it When They Say NO LIQUIDS

Liquids-on-plane

Again, I was forewarned on this one and pulled out the stubborn Italian card and didn’t want to believe it. After you clear security, you have the option to purchase beverages before boarding your flight, but you can’t take those on the plane.

For example, we bought some Inca Kola, a bright yellow, bubble-gum flavored soda, as souvenirs for our friends and family. The girl politely warned me that I could not take it on the plane, but I completely disregarded it and carried on. After all, these were wrapped up in a cute little gift bag and were clearly set up as a present!

Well, she was right. As I turned the corner, all I could see was a table of six employees wearing rubber gloves re-checking everyone’s bags before they were allowed on the plane. There were buckets filled with waters, sodas and juices, most of which were almost full.

Families were not even allowed to leave water for their kids which I thought was unsafe since you have to purchase every little thing once we boarded. If families couldn’t afford both (the one thrown out and an overpriced one on board), then the child was out of luck. We’re talking about a country where many people are traveling from high altitudes and dry conditions that require you to consume more water than usual and we couldn’t even bring that on.

Now this can be a South American rule, but Spirit does nothing to help keep its passengers safe. At least offer discounted water for your passengers and mark up everything else.

What. Just. Happened

With one of the newest fleets around, I was completely caught off guard when all of these red flags started popping up on our domestic leg to Peru.

First, I sat down and put my bag under the seat only to realize that my inflatable life vest was already coming out and under my feet. And I wasn’t the only one. The guy two seats next to me had the same issue. We watched as the flight attendant politely tried to push it back under as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

And it didn’t stop there.

Before taking off, the seat in front of me and to the right was in full recline mode which was odd since Spirit makes it clear that their seats do not recline. Well it turns out, these reclining seats were a safety issue in which passengers had to relocate their seats before we landed since that’s when they realized the issue was even present. Real safe, Spirit.

Spirit Airlines Review

But these were nothing compared to the landing. While it was smooth and easy, I was shocked to see a row of oxygen masks pop out of their containers. Yep. Oxygen masks fell out on three passengers towards the front of the plane, and we had a smooth and seemingly perfect landing. It was startling and definitely made me question the safety of this “new fleet.”

Is it Really Worth the Price Savings?

I tried to convince myself every step of the way that it really was worth the money, but in the end it would just be a lie.

I won’t be flying Spirit Air (especially internationally) anytime soon and my guess is that they will continue to get people on their first-time rates and never see many returning customers again. It was truly the worst traveling experience I have ever gone through.

Please note: This is an unbiased and unpaid review of Spirit Air. I am only stating an opinion based on my experience traveling internationally to Lima, Peru.