Spirit Airline Fees

[takebackourtemple]

   This airline is marketing their carry-on baggage fees as a better customer experience. So much for a better customer experience meaning something like a satisfaction or even time guarantee. Spirit must think people are really stupid. Unfortunately there are plenty of dumb affirmative action morons that the government gives money to waste on things like Spirit.
   Looks like we have gone a long way from the opposite extreme of a regulated industry. I'm wondering what everyone thinks about all the airline fees and spirit airline's decision to start charging people $45 per carry-on in addition to all the other ridiculous fees they have. The problem is that the government allowed too many mergers to take place and put up red tape barriers against the smaller airlines instead. Now the few remaining airlines don't have to worry about customers as much anymore.
   Don't get me wrong. An airline should be allowed to charge what it wants and should be able to sell luxuries such as first class for a premium. But should they be able to pray on the stupid or act like car or mattress salesmen hiding the real price of their product by complicating the system so they could overcharge people. Should the government give them tax incentives to do so by charging a lower tax(keep in mind this is a consumption tax and not an income tax) for these fees.
   While I'm normally against the democrats, I'm wondering why they are the only ones fighting for passengers rights on this issue. Shouldn't republicans also have outrage against this?

[cjd]

The airline industry is one where I believe things were far better 25 or 30 years ago when they were highly regulated. People in the air and on the ground don't realize what is servicing the planes that carry them or fly over head. For few years  deregulation gave the flying public a good deal on pricing however over time this also came at the cost of poor customer service and safety. People would work airline jobs for their entire working lives because they were good paying jobs. The people knew what they were doing and had pride in their companies... Today its a revolving door work force that is paid a fraction of what there predecessors made. Ticket prices may be less now then they were under regulation however the customer is also getting a lot less for his money when it comes to air travel today.

[IsraelForever]

Someone told me that, even with the $45 fee, Spirit airline is WAY cheaper than any other airline.  If this is true, then the bottom line is that you're still saving money even with the fee.  Then who cares if the $45 is charged for the carryon's or simply put in with the total cost? 

On the other hand, a lady I know said that she wouldn't fly Spirit again if it were for free.  It was that bad an experience.  But someone else I know flew Spirit recently and he said it was fine.

[rebel_conservative]

The airline industry is one where I believe things were far better 25 or 30 years ago when they were highly regulated. People in the air and on the ground don't realize what is servicing the planes that carry them or fly over head. For few years  deregulation gave the flying public a good deal on pricing however over time this also came at the cost of poor customer service and safety. People would work airline jobs for their entire working lives because they were good paying jobs. The people knew what they were doing and had pride in their companies... Today its a revolving door work force that is paid a fraction of what there predecessors made. Ticket prices may be less now then they were under regulation however the customer is also getting a lot less for his money when it comes to air travel today.

It is about personal choice, the government has no right to tell me or the airline what to do.  If I want to fly and an airline wants to sell me a ticket, it is no business of the state.  I can find details of the safety records of the airlines quite easily, I can use that to inform my decision (http://www.airsafe.com).  It is the job of government to protect individual rights with courts, police and an army, it is not the job of the government to give airline passengers a good deal - the market gives you a better deal than any state regulation ever could.

I don't fly a lot, but on the few occasions that I have, I go for the cheapest flight possible.  I want to get from A to B as quickly and cheaply as possible, that is what I am getting for my money.  The standard of service is more than commensurate with the cost of the ticket, I don't expect more than a basic standard of customer service if I am paying very little for my flight.  I know that there are other airlines that will charge more, but provide a much better standard of service.  I would choose to fly with a low-cost carrier because it will save me money and the service standards are tolerable.

[HiWarp]

Coach class airline tickets today are extremely under priced. That's right, you heard correctly. There is no other industry that I know of that sells a product today for a lower price than it did 30 years ago. And please, no one say computers because technological innovation in the computer field over the last 30 years has led to the lower prices today. There has been no such innovation in aviation.

Airlines make what little money they make from business and first class tickets and cargo. In fact, if they could fill the first class section with last minute travelers that were willing to pay over $10K per ticket (one way), they'd probably let you fly for the cost of the taxes and fees.

Once again we have an instance of people wanting to travel from NY to LA for $99 and then complaining about the lousy service. Yeah, you get lousy service because, in order to provide the dirt cheap fares that people want, you need to cut costs somewhere. So you hire low time pilots and flight attendants that work for dirt cheap. You eliminate amenities, first some, then all. You begin charging for stuff that used to be "free".

You want to fly for $99, no problem.
Sorry you were scraping your knees on the seat in front of you the whole flight, but we need to decrease seat pitch for additional capacity.
Oh wait, you want a drink on the flight? $7!
You want a snack too? $5!
You want to bring along more than one bag? $25!
You want internet access on your notebook? $20!
You want an exit row seat? $50!
etc.....

Personally, I have no problem with airlines providing low frills at low fares. What I do have a problem with is passengers who expect to pay low fares and then complain that they don't get anything more than a seat.

[cjd]

Coach class airline tickets today are extremely under priced. That's right, you heard correctly. There is no other industry that I know of that sells a product today for a lower price than it did 30 years ago. And please, no one say computers because technological innovation in the computer field over the last 30 years has led to the lower prices today. There has been no such innovation in aviation.

Airlines make what little money they make from business and first class tickets and cargo. In fact, if they could fill the first class section with last minute travelers that were willing to pay over $10K per ticket (one way), they'd probably let you fly for the cost of the taxes and fees.

Once again we have an instance of people wanting to travel from NY to LA for $99 and then complaining about the lousy service. Yeah, you get lousy service because, in order to provide the dirt cheap fares that people want, you need to cut costs somewhere. So you hire low time pilots and flight attendants that work for dirt cheap. You eliminate amenities, first some, then all. You begin charging for stuff that used to be "free".

You want to fly for $99, no problem.
Sorry you were scraping your knees on the seat in front of you the whole flight, but we need to decrease seat pitch for additional capacity.
Oh wait, you want a drink on the flight? $7!
You want a snack too? $5!
You want to bring along more than one bag? $25!
You want internet access on your notebook? $20!
You want an exit row seat? $50!
etc.....

Personally, I have no problem with airlines providing low frills at low fares. What I do have a problem with is passengers who expect to pay low fares and then complain that they don't get anything more than a seat.

Great post and all very true.... As the old saying goes you get what you pay for... People that want cheap airfare  have to understand that it comes at a price... When I do fly I always hope that price is not safety. I myself am not a person that needs to be pampered but I did enjoy a cup of coffee and some food on a flight that would allow for things like that. Getting a good deal on the price of a ticket is great but if the airlines have to make air travel miserable in order to accomplish that something is wrong with the picture.

[takebackourtemple]

Someone told me that, even with the $45 fee, Spirit airline is WAY cheaper than any other airline.  If this is true, then the bottom line is that you're still saving money even with the fee.  Then who cares if the $45 is charged for the carryon's or simply put in with the total cost? 

On the other hand, a lady I know said that she wouldn't fly Spirit again if it were for free.  It was that bad an experience.  But someone else I know flew Spirit recently and he said it was fine.

   That is the line that spirit wants everyone to believe. From the partial fares that I have looked at, I have reason to doubt this claim. Keep in mind that they have no price match guarantee of any type. The problem that I have is not the cost, but the dishonesty that they are using to deceive their customers.
   They perform the good old bait and switch advertising by claiming that they have fares as low as $0.01 and then adding on a bunch of made up fees that they don't pay taxes on.
   I tried obtaining a baseline comparison of spirit fares to other airlines, but wasn't able to because their system does not provide the total charge until you give them a credit card number, so there is no way to really compare prices. People I know have had to pay additional fees at the time of check in.
   Even though I've never flown Spirit, I know too many people who have been stranded or denied the right to board their plane because of the way Spirit operates. Suddenly a $0.01 fare becomes a $1000 fare for someone who has to get home. I have to agree that I would never fly them even if the fare and fees were free.
   Given that I usually believe the government should generally not interfere with business, the question I have is whether it should be their responsibility to enforce some degree of honesty. They do go after con artists all the time. 

[rebel_conservative]

Given that I usually believe the government should generally not interfere with business, the question I have is whether it should be their responsibility to enforce some degree of honesty. They do go after con artists all the time. 

there is a difference between a con artist, a liar and a fraud who tells deliberate untruths to get you to part with your money, and what low cost airlines do, which may be misleading, but is not untrue.  theirs is more a sin of omission kind of thing.

the market will punish firms that operate in this way - they won't get your money, because you have made the decision not to fly with them because of their practices.  I think everyone knows how these airlines work now anyway, no-one can claim to be shocked at having to pay for on-board food.