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Watch out — Spirit is socking passengers with surprise fees!

July 16, 2008

You’ve probably heard about Spirit Airlines’ crackpot seat reservation fee. But there appears to be more — much more — awaiting the unsuspecting passenger.

Spirit’s Web site is awash in new surcharges. Some disclosed, some not.

“Can you tell me what this new $10 ‘Web Convenience Fee’ is?” wonders reader Claribel Rivera, who just tried to buy a ticket online.

I have no idea. Maybe it’s something like Allegiant Air’s $11.50 convenience fee for tickets bought online. If it is, then no one has reported it yet, and it certainly isn’t clearly disclosed on Spirit’s site.

Oh, hang on. I just saw this in Spirit’s contract of carriage.

Convenience Fee of $5.00 per traveling customer per one way travel applies to all reservations with the exception of those bookings created directly at Spirit Airlines’ airport locations. All fares are subject to change until confirmed and purchased.

Now, is that the same fee Rivera was being asked to pay, or a different convenience fee? And what, if anything, does it have to do with the seat reservation fee everyone’s been talking about.

Here’s what I do know: Someone from the Transportation Department really needs to look into this mess. Spirit is not shooting straight with its own customers. These fees need to be clearly disclosed at the beginning of the purchase, if not included in the price of the ticket.

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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12 comments

  • Sebastian Okser

    Over on this side of the pond the EU parliament has recently cleaned up the mess of hidden fees. Within the EU it is no longer legal to advertise prices that do not include all taxes and fees. This means that $99 flight will actually cost you $99. Makes sense to me.

    Maybe it’s finally time that the U.S government steps in and stands up for the people who pay for its operation…the tax payers.

  • Jasper

    @ Sebastian: Sorry dude, America runs by a different model. Politicians here stand up for the people that pay for their election campaigns… big business.

  • Lianne

    Wait wait…is there are way to make a reservation on Spirit other than the web? I can’t believe they don’t charge for making a phone reservation. Not that I would *ever* fly them, I’m just curious at this point.

  • SirWired

    A “Web Convenience Fee”? Who do these folks think they are, the TicketMaster monopolists? Sprirt does not, in fact, fly to my home airport, but if they did, it would be a cold day in heck before I would fly a carrier that thought charging a fee just to reserve a ticket was a good idea. What’s next? A “plane maintenance fee”? Or maybe a “our pilots aren’t drunk fee”. Fuel surcharges I kinda understand, checked luggage surcharges I understand, (even if I think a fee for the first bag is stupid), but a “fee” just to buy a ticket is silly, and not exactly the world’s best way to sell a ticket.

    SirWired

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  • Bob

    The fee is no longer there.

  • Chuck Ogg

    Oh yes, and by the way, Spirit doensn’t care if you bought your tickets 6 months ago….you still pay for your luggage and seats today…..no retroactive protection is considered.

    They are now more epensive (and more rude) than most of the legacy carriers….how the tables turn!!

  • http://www.gallagherstravels.com mary gallagher

    I ve previously written about flying on Spirit Airlines and the two roundtrips I was forced into …well the second one forced the first one I didn’t know any better. Do not use this airline for any reason every thing about the operation is a red flag. I ll put it bluntly, in my opinion their supposedly low price is not worth my life.

    I would say you d have to be in a black plastic trash bag not to see the warning signs and if they run their operation on top this way can you imagine the horrors in maintenance and other critical areas. Please hitch hike on a highway in the dark of night… although a dangerous mode of transportation it will be a safer and better bet than Spirit Airlines. Meanwhile I love the google ad for Spirit air right next to this comment page

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  • Susan

    Spirit just tried to rebook my flight back from a wedding in Tampa for the second time, but the time was too early and would require a 6 hour layover in Fort Lauderdale. I contacted the airline, which has no future dates for flights back from Tampa to LAX, at least after November 1st.

    It looks like they’re “reducing routes”.

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  • Barbara

    These stories are invaluable. I will never, ever fly Spirit Airlines (‘spirit your money away’ must be the spirit they’re talking about), although I’m sure that most airlines have similar provisos in their “contracts.” I feel like we’re witnessing the apotheosis of capitalism gone bad — it’s just cannabilizing itself at this point.

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