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Is Spirit Airlines’ $9 Fare Club worth the money? Can I get my money back if it isn’t?

February 1, 2010

I take a dim view of travel clubs that charge an annual fee for access to special prices. Typically, these schemes only benefit the company offering them. But is Spirit Airlines’ $9 Fare Club in the same category?

Without even reading the online discussions about Spirit’s Fare Club, which costs $39.95 a year, I have to admit my bias: this certainly looks like a rip-off. I mean, joining a “club” to get low fares? In a market that’s already flooded by discount tickets? You’ve gotta be kidding.

And yet, people fall for it. People like Sheryl Sanford, who believed Spirit’s come-on about having access to “incredibly low, member-only fares, sometimes even as low as a penny.” (Offers like that just confuse well-meaning passengers, as we saw yesterday.)


She writes:

I joined the $9 Fare Club expecting and looking for those low fares advertised. They did advertise the lower fares, but after I join the Fare Club, the very flights I was looking at, as you know, did not exist with the lower fares.

I did read the fine print, and realizing the fares were not guaranteed, did it anyway. However, I was expecting to find something as I search but no, nada. In fact the same destinations roundtrip on Delta were $220; AirTran was $170 — Spirit Air was $295. I was ticked!

Sanford wanted her money back. As you can imagine, the airline wouldn’t budge. (See section 3.3 of its terms, which state, “Enrollment fees are non-refundable, notwithstanding Member’s cancellation of membership in the Club.”) Then she found my site with customer contacts for Spirit.

Searching for a way to contact customer service at Spirit Airlines on their page was a disaster. All the links were working but one, and guess which one did not work? Yes sir, you are correct: the link to “contact customer service.”

Well, thanks to your site you listed all the contacts. I love it! I know you commented about contacting the CEO after no response for 6 to 8 weeks. Out of school, I worked for JC Penney’s, the credit regional office, and people complaining only obtained results when they went straight to the top, the CEO, Regional Office in New York.

I sent an email requesting an immediate refund of my monies and that I was very dissatisfied. I sent and copied the email to all of the above. I received a response the next morning from sales support, saying sorry, no can do, and I can cancel if I like.

I emailed her back with comments that I did not desire to cancel (you get nothing back if you do that), but I was requesting a refund for false leading and advertisement. I copied her email and my response to all the above once again.

Within the hour Tony Lefebvre, the senior vice president for customer service, approved my full refund. So, Mr. Elliott, thanks for the victory.

You’re welcome. (A Spirit insider contacted me after this post appeared to clarify that it was Heather Harvey, not Tony Lefebvre, who green-lighted the refund.)

I’m glad Spirit offered Sanford a full refund, but my opinion of fare clubs — of any travel club, really — remains low.

If Spirit really believed its Fare Club offered superior deals, it would offer a full refund on the enrollment fees. Instead, it pockets your $40, whether the deals are good or not.

That’s not good.

Update (1:30 p.m.): More from my Spirit insider, who mentions that there are sales nearly every week that are only available to $9 Fare Club members. The person notes that the club has a “ton” of members, but if you don’t check email regularly, you’ll miss out and consider the club useless. Also, the prime fares (LGA-FLL, ORD–FLL, etc.) sell out fast, so members have to be quick.

(Photo: vnvlain/Flickr Creative Commons)

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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24 comments

  • Americorps

    One needs only do a simple google search to see the level of respect (the lack of respect) spirit shows for their customers.

    I will never set foot on a spirit airlines, even if I can save $100 because I will not pay someone to disrespect me on that level.

  • mark

    I joined for a annual 40.00 and saved it in the first month getting round trip to San Juan for 2 for 36.00. The trip was great. I signed up to get a deal on a trip to Guatamala but so far i have not been able to get one for there that fits my schedule

  • JS

    Anyone flying on Spirit Airlines is asking for a CS nightmare.

  • http://www.loganairportvaletparking.com BILL BELL

    Last winter I did purchase two round trip tickets from Bos to FLL for $90.00 I was happy and satisfied

  • Anthony LaMesa

    Just flew from LaGuardia to Guatemala City. Without paying extra, I was offered exit row seats on both flight segments. Staff was friendlier than on legacy carriers. Baggage fees are lower than most other carriers as well. I would fly again as well. No other airline offers “one way” tickets to Latin America…

  • Robin

    These “so-called” $9 fares never exist. I used to check these fares when it was just an e-mail notification to frequent flyer members (no subscription needed), the times never added up and the deals were always too good to be true, since they didn’t exist!

    I’ve flown Spirit numerous times and NEVER had an easy, non-eventful trip. Their customer service is beyond non-existent to the point to directly insulting. Purchasing travel club membership on Spirit is quite possibly the last thing I will ever do.

    I am a frequent traveler and I’ve found that the few times that Spirit is the cheaper ticket choice (which is rare on my most frequent flight, Detroit-NYC), it is money well spent to travel on Delta/NWA instead.

    Spirit once had the opportunity to earn back my business but I’ve now moved thousands of dollars in fares from them and will NEVER come back.

  • Tim Burke

    I WILL NEVER FLY SPIRIT AGAIN THERE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS.AND SO DOES THERE FEES.

  • TJR

    The deals are real, but you have to look for them — some people must be lazy and want Spirit to call them up at offer them the fare they want , I sure that will never happen. I can bet anyone who is on there list and recieves the email weekly can get the really cheap fare but if you wait for the phone call from Spirit , its not going to happen!

  • MM

    I have been a fare club member for a few years now and my wife and I have flown from DTW to Myrtle Beach, FLL, Jamaica cheaply..Usually around 60-80 dollars for both of us….you have to get on the site right when they send out the emails to get the fares and luckily we both have very flexible schedules. If you have a flexible schedule it is worth it…just remember the fares are $9 but you still have to pay taxes and airport fees so it is a little more than they lead you to believe…

  • Mvisco

    It is a scam – we have not YET been able to book any cheap fares from them. Website offers $16 flights but there is NO way of booking them on line. Customer service is horrible 45 mins on hold, by the time they do happen to pick up ( India) the offers are gone.

  • http://aol.com renee persico

    i am a member of the $9 fare club at spiritair why are there no $9 flights are you people frauds

  • Pingback: Spirit: How a Little Airline Alienates Customers | AeroChannel test

  • JoJo

    I just joined the $9 club and was able to get 2 RT tickets from Washington DC to FLL for….GUESS….$9.00 easch way!!! The sales are REAL and of course there are taxes and fees but ALL airlines charge those. I will be going on my trip next week and cant wait!! You have to be fast when the sales come out. YOU SNOOZE YOU LOOSE!!!!

  • Mekhong Kurt, Bangkok, Thailand

    Christopher, I have seen Heather Harvey’s name more than once in your stories. Sounds like that lady ought to be cloned!

  • roberta petrillo

    I want to cancel my $9 fare club membership

  • WDM

    i paid $40 to upgrade to what they call a “very big seat”.when i was about to sit on it i realized i paid $40 for a very “dirty seat”.it had a half empty bottle of soda and a few candy wrappers.obviously,whoever was in charge of cleaning did a “spirit” job.
    my luggage tag with another airline logo,nice neon,bright color,hard plastic,had survived last 4 trips to brazil….but apparently some spirit employee must’ve had that childish,rivalry, jealousy rage and snapped it.
    i have lived the spirit experience and now understand what everybody has been saying all along.
    SPIRIT!.ITS NOT A MATTER OF “IF”,BUT “WHEN”.
    the writting is on the wall,you’re going down.

  • Frequent Fyier

    They should call it SPIRSHIT AIRLINES

  • Kevin

    Chalk up another dissatisfied customer for the $9.00 fare club. They just charged me $59.95. I realized it was a rip off, did not book a flight, and tried to cancel within the hour. They refuse to refund my money, even when I spoke to a supervisor. Regardless of how great their rates or flights are, I will not do business with a company who treats their customers like this. Spirit Airlines has lost a customer for life.

  • Margery

    As Chris Elliott knows (because I kvetched at him through the whole ordeal) I had a similar experience as the original poster when I joined the $9 Club. In my case a third party had purchased the tickets for me, but I went to the Spirit site to purchase “Big Front Seat” and to pay for a carry on. The seat purchase went fine. When I went to pay for the carry on a pop up invited me to join the $9 Club to save on the baggage fee.

    Knowing I would be traveling on the same route within the year I decided to pay the $59 to join. But, once the money was out of my account (and Spirit is wonderfully efficient at that part of the process) my carry on purchase would not go through. A message popped up advising me I needed to call customer service.

    The customer service person I got on the line was obviously reading from a script, and her command of English was strained by my telling her my ticket had been paid for by a third party. She advised me that $9 Club savings were not applicable to tickets already purchased. When I protested that the flight was still in the future, and that the site had prompted me to join the $9 Club at the point where I was choosing carry on bag fees, she put me on hold to speak with a supervisor. When she returned I was told that her advice was correct, and that I was out of luck in using my $9 Club membership for my upcoming trip.

    I told her I felt ripped off, and wanted to cancel. She said I could cancel at the website and, reading from the script (a source of many ironies, I’m certain) asked me “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

    I was so angry I went to the site and cancelled my $9 Club membership. Afterward I read the small print that informed me that I would not get a refund, nor would I have my year membership to the $9 Club.

    What? It was less than an hour that I had been a member. Why not give me a refund? As other posters have pointed out, the Spirit site is clever about hiding any customer service contacts.

    I quickly filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Massachusetts State Attorney General. (Both of which offered to assist me, but see below why I dropped this.)

    Using the Spirit contacts on this site I wrote to Spirit’s main office. A representative there offered to look into the matter, and over the course of the following two weeks advised me she was waiting for transcripts from the call center to arrive so she could confirm that the representative had told me my $9 Club membership could not be used to pay for the carry on fees (which she said I should have been able to do since I had purchased the full priced subscription).

    Meanwhile, I saw that Spirit’s poor customer service — which according to quotes I have read in the media is considered somewhat of a badge of honor by Spirit head Ben Baldanza — was being assessed by the Department of Transportation and might cause them to lose their IPO bid. I went to the DOT website and filed a complaint.

    Within 24 hours I had an apologetic answer from Spirit saying my subscription would be reinstated, or i would receive a refund. Apparently reinstating the subscription was a technical problem, but it was accomplished a day or two later.

    I fly often enough on Spirit that I have gotten my moneys worth from the $59. The Club does, indeed, allow for savings on tickets and luggage fees. However, their ability to sour the customer service interaction is second to none and I cannot think any company can thrive when customers are treated to the middle finger salute so often.

    As far as I can tell, the representative at the main office is still awaiting the call center transcripts. Remember the old days when “the customer is always right?” Good grief.

  • yoss

    How did you find the exec’s emails to contact them? It’s not listed on the website anymore…

  • Mikescoe

    I’ve been a member of Spirit’s $9 club for 3 years now, and I agree with everything everyone has to say regarding customer service, it is NON-existent at Spiritair. That being said, I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve never run into a CS problem in the 3 years. Spirit’s club is what it is folks, low fares.. No frills, nothing fancy..
    Even with the extra fees, most flights will be substatially cheaper than the competition. Anyone who says differently doesn’t know what they are saying, or hasn’t been paying attemtion. In those 3 years I’ve traveled from Fort Lauderdale to Boston on average 5 – 6 times a year at an average total cost (including taxes & fees) of $100 per flight, RT . That same FLL- BOS flight runs $175- $200 on the competition. Usually one flight to Boston repays me the annual fee. Not saying they are perfect, they are far from it, but every airline has their pain in the “neck” employees, and I’ve run into a few at Spirit. But I’ve also run into a couple of especially nice ones too.. 
    In summation, yes you can save $$ by joining the club and watching the emails, and being flexible on your travel times. Especially if you will be traveling frequently. Be prepared to put up with some occasional inconvenience.
    If you travel infrequently and expect to be pampered, please DON’T join this club, you will be disappointed.

  • Badspotteddog

    I joined the trial $9 fair club, and found that after you add Spirit’s unreasonable taxes and fees, the cost is more than double of what you can book on travelocity or hotwire. 
    I thought I was getting a good deal till I saw the final price on Spirit’s site. I ended up booking the same flight through travelocity at a way lower rate, BUT then Travelocity called me to say it would cost a little more. That Spirit was advertising low fares that did not exist. Hmmm. I don’t think I’ll be flying with them any more.

  • Gigit_c

    A co-worker just told me about the Fare club from Spirit airlines because I’m moving to Fl. from NJ and will be wanting to visit in the future. But, is this not a good idea? Will it be a problem to join and get cheaper flights?

  • Staticwrap

    I joined this club last year, it wasn’t too bad, I flew with them a few times to make it worth my while.  I got an email a few weeks ago saying my account will be deactivated because my CC was expired.  Fine.  However, this month, they charged me the 59.95! On an expired card no less. How is that even possible.  

    They told me my account was going to terminate, yet they bill me anyway on an expired CC. Wow.  Wish me luck in talking to Customer Service lol 

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