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34 Responses to “Spirit Airlines”

1. On February 18th, 2008 at 12:04 am Charles said

   I’ve never flown Spirit before (they do fly out of the airport that is closest to me) and after what I’ve read on this site about them I don’t think I ever will, unless Mr. Baldanza would like to come out of his ivory tower and start addressing some of these really serious complaints, like a real CEO would.

2. On February 18th, 2008 at 2:19 pm jb said

   Not sure why you have “What others have to say about Northwest Airlines” at the end of the Spirit Air info.

   I flew Spirit about 5 years ago. It was sub-standard then, I can only imagine how far it’s sunk in the meantime. The only good thing I see them doing is pushing down fares to Latin America - my favorite vacation area.

3. On February 19th, 2008 at 11:48 am Timothy Pressman said

   Overall I would much rather fly Spirit than SW. Sure they nickel and dime you but some of their fares are so ridiculously cheap it doesn’t matter. The recent flights I have taken have been on time and in clean aeroplanes (a novelty item nowadays). I will admit to the flight attendents being somewhat brusque and the check-ins, at Terminal 4 in Fort Lauderdale, interminably long, but they can be a bargain.

4. On March 5th, 2008 at 11:24 am Alex said

   I recently had an issue with Spirit Airlines and found your website to be very useful and helpful. Upon getting finality to my situation, I thought it appropriate to let you know a few points.

   Let me first state that I have never actually flown Spirit Airlines (SA), but in October of 2006, I booked a flight which I subsequently had to cancel. SA provided me with a voucher for the amount of the ticket - $154.30. Upon trying to use the voucher last week, I was informed that it had expired. I went through the standard channels of calling SA to hopefully assist with having my funds re-instated. They were absolutely unable to help - I spoke with a customer service agent and then a manager, Emanual, who let me know that the voucher is only good for 1 year, he has NO ability to re-instate it, and he has no ability to issue me a credit in any way shape or form. He was very polite and patient, but really no help. I asked to further escalate the issue, but he was only able to give me an email address and mailing address for SA.

   At this point, I searched online and found your website. I found your advice very poinient and helpful. I proceeded to compose a very polite and specific email detailing the situation, my attempts to resolve the situation with customer service - specifically mentioning Emanual and his employee number (also mentioning that Emanual was very polite and patient), and some reasons why I was not able to use the voucher in the time alloted. I also mentioned that I wanted to fly SA and book a flight and hoping that they would “understand our position and have compassion towards our unique circumstances.” The email was addressed to the three people on your website: tony.lefebvre@spiritair.com; ben.baldanza@spiritair.com; martin.harrison@spiritair.com. FYI - Martin Harrison’s email came back as “undeliverable - the e-mail account does not exist at the organization this message was sent to.”

   Within about 4 1/2 hours, I received a very nice, polite email from Carolina Lopez of SA’s Corporate Consumer Relations extending my voucher for two months from that day; new expiration of May 3, 2008.

   Thank you for your website and your advice - I’ve always felt that ‘you get more with honey than with vinegar,’ and a polite, professional approach, as outlined on your website, seems to always works for me - and it definitely did in this situation.

   Again, I’ve never flown Spirit so I can’t attest to any experiences flying them, although having to pay for checking a bag is QUITE annoying! However, I will be flying them in a couple months, aided with the benefit of my $154.30 voucher being re-instated!

   Thanks again for the advice, and more importantly, the contact information at Spirit Airlines.

   Sincerely,
   - Alex

5. On March 5th, 2008 at 9:26 pm Fred Mucci said

   I sent the following letter to Spirit. The answer was a flat No. I will walk to Florida from New Jersey before flying Spirit.

   May 15, 2007

   Spirit Airlines Corporate Office
   2800 Executive Way
   Miramar, Florida 33025

   RE: Joanne Mucci – Request for Future Considerations
   Record Locator (KBNKHP & KGQRBM)

   Dear Sir/Madam,

   I am contacting you on behalf of my mother, Joanne Mucci. I booked round trip flights for her from Atlantic City to Orlando for 10/23/2006 through 10/27/06 (recorder locator KBNKHP) and 02/12/2007 through 02/16/2007 (recorder locator KGQRBM). My brother, her son, was diagnosed with leukemia on October 17, 2006. She was his caregiver until his death on April 29, 2007.

   She was not able to travel to the Orlando area while my brother was sick. Her tickets were never used. I have contacted you to request that Spirit Airlines consider the hardship my mother has been through and allow her to apply her previously booked flights for future flights: The first one being from September 29, 2007 through October 6, 2007 and the second one being sometime in February 2007.

   I realize that the grace period for rebooking flights has expired, but I ask that Spirit Airlines consider the extenuating circumstances and all that my mother has been through over the past six months.

   Sincerely,

   Frederick J. Mucci, III

6. On March 6th, 2008 at 8:08 am Alex said

   Fred,

   I’m sorry about your brother.

   That’s horrible - and very disappointing that Spirit would not honor your request. I was successful via email to tony.lefebvre@spiritair.com; ben.baldanza@spiritair.com - you might just cut & paste and give an email a shot to those two (the third person I emailed no longer works for Spirit). Can’t hurt?!

   Good luck,
   - Alex

7. On March 6th, 2008 at 7:58 pm Fred Mucci said

   Alex,

   Thank you so much for your help! I followed up on your recommendation. Hopefully I’ll hear positive feedback from Spirit.

   Regards,

   Fred

8. On March 8th, 2008 at 6:32 pm Alex said

   Fred,

   Hope it works out for you! Enjoy the weekend.

   - Alex

9. On March 19th, 2008 at 2:16 pm Andres said

   I sent the following letter to the 3 emails listed, although as with the previous two posting, my email to Matt Harrison was returned, I have yet to receive a response.

   Mr. Lefebrve,

   I am writing you today concerning the absolutely horrendous customer service I received as a result of a cancelled fare I made in January of this year. I purchased a ticket from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando, leaving Friday and returning Sunday, for $72. Two hours after purchasing the flight I realized that it was a bit of a rash decision and subsequently returned it. The customer service rep I spoke with was very amiable and informed me that I now had a voucher in the amount of $72 which could be used towards any future flight. Today, March 19th, I attempted to use that voucher only to find that $70 or 97% of the total value of the voucher was being applied to a “voucher usage fee”, a fee which was never explained to me at the time of the cancellation. Meaning that the $72 flight, which I held for a total of 2 hours and 27 minutes is now worth $2. After calling customer service I spoke with “Ryan” the customer service supervisor, who aside from reading me a cold script and not taking anything I said into consideration, was condescending and down right rude. I have been a long time flyer of Spirit Airlines and cannot believe that a person, who holds a Spirit MasterCard, is enrolled in your frequent flyer program, and who uses your airline as much as I do would be treated so poorly. I was going to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, until I noticed that they had already given your company an “F” and realized my complaint would just be thrown on the pile.

   I am contacting you, because I feel if anyone in your company would have some vested interest in keeping your long time customers happy, and ANY customer for that matter, it may be the Senior V.P. in charge of customer service.

   I have never had a problem with Spirit in the past and I am not one to complain, but when the injustice is so grave and the response is so scripted and unapologetic, I feel someone must be made aware of it.

   I look forward to hearing your response,

   Andres E. Quintero

10. On March 19th, 2008 at 7:20 pm Fred Mucci said

    In response to Andres’ email….I feel your pain. Please see my March 5th posting…I took Alex’s advise (March 6th) and emailed the line officers 3 times, but have yet to get a response. Spirit’s customer service is AWLFUL. Good luck and maybe some how, some way, some day we’ll get a response.

    Fred

11. On April 3rd, 2008 at 6:55 am CL said

    Generally, my experience in flying Spirt on domestic U. S. flights during the past five years has been tolerable, and occasionally very good. Their low-cost airfares have been much appreciated. But in the last year or so, perhaps since they instituted their a la carte methods of travel, I’ve noticed more deterioration in their “customer service.” I’m worried that Spirit’s next step might be to charge passengers an extra $50 for seats, $20 for those passengers who are willing to stand while holding on to an overhead leather strap, and only $5 for those who agree to sit on the floor.

    Spirit Airlines has discovered another way to rip off customers. To modify a reservation, they now charge you $60 to make the change online. Those attempts typically fail. You get this error message: “An unexpected error occurred while loading this page, please call customer service to process your booking.”

    If you want to change your flight on Spirit, without having to wait for their online technical problems to be repaired, they force you to contact someone in the Philippines by phone. Then, instead of charging you $60 to modify the flight online, the charge becomes $70 for modifying the flight by phone.

    When you finally get through to the “friendly folks” in Spirit’s “Customer Service” phone bank in the Philippines, they won’t agree to waive the extra $10 service charge – even though you’ve been trying to make the change online for an hour or more. When you ask to speak with someone in Spirit’s corporate offices by phone or e-mail, you’re told that you can communicate with the corporate office only by regular mail.

    I can only imagine how many people give in to paying the extra $10 to change their flights by phone — and how many class-action lawyers might be looking for a new case.

    During an Internet search for Spirit’s corporate offices (because Spirit’s website contains no information about how to contact their corporate offices), I discovered your website and even more bad news about Spirit. You’re performing a great service, and deserve praise for your work.

    A relative of mine works for a United States Senator who serves on the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. I’ve advised him of my complaint about Spirit Airlines, and directed him to your website.

    Thanks for providing us with valuable information.

12. On April 3rd, 2008 at 1:44 pm FF said

    I also wanted to thank you for your website, and will be using your advice for the problem that I have been having with Spirit. As of yesterday, I sent an email to the sales support and Mr Lefevbre, and am awaiting a response. If I do not hear from then, then I will proceed and email the CEO.

    My grievance with Spirit is with the type of customer service that I’ve experienced. It’s sad to say that the customer service reps that they’ve hired in the Philippines, although capable of speaking English with the same phonetic accent they must have learned from their training tapes, lack a complete understanding of the English language and are void of common sense. I made a simple call to inquire about canceling two tickets that I had purchased, but my ‘inquiry’ got interpreted as ‘demand’ and hence both my tickets were canceled. To make matters worse, the so-called ’supervisor’ that I had spoken to, insisted that I had in fact told her to cancel my flights. My only saving grace, is the fact that they claim to record the phone conversations. If that’s the case, then I am hoping that a simple review of my call will resolve the matter. To top it all, in three phone calls alone, I’ve been placed on hold at total of no less than six hours. Which makes you wonder, whether or not it really is cheaper for them to outsource their service when a simple twenty minute conversation takes six hours of wait time.

    Needless to say, I will never ever call nor deal with Spirit again if it means calling their service center. Although I’ve never flown Spirit, I can’t say anything bad about the Airline company as a whole. I will wait and see what kind of response I get from my letter, and will post the follow up on your website.

13. On April 3rd, 2008 at 5:30 pm jezm said

    Has anyone experienced any problems cancelling the $9 dollar fare club?

    thanks!

14. On April 10th, 2008 at 11:13 am Kenn Brent said

    I am a member of the nine dollar air club and a card holder so as thrilled as i was to be able to catch a below $10.00 air fare on the dates that i had planned to visit florida to no avail, and keeping with all the rules and regulations of the program i could never get a flight so after sevral hours of being on hold i was told “OH GEE IT MUST HAVE SOLD OUT ALREADY” so after several more “EXCLUSIVE” e-mail deals for five dollars or five cents on my same dates ironically they were always sold out / questionable. Well i happen to be on line when an e-mail popped up from spirit offering .05 cents so i immediately tried to book a flight and yes within 45 seconds all the special seats were sold out imagine that of course no one had any answers so here i am looking for a new airline.

15. On April 10th, 2008 at 4:34 pm Bill & Joan said

    Us and some other people we know are trying to figure out how to use this $9 Fare Club. It seems everytime we try to book, we get redirected to full-fare rates. we have yet to hit on a $9 fare yet, actually a lot of the times we get redirected back to page for signing up. We just wrote a polite e-mail to their sales support, we even take the fault for not knowing what we are doing wrong, in hopes they will explain to us what we have done wrong in using this site. Right now, our thinking on this whole thing with this $9 Club is that it is the proverbial bait & switch con. If we do not receive a satisfactory answer our next course of action will be to notify our state’s Attorney General’s Office and see if they can get some answers. If not , then we go to the local TV investigative news desk and see what they can do.

16. On April 14th, 2008 at 2:42 pm KMA said

    Thanks for the info on your site, I sent this to the 3 emails and one was returned as mentioned above. I’m hoping I don’t have to initiate court action, I’ll keep you informed

    Hello Tony and whom else it may concern,

    We recently traveled on your airlines from Ft Lauderdale to Freeport, Bahamas. The flight was excellent and very professional. However there was a problem with our flight charges. Explanation follows.

    On Feb 7th my wife, Anthea, booked 2 flights from Lauderdale to Nassau on Priceline.com for an April 9th, 2008 departure and return on April 12th, 2008. On April 2nd, 2008 we needed to change our reservations from Nassau to Freeport, same dates. Priceline notified us we could only make the change with Spirit. We called your agent to inquire if this could be done and she replied yes it could. We would have to pay the difference in the flight fare plus a 70 dollar charge per ticket. After investigation by your agent she stated that the new fare was actually lower by $22.02 per ticket and a credit voucher would be issued for that amount, however we needed to pay the change fee now, which we did. Your agent disclosed no other charges,

    Upon our arrival to check in, we were notified by your check in agent that a balance of $460.04 was still due. Of course we contested this with her and she went off to investigate. Upon her return after a 25 to 30 minutes, which was cutting our time close, she stated it could not be resolved at this time, so we decided not to miss the flight and put the balance on our credit card. She also printed out the breakdown of the charges at that time (which we will be glad to fax to you as your people in the Philippines seem unable to obtain).

    Upon our return we proceeded to try to resolve this through your people in the Philippines. After appx. 6 hrs and two 3way calls between Priceline and your Spirit reps (in the Philippines) no resolution has been reached. Priceline is not to blame for this problem as the original tickets were paid in full and confirmed. The problem lies in the charge for the new tickets. As shown on the statement the fare was $398.80 for the new tickets. Somehow this was shown as a per person charge but in reality it should have been for both. There is no fare even remotely close to that amount per person from Lauderdale to Freeport. I have checked both on the website and through your booking agents (in the PHILIPPINES!). In essence we were double charged plus also charged for our vouchers which made up the difference of 460.04. (Do the math its not rocket science). Why would anybody book tickets for $797.60 + a $140.00 change fee, when they could rebook on your website the same flights for 436.40. Highway robbery is an understatement. Your agents (in the Philippines) seem to believe that there is no way they could make a human error on this All we are asking is a refund of our 460.04 back to our credit card.

    I am sure our frustration is oozing slightly in this correspondence, but the worse part is it took a major web search to even find out how to contact someone here in the USA, and then to find out your offices our actually in the same state of Florida as ours!

    As stated before, the flights were very professional and courteous, just a mix-up possibly by computer or human error in the billing. Hopefully we can resolve this misunderstanding and not involve legal action.

    I have attached the billing breakdown printed at the check in desk.

    Awaiting your expedient reply,

17. On April 14th, 2008 at 7:39 pm RM said

    Watch out for “Name” errors when booking on spiritair.com too. When you are enrolled as part of the $9 fare club, you are able to purchase a ticket for anyone. In my case, I purchase tickets for my husband and inlaws. There is a space to clearly indicate what the travelers name is.

    Now, as you continue along through their order entry pages entering many other details, watch out as the travelers name changes back to the MEMBER NAME enrolled in the $9 club! So as you double and triple check all the important details (dates, times, baggage purchased, etc.) probably the single most important item (travelers name) ends up incorrect and you must then PAY Spirit to have it changed!

    I’d like to say I have documented this with screen shots but as of now, I have not. If a $9 club member is reading this and about to actually purchase a ticket for someone else, it would be terrific if they could save the screens as they go through the purchase process. I have a feeling a class action suit seeking remedies for this “error” will have Spirit Air changing their entry screens soon.

    Flying this airline reminds me of buying an item with a large “onrebate.com” attached to it. If you don’t cross every “t”, dot every “i”, have 2.5 kids and own a blue car with all even license plate numbers, you’re not getting the item for the teaser price their marketing department sold you on.

    I’m really surprised they’re based out of Miramar instead of Boca Raton…

18. On April 15th, 2008 at 10:29 am FF said

    UPDATE
    I wanted to update you on what happened when I contacted Spirit about my situation. I sent a friendly email to Tony Lefebvre and sales support. Surprisingly enough, it was Mr. Lefebvre who forwarded my email to the proper contact who in turn resolved my issue. I received a friendly email stating that my issue had been looked into, and that my tickets were reinstated.
    Once again, I want to thank you for your website and great resources in helping me reach my desired results.

19. On June 5th, 2008 at 5:20 pm reader said

    I am not a shill for the airline and I understand some of you have had difficult situations. However, your difficult situations do not necessarily mean the airline should break their rules does it really? The business model is for ultra low cost, not full service, isn’t it?

    However, I have been able to snag on several occasions great deals on Spirit even including the luggage charges (1/2 if purchased online) that were much better than any other carrier. The flights were on time and the planes new and clean.

    I however understand that the change fees are large, so I don’t book unless i’m sure I want to go. And guess what, on the last trip I actually didn’t travle and I just ate the ticket because it was less than the change fee! Big deal, still got about 5 tix for the price of 1 on the other airlines. (family went)

    The only negative I have experienced is that I was doublecharged for luggage, and it is true there was no one that returned my calls. I eventually disputed w/AMEX and AMEX refunded me on the 2nd dispute (I used the paperwork that Spirit gave to AMEX to show AMEX that Spirit was wrong — I don’t know if Spirit had to pay though; I think it was an AMEX goodwill gesture — still $ back in my pocket)

    With all the cutbacks in the news, I hope Spirit makes it through, but I subjectively feel like they have less flights when I search now, less frequent and less quality sales from my city, and more and more fees like choosing your seat etc.

    They may have burnt a lot of bridges with customer service, but if you want to have more flexibility try booking on LUV or buy refundable tickets. Read the Luggage requirements. do the homework.

20. On June 9th, 2008 at 8:03 pm Gail Cohen said

    I am very grateful to find this web site. I have just taken 3 airlines US Air, Delta, and Spirit and had trouble with all three. Frankly, I never want to fly again - and am considering driving next time no matter how much gas is.

    Travolocity never had on their web site when I booked my flight on Spirit that I could see that one has to pay $20 in cash to check your first bag. The line was extrememly long. I am disabled and had booked a wheelchair with Travelocity for the Spirit flight which I never got from Spirit. I get to the Spirit desk in Atlantic City, and am told it is $20 cash to check my bag. I did not have cash on me. I was told to go to the ATM at the airport, and get cash. The ATM was in the dark, and unlit. I kept pushing the wrong button for balance instead of withdrawal. It kept taking my money and charging me outragous fees. I could not get the cash as by the time I was done I only had $18 in the account and one can only take out $20 from an ATM. So I was going to miss my flight even though I was there two hours before the plane left. I asked a man going to Tampa the area where I live if he would cash a check for me and deposit it the next day when I had direct deposit. He said yes, and handed me the $20. I was writing out the check. A woman from Spirit came out from behind the counter, and grabed the money from my hand and gave it back to the man saying to me you aren’t allowed to ask other customers for money. She refused to give me her name, and had no ID that one could see. I and others were astounded. She finally checked my bag saying the plane was leaving. They never got me the wheelchair even though they said it was down for me to have a wheelchair. I had to walk to the gate, and can barely walk with my cane. This was only one of three terrible experiences flying. Again thank you for this website. It does a great service for citizens.

21. On June 11th, 2008 at 11:40 am Anthony said

    This is going to help a lot of people.

    To get through to someone at the Customer Service Department. Bypass the toll free number it does not or hardly work. Call the head office, then dial these direct extensions. It worked for me today. I got these numbers from someone who works at Spirit Airlines.

    dial–954 447 7965

    dial ext.

    1118 for Belinda

    1718 for Carlos

    1161 for Lopez

    1146 for Delores

    7881 for Romero

    Hopefully you should get through to someone. I am not sure if I have the names correctly. Please come back and post and let me know if it worked.

22. On June 14th, 2008 at 10:59 am Ed Acevedo said

    WOW - This website is awesome… I need help but after reading all this I do not know if I should give it a shot or if I should stop right now and not go with all the hassle… My family and I flew from Fort Lauderdale to San Juan, PR everything was greatly and the crew was very friendly. My returning flight was for June 9th… after arriving at the airport (party of 8…) when we got to TSA they noticed that two of the boarding passes where not issue. I had to go thru the whole process again and consequently we lost our flight. There were no other available flight for a big party until June 12… immediately I requested that my baggage be returned to San Juan… they did the request got all my contact information and everything was just fine, right? NOT!!! I visited the airport the next day at 7:00 PM to give time to get my bags no one on the counter, no one on the baggage claim office. I was told that the opened the office only when a new flight arrives. I waited 2 more hours… no one ever opened the office. I called customer service for help they only gave me a number that goes to an answering machine… left 10 messages-no answer yet. I called Fort Lauderdale.. Left five messages- no answer. Finally on June 12 about 2 hours before departing from San Juan I was able to speak to a live person… who called me back 30 minutes latter and informed me that my bags were in fact in Fort Lauderdale and that they never send them back to Puerto Rico as I had requested. Imagine the nightmare my wife and I went thru with 6 children ranging from 2 yrs old to 13 year old and nothing to wear… Please advice and tell me if I should get some kind of compensation or something for all the hassle, aggravation and lack of urgency on Spirits staff.
    What should I do?

23. On June 14th, 2008 at 11:01 am Ed Acevedo said

    Please share your thoughts…

24. On June 14th, 2008 at 12:22 pm tom russo said

    I am a member of the $9 fare club and have been booking at the low fares many many times.
    Spirit is a no-frill airline and you have to read the small print but they are reliable and trying to survive.
    I would like to suggest that if you want to ride in a limousine, then dont book with a taxi company.
    I see that many passengers complained about the baggage fee but now most airline are charging the same. This should tell you something..
    Spirit is the king of taxi companies in the airline world.

25. On June 15th, 2008 at 6:22 pm Tyler Paquette said

    Ive flown Spirit Air 2 times to, and one time from Peru. Im about to book my 2nd return trip home to the US. Everytime Ive flown Spirit Ive had no problems. Clean planes, on time flights and safely arrived baggage. The only problem Ive had with baggage was the guy who measures the bag for size (in Reagan, D.C.) told me mine we too big and it would cost me an extra $100. He took a slip of paper out of his pocket and wrote 100 on it and told me to give it to the check-in counter. I smelled a rat so i just stuck the slip in my pocket and didnt say anything. No one else had a problem with my bag so problem solved. Baggage check in is reasonable if you do it online. Five dollars a piece for your first two, $100 after that.
    I hope my next flight with Spirit goes as well as the first 3 did. Sorry about the bad luck you others had. Maybe I was just lucky

26. On June 26th, 2008 at 2:48 pm Camille Webb said

    I sent this letter to Spirit Airlines, after I was told that there was nothing that they could do for me.

    June 26, 2008

    Spirit Airlines
    http://www.spiritair.com
    2800 Executive Way
    Miramar, FL 33025
    (954) 447-7965
    (800) 772-7117

    Passenger: Peter Myers
    Flight #: 197
    Date of Travel 06/26/08
    LGA to FLL
    Record Locator #:C5P9WM

    To Whom It May Concern:

    My name is Camille Webb I am requesting a total refund of the fee that was paid for my 8 year old son who flew as an unaccompanied minor from LGA TO FLL, as well as the cost of the airline ticket. I was informed by the party who came to receive him at the airport that my son deplaned the aircraft unaccompanied, instead of being supervised. The receiving party informed me that there was no one to issue any paperwork to do the exchange of the child. I am appalled because this is pure negligence and anything could have happened to my son. I entrusted spirit to take care of my child and this was not done. I was also informed that he was also not fed on the flight as well. I am very uncomfortable doing business with this company and I do regret that I have already purchased 2 airline tickets on flight 779/710 leaving on 7/24 to FLL. This is the second time that I did business with your company and I was not happy with the first time. I thought the second experience would have been different, but your company placed my child at risk for danger. I am requesting that someone contact me regarding this matter ASAP. It is very evident why Spirit Airlines is one of the most complained about airlines flying today. The customer service is extremely poor, and in this case my child could have been in harms way. My contact information is: Camille Webb 4059 Paulding Ave Bronx, NY 10466.

    917 892 3810
    sweetcammeo@hotmail.com

    Sincerely,

    Camille Webb

27. On July 14th, 2008 at 8:50 am beth said

    Today’s date is July 14, 2008.

    Spirit Airlines customer service is located in Bangalore India. The representatives are given “American” names and you are unable to locate ANYONE in Miramar’s head office. The email addresses and phone extensions listed above ALL go to India. There is NO way to contact their head office.

    If you want to reach the “customer service” line in India. Dial TOLL FREE 1-800-772-7117. Press #1 for English and #1 for reservation and then ask your question. The only way to get a representative toll free!!!

    The service on spirit is terrible. Make sure you don’t need to cancel or change your flight times when you book. The prices change (go high and low) based on demand. They have sales once a month or so if you check regularly for 24 or 48 dollars off your price. Promo code 24HOURS and 48HOURS.

    Make sure not to sign up for the 9 dollar fare club and travel insurance is your discretion and you can call them to have it removed. They will redirect you to another number to have your insurance removed.

28. On July 16th, 2008 at 2:36 pm Chloey said

    I booked a flight from San Jose, CA to Orlando so I thought it turned out the flight was from San jose, Costa Rica. I requested a refund. I received credit. I do not want to use this airline company. I don’t want anything to do with them especially after I was told to shut up numerous times by their customer service rep. I cannot use the ticket seeing as the voucher was issued in my sisters name that i bought it forl. She can’t use it because no flights go out of our northern california. There is no one willing to help. I have hired a lawyer to see if I can get my refund back. I even told the lady I was willing to pay the $90 fee. I just want my money back. I cancelled 5 minutes after realizing the mistake.

29. On July 21st, 2008 at 1:49 pm Jim said

    Their Customer Service drove me nuts.

    I prepaid for checked bags and when I changed the flight date, the baggage reservation did not change too. It was lost. So when I got to the airport, they made me pay again at a higher price to check my bags. It might have been different if I had the receipt on me, but I didn’t find it until later.

    And when I called Customer Service, which is obviously overseas, they were of no help. I talked to three people. They either couldn’t understand me, or I couldn’t understand them. Each told me a different story. One said that when you change your flight, you have to buy the checked bags again, another said that I never bought checked bags. It was useless.

    The web site is useless too. The “feedback” form on the website allows no feedback. It is only the FAQ. There are no mailing addresses or alternate numbers.

    Luckily, I found this site and used the names posted above. I sent a polite email and got a response in 14 minutes from the VP’s Blackberry! Wow.

    Soon I got a call from a real person who spoke English to tell me my refund was on it’s way.

    I am very grateful for the contact info above, but it just shouldn’t be so necessary. Their customer service should provide a process for escalation and at least a mailing address. Their web site should actually accept feedback. And they should find a better call center.

    And…this same thing happened to a co-worker. So ALWAYS carry your receipt for your prepaid checked bags.

    Thanks

30. On July 24th, 2008 at 9:09 pm Julio Benitez said

    Without my 2 bags for 11 days now and I am supposed to be out of the country for 2 months for work. Not one person has made an effort to call me back from corporate or central spirit baggage. All the clothing I own is in those bags, some very expensive electronics, and my prescription medication. I do not know what to do anymore because its seems like I will never get an answer from this company and I feel like i will never see my bags again. This is is hands down the worst airline i have over dealt with.

31. On July 25th, 2008 at 12:30 pm Jamal said

    Check this out on July 23, 2008 i was suppose to be fly of of Laguardia in Ny. to go to Puerto Rico. There was to be a layover in Fort Lauderdale. Well due to the weather we recieved delay after delay. After about 3 delays they said the flight was cancelled. Imagine my frustration as i was looking forward to 2 weeks in Puerto Rico.It also happened to be my first flying(or non flying experience. So upon learning of the canceling of our flight. We had to go back down and retrieve our bags. Guess what? My bag miraculously dissappeared, i packed all my summer gear in there. With the exception of 2 pairs of basketball shorts and some under garments. I called the lost baggage office and they have no answers. Did my bag fly to Fla then Pr by it self.. WTF!! I was mad about not being able to go on the trip because we had to cancel because all of our PR reserverations bled themselves out due to us not arriving at a particular time. Losing the bags was the icing on the damn cake..I really wasnt hungry for cake.. lol .. SPIRIT SUCKS! they will be hearing from me everyday till i get my damn bag. or Some compensation for my loss of Clothes..

32. On August 1st, 2008 at 2:14 pm Brian said

    I am trying the same steps as others, I hope I can get a refund. I have been calling as much as I can and I keep getting the standard “It has been sent to accounting for processing, they should call you soon”

    If I get my refund, I think that will smooth the bad blood between me and Spirit, though I lost $300.00 just to get home so I didn’t lose my job.

    ====Message sent to staff=====

    Mr. Lefebrve,

    I am writing today after being exhausted of the complete run-around I have
    experienced. While I think I am still making headway, I wish to email you
    and share my grievances with you.

    First off, I have some positive things to say about Spirit Airlines, as I
    don’t want you to think I am ungrateful to this airline company. My wife
    and I flew the first part of our journey to Freeport, Bahamas (Sunday,
    June 15, 2008 // Flight record locator LKLWDD) on a very nice and clean
    jet. The people were courteous, the service was prompt and the flight was
    enjoyable.

    But our honeymoon made a turn for the worst when we showed up for our
    flight after packing our belongings, paying for a taxi, and arriving at
    the airport for our scheduled flight on Thursday, June 19.

    We had smiles on our faces which were immediately wiped away when a very
    rude Spirit Airlines employee curtly told us our flight was cancelled and
    that that the only thing they can do is put us up in a hotel overnight and
    the next flight will leave at 6:00 p.m. the next day. We asked if they
    could get us on another carrier because after all, we paid for a ticket to
    take us home on the 19th, not the 20th. We had careers to get back to
    that could not be put on hold because an airline cancelled our flight and
    never even tried to contact us about it. But they said no, they could do
    nothing.

    So I ended up paying about $300 for a flight home through Bahamas Air. My
    original fare through Spirit was $243.63 and so now I have paid $543.63
    just so I could go home when I was originally scheduled to.

    Promptly after getting back to Ft. Lauderdale I stood in line for over an
    hour and a half and finally got to the counter and spoke to a customer
    service rep. I have his name written down somewhere if you need it, but
    he was very nice and understanding and told me he could only refund my
    unused portion of my trip. While this was a start, it didn’t help
    reimburse the extra $300 I had to spend to get home.

    Well we fast forward almost 2 months later and I still have not received a
    refund. I have called 5 times to Spirit Airlines and and 2 times I have
    been told a check will be sent to my house, and 3 times that my credit
    card will have a refund put onto it.

    This most recent call (today 8/1/2008) the representative again confirmed
    that the request has been sent to accounting and it would take 5 – 15
    business days (which is what was told to me 2 weeks ago)

    Mr. Lefebrve, I am not one to complain and am usually very patient, but I
    have been waiting almost 2 months for a refund to a cancelled flight. For
    most people $243.63 is not a lot, but to a newly wed couple $243.63 is a
    make it or break it apartment payment. And on top of that I had to tap
    our savings for the extra $300.00 just to get us home when Spirit Airlines
    originally promised us we would be going home.

    Please look into this matter. Anything you can do to help us out would be
    greatly appreciated. I really regret we didn’t get to fly home on a
    Spirit Airlines Jet. The rust-bucket of a plane Bahamas Air put us on
    scared my wife to death and I thought we wouldn’t make it alive.

    Below I have included pertinent reservation information.

    Thank You,

    Brian Minter
    Chastity Minter

    =========================================
    Spirit record locator: LKLWDD
    Ticket type requested: electronic (e-ticket)

    CheapTickets record locator: AP270301XQMBJ48K
    Airline ticket number(s): 4877167317691, 4877167317690

    Sunday, June 15, 2008

    Spirit # 278

    Fort Lauderdale International (FLL) to Freeport Grand Bahama Intl (FPO)

    Departure (FLL): June 15, 4:32 PM EDT (afternoon)

    Arrival (FPO): June 15, 5:25 PM EDT (evening)

    Class: Economy

    ——————————
    Thursday, June 19, 2008

    Spirit # 279

    Freeport Grand Bahama Intl (FPO) to Fort Lauderdale International (FLL)

    Departure (FPO): June 19, 6:15 PM EDT (evening)

    Arrival (FLL): June 19, 7:08 PM EDT (evening)

33. On August 2nd, 2008 at 12:10 pm Janet said

    Your lucky that the walk-up fare was only $300 to get home that day. Bad on Spirit for not contacting you but at least they offered you a hotel for the night. Did they have your contact information and a way to get a hold of you??? You also didn’t deserve to be treated badly by that agent. I hate to hear that stuff. Just makes a bad situation worse!

    Planes break down and weather can play havoc. Sometimes the airlines have no choice but to cancel a flight and that stinks if you are on that flight. However, I can’t believe that you couldn’t have dealt with the extra day with that circumstance. You chose to pay $300 to get home on that day. That was your option and you took it. Spirit would have gotten you home and they will make good on your ticket…eventually.

34. On August 9th, 2008 at 2:29 pm Joe Vitagliano said

    I have flown Spirit about 20 times in the last six months. 19 trips to Jamaica, which, although were not excellent service, I had encountered some minor rude service from some Spirit employees during those 19 trips, but as a whole, I was satisfied with everything else. All the times I flew previously, the planes were never later than 30 minutes and 90% of the time the employees were professional and courteous. The only time I had a problem was my last trip where I flew from FLL (Fort Lauderdale) to Columbia SC. I flew in on the 4th of August and rented a car for three days to go to Charlotte until the 7th of August. I only flew to Columbia, because Spirit does not fly to Charlotte and I got the benefit of a free trip (buddy pass) thru my recent girlfriend who works for Spirit. The flight down was great, ontime and was about two thirds full.
    My problem was, when I came back to Columbia for the return flight on the 7th of August, I was told quite rudely by a person standing behind the counter (I do not believe that person was a ticket agent) that the return flight at 3 PM was cancelled and it should be flying out tomorrow. I realise I was basically a hitchhiker on my free buddy pass, so there was nothing they could do for me as far as a refund, hotel, etc.. I ended up paying $305 for a US Air flight from Columbia SC, to FLL, connecting through Charlotte that took me about 9 more hours to get home do to weather delays, getting taken off the original puddle jumper jet plane to Charlotte from Columbia, SC, going back to the terminal in Columbia, SC, missing my connecting flight in Charlotte at 4:15 PM, finaly making it back on the puddle jumper for more delays, getting to Charlotte, getting a ticket for a 6:15 connecting flight to FLL, and that plane sat on the runway for a two hour delay because of weather, arriving in FLL by 10:30 PM. Now, I know, I am in a different situation because I was not paying for the flight, but I would have been more angry if I was a paying customer who was not called in advance about the cancellation, which the person at the counter stated was because of maintenance, but I believe, seeing how podunk and small the Columbia, SC, airport was, I believe Spirit cancelled because they did not have enough passengers to make the flight to FLL profitable? Did the paying customers get put up in a hotel, did they get Spirit to put them on another flight? My girlfreind informs me that Spirit might not have reciprocity with another airlines, so that even the paying pasengers would have to wait for the next flight. I tried to rent a car to drive to Fort Lauderdale at the Columbia SC, small airport car rental counters, but the agents at Hertz, Budget, Enterprise and Alamo had no cars for me and some of those agents were quite rude about speaking with me.
    Anyway, I am going back to Jamaica on the 19th of August, paying for this trip, I am crazy, but Spirit is the cheapest by far of all the airlines to get to Jamaica, where I have family and a home there.

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