Comments on: Is Spirit Airlines’ $9 Fare Club worth the money? Can I get my money back if it isn’t? http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/ Consumer advocate Christopher Elliott's site. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:25:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Staticwrap http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-85741 Staticwrap Sat, 12 Nov 2011 01:10:00 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-85741 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  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 

]]> By: Gigit_c http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-85695 Gigit_c Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:02:00 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-85695 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? 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?

]]> By: Badspotteddog http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-85611 Badspotteddog Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:48:00 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-85611 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. 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.

]]> By: Mikescoe http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-83812 Mikescoe Sat, 22 Oct 2011 15:13:00 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-83812 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 $$ by joining the club and watching the emails, and being flexible on your travel times. Especially if you will be traveling frequently. Be prepared to put up with some occasional inconvenience. If you travel infrequently and expect to be pampered, please DON'T join this club, you will be disappointed. I’ve been a member of Spirit’s $9 club for 3 years now, and I agree with everything everyone has to say regarding customer service, it is NON-existent at Spiritair. That being said, I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve never run into a CS problem in the 3 years. Spirit’s club is what it is folks, low fares.. No frills, nothing fancy..
Even with the extra fees, most flights will be substatially cheaper than the competition. Anyone who says differently doesn’t know what they are saying, or hasn’t been paying attemtion. In those 3 years I’ve traveled from Fort Lauderdale to Boston on average 5 – 6 times a year at an average total cost (including taxes & fees) of $100 per flight, RT . That same FLL- BOS flight runs $175- $200 on the competition. Usually one flight to Boston repays me the annual fee. Not saying they are perfect, they are far from it, but every airline has their pain in the “neck” employees, and I’ve run into a few at Spirit. But I’ve also run into a couple of especially nice ones too.. 
In summation, yes you can save $$ 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.

]]> By: yoss http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-69711 yoss Sat, 07 May 2011 21:16:29 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-69711 How did you find the exec's emails to contact them? It's not listed on the website anymore... How did you find the exec’s emails to contact them? It’s not listed on the website anymore…

]]> By: Margery http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-58966 Margery Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:29:14 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-58966 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. 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.

]]> By: Kevin http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-58959 Kevin Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:30:58 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-58959 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. 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.

]]> By: Frequent Fyier http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-58784 Frequent Fyier Sun, 19 Dec 2010 17:39:01 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-58784 They should call it SPIRSHIT AIRLINES They should call it SPIRSHIT AIRLINES

]]> By: WDM http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-54328 WDM Sun, 28 Nov 2010 21:15:16 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-54328 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. 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.

]]> By: roberta petrillo http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-49442 roberta petrillo Sat, 09 Oct 2010 01:31:58 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-49442 I want to cancel my $9 fare club membership I want to cancel my $9 fare club membership

]]> By: Mekhong Kurt, Bangkok, Thailand http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-40769 Mekhong Kurt, Bangkok, Thailand Wed, 26 May 2010 13:48:43 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-40769 Christopher, I have seen Heather Harvey's name more than once in your stories. Sounds like that lady ought to be cloned! Christopher, I have seen Heather Harvey’s name more than once in your stories. Sounds like that lady ought to be cloned!

]]> By: JoJo http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-38648 JoJo Mon, 03 May 2010 19:50:14 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-38648 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!!!! 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!!!!

]]> By: Spirit: How a Little Airline Alienates Customers | AeroChannel test http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-37216 Spirit: How a Little Airline Alienates Customers | AeroChannel test Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:00:49 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-37216 [...] But before you get excited about joining this club, do a little research.  Check out consumer reporter Christopher Elliott’s post, “Is Spirit Airlines’ $9 Fare Club worth the money?” [...] [...] But before you get excited about joining this club, do a little research.  Check out consumer reporter Christopher Elliott’s post, “Is Spirit Airlines’ $9 Fare Club worth the money?” [...]

]]> By: renee persico http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-33582 renee persico Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:46:57 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-33582 i am a member of the $9 fare club at spiritair why are there no $9 flights are you people frauds i am a member of the $9 fare club at spiritair why are there no $9 flights are you people frauds

]]> By: Mvisco http://www.elliott.org/blog/is-spirit-airlines-fare-club-worth-the-money-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-it-isnt/comment-page-1/#comment-33547 Mvisco Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:29:19 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=10667#comment-33547 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. 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.

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