Spirit Airlines
Reviews and Complaints

I had an 8:58 flight to Ft Myers from Detroit. I arrived at the airport at 7:20. Had prepaid for my bag and already printed my boarding pass, but still had to wait in the full line to check my bag. The line stretched down past about three other airlines check in stations.

When we got closer, they split out Ft Myers and Orlando - Orlando was leaving 9 minutes later, but they got the "go directly to the counter", line while Ft Myers got the longer, "rope maze" line.

They had at least 5 check-in stations, but only 2 people working most of the time. Either the workers or the PCs are very slow... 3-5 minutes per person just to print out a sticker for the bag.

As we got even closer, we found they were letting people walk up from the side and check in ahead of everyone!

Finally got up there, checked in, gave them my bag, ran down to the gate... just in time to see the plane pull away.

When we got back to check-in to rebook, the agent had the audacity to ask the person in front of me (who was in the same boat I was in) why she had missed her flight.

From what I've heard, Spirit is like this every day. The last time I flew with them, they had only one person working (but 2 working the booth to sell credit cards) and let anyone who had paid for a seat (they charge if you want to pre-select your seat, even middle seats) cut ahead.

Wasted over 150 miles of driving and gas going back and forth to the airport.

Never again will I fly Spirit. Delta is a much better choice, even if they end up costing more... almost never a line (check in at a kiosk, walk up with your bag, takes them about 30 seconds). Plus they give you a soda or juice, pretzels or peanuts, and water on the flight. I know that costs them all of $1, but I appreciate the little things at this point. Spirit makes you pay for water.

Oh, good news for those with Spirit credit cards though - apparently they get to skip to the front of the line for check-in.

Dear pissed consumer my wife an i were booked on SPIRT airlines to return from FFL airport to ACY airport some time in November. upon our arrival in Ft. lauderdale we found out the flight we were booked on was over sold.(not surprised) We were going to fly out on time until one women was very upset because her family would not be on the flight back to Atlantic city they had booked. My wife and i were in no rush and decided to forfeit our seats and SPIRT would fly us out 3 hours later. The only catch was we would be flown to Philly pa. as opposed to AC and they shuttle us to AC. (via small plane so we though) not so it was a van ride that took approx an hour. We were not happy but what could we do.

Now we are ready to use our free round trip vouchers to any where SPIRT flies and we can't book when we want, we have to ask SPIRT when they would like us to fly. Oh and by the way vouchers expire on 4/8/11. To fly to Aruba we had to stay over night coming and going in FL extending the vacation by 2 days which we are not able to do because of work (and additional cost involved.) Move on to seconded option. A trip from AC to Fort Myers FL and back on 3/10/11 - 3/15/11 but surprise surprise there are no seats available. There are numerous seats on each flight but you can't use the vouchers. Why ? This is a frequent route for SPRIT but they choose not to accommodate a good customer after all we have flown them dozens of times before. I am sad to say they will no longer be a choice for my family and friends or anyone I speak with from this day forward.

Further more your customer service *** and I am sick of talking to non English speaking so called Americans that I can't understand for the life of me, that surly doesn't help matters

We were at the airport, in atlantic city new jersey and the people there were very nasty to us about our dog and its case with is the size 18'x14'x9 the lady at the desk said it was not the right size. She said the container was not right she put the tape from the floor up she was wrong I called the supervisor and she was nasty to, I try to explane we have travel before with the dog in there and never had trouble it was flight 943 leaving acy at 7:25am the agent was
62152 I did not get the supervisor name we at the airport at 6:15am please help us

I booked a flight on spirit airlines in November. Today I went to look at my itinerary and they had shaved over 6 hours off of my vacation time. The have me arriving in at my destination city 2 hours later then when I booked my flight. I am traveling out of country and this two hour time difference makes it unsafe for me to get to my hotel room that I already booked and paid for. The have me leaving the country 4 hours early. Instead of leaving at 5:30, where I would have the day to be on the beach or shop, I am now leaving at 1:30. They refuse to give me a refund on the ticket or make any accommodations. The worst part is, the time they have take for my trip will be spent in lay overs rather than at my destination or home. I will never use spirit air again. They are not concerned about customer service or customer experience.

Unauthorized Cancelled Reservation.
I tried to book w/ Travelocity a flight for me and my wife to Las Vegas for the posted price of $159 RT on Spirit Airlines. Travelocity's web page doesn't seem to take the reservation when all required fields, including payment infos were filled in. So, I called them and spoke with the customer service person and he told me that Spirit Air had changed that price to $179 ! Oh well, since I am speaking to live person now, we might as well just take that price and process everything. He put me on hold to process the reservations, In a few minutes, he was able to give a confirmation code with the rest of the info to be emailed to me. I checked my email and there it was. We're all set.
A day later, the transaction is on my debit/credit card account.
Called my timeshare to set us up for our few nights stay. Called Ticketmaster for a Cirque du Soliel show. Two tickets were a little bit high but this is CduS.
And so, more than a couple of weeks later, me and my wife headed to the airport for a short, hard-earned vacation. Only that when we presented our IDs and confirmation code, the desk person could not find our names in the manifest. He kept looking in their system for a possible mix-up. None. Then, he said that he can see our reservations as cancelled. A cancellation charge is showing in their system. We never cancelled or even received any email or call that our reservations had been cancelled. He said that it it showing that a travel agency had cancelled it. Was it TRavelocity? No, he's not sure because it was only written on their system as "travel agency" . Right there I called Travelocity. They denied that they never cancelled my reservations. We waited to clear things up. The front desk guy called a supervisor on his walkie-talkie. We waited another hour for this supervisor who could not accomodate us in any way because the plane had already been fully booked. The next available flight would a week later. He has no explanation on why, and who the travel agency was. He offered to just refund our tickets.
And so, we are just going in circles here with no sight of resolution to my problem. At this point, I just aggreed with the full refund and I asked for receipts/printouts of the transaction right there.
We were so embarassed and dissapointed with this Spirit airlines.
when we got home I called my timeshare company and told them of what had happen. They cannot return my points to my bank. They are lost. Then I called Ticketmaster, and they obliged to refund the tickets but they will retain their service fees.
It was very frustrating and I could not believe it happened. I called both parties again the next day. Travelocity maintained they never cancelled. Spirit Air could still not determined the travel agency who cancelled.
Yesterday, the full refund was posted on my card account. And 2 days ago, the money for the show tickets were returned.
But I'm still not so at peace of what Spirit Air has done to our hard-earned vacation plan. Ruined it.

Anybody who has read my experience with this airline, any idea what I or we should do to this calloused monster, please feel free to reply. Even by just broadcasting these unfair practices will probably help other passengers not to fall on their dirty tricks.

Nic of Chicago

Spirit airlines is a shoddy dishonest corporation that should be avoided. They may appear to have good rates, but they have horrible service, are apt to cancel flights at the last minute, and will lie to you and try to avoid given you a refund even when they leave you stranded thousands of miles from home.

We flew from puerto rico to ft. Lauderdale, and then on to washington dc with spirit. Two hours before starting the return flight (Same itinerary in reverse), a spirit agent called and told us that the ft. Lauderdale to pr. Leg had been "downgraded" and that we "probably wouldn't get seats"!

We were of course totally confused by this, but when we pressed for information all we could get out of this agent (Yes, an indian national, from the sound of his english), was that spirit was using a smaller plane, and that, therefore, we might not get a seat. He then wanted us to make a decision to either cancel the entire return flight, or just part of it. And, we would then get credit only for the parts we canceled. Since we had no other way home, we really didn't know what to do, so we managed to get him to promise that we could try to find some other way home and then call back and make our decision. Fortunately, we were able to book with jet blue the next day, so we asked for the bigger refund. Supposedly we will get it, but we would not be surprised if they cheat us out of it, or part of it.

In any case, even if we do get the refund they promised, we are still out several hundred dollars and a day stuck in washington dc. Spirit obviously couldn't care less about us. They also lied to us repeatedly when we called them, and gave us the run-around. So don't book with spirit airlines! If they treat customers this badly, imagine how they maintain their planes. Inconvenience is one thing, your life is another. Don't risk it with spirit!

I received an email from spirit air promoting flights as low as $9.00. In the afternoon of 10/13/10 I went on Spirit Air web site and saw flights leaving Atlantic City on 11/5/10 going to Myrtle Beach and returning on 11/8/10 for $25 per flight. I booked the flights for myself, my wife and another couple to leave and return on those dates. I was presented with a host of other fees when I went to sign out. I left the office on business Wednesday afternoon after completing my reservation.

On October 14th, at 7:00am, I was reviewing my emails and saw a confirmation from Spirit. It appears the Confirmation had me going to Myrtle Beach on the 1st of November leaving Atlantic City at 6:20 am arriving at Myrtle Beach at 7:46 and then re-boarding the return flight at 8:27am that same day returning to Atlantic City. An obvious mistake.

I called [protected] the help line and spoke to Jim and then David. David told me in order to get on the proper flights I would be charged $110 per ticket (penalty) and would have to pay another $60 per ticket because the $25 flight was no longer offered. (He told me to read the fine print) I told him his offer was not acceptable and I requested a refund. I was on the phone over an hour with David. David claims a credit was issued and I would not have to pay an up charge to change flights. To date, I have not received any confirmation or denial of my requests.
I believe your online booking practices is a good candidate for consumer fraud and I would suggest you review their offers to the consumers including all the hidden fees and fine print.

After booking many flights for my kids this summer I have learned quite a bit about unaccompanied minors. EVERY other airline, when entering the information will warn you immediately once you try and reserve a seat for a child under a certain age. Every airline has different policies but they all warn you of the situation during their reservation process. However, Spirit Airline use the ole Bait and Switch routine. Pure Fraudulent behavior. They allowed me to purchase the tickets, warned me of extra bag fees, notified me of my options to pay for for extra leg room, notified me that there will be food on-board for purchase only. But NOT ONCE did they tel me that I will need to pay a $100 per child fee for being an unaccompanied minor. there was not one pop up, warning or anything. Instead the day of the flight when I went to check them in I am being told. Total Bait and Switch. At the time the tickets were purchased had I known that I would have been charged an additional $200 I would have selected one of three other airlines that would have allowed for my 14 year old to fly with no charge.

I will never use Spirit again and will tell everyone to avoid this airline.

Hi my name is Irene Reyes. I booked a round trip flight on spirit airline though cheapoair.com on 6/7/2010 I was to fligh to fort lauderdale on 6/9/2010 which I did and I was to return to NY. on 6/17/2010. as you know they went on strike a day or two after I arrived in florida. I made a huge sacrifice to make that trip since it was a personal trip to go see my elderly mother who I felt needed my help. I had to be back here in NY. On 6/18/2010 for many different personal reasons. I had to borrow money to take the cheapest flight I found back to NY. on delta airline. I had to pay as much to come back as I payed on spirit both ways but since I kept calling them and they said that they were still on strike and they din't know until when the strike would go on. I told them to cancel my flight for 6/17/2010 because I had to here on 6/18/2010 and I could't stay there without knowing when they would go off the strike. they said they would refund my money within 7- 10 business days. today was the tenth day and they still haven't put the money back in my card. I, ve called them several times and I, ve called cheapoair they keep telling me different stories but the money is still not on my card. I told one gentlemen I spoke to that they were very fast to take the money from the customer but very slow to return it and he told me that they have pay their employees But that rest of us have to eat pay rent and bills also. thanks

We booked a trip to Lima, Peru, from Washington DC by way of Ft Lauderdale through Spirit Airline's website on January 11, 2010. Two days later, we were given new flights several days different then our booking, and came to learn Spirit had cut its midweek service to Lima. According to Spirit Airline's customer agreement, customers have no recourse and Spirit merely reschedules passengers to the next available flight. Trying to reach customer service is nearly impossible through the phone system, unless you choose the option to book a new flight. After a combined 3 hours and 26 minutes waiting on the phone, we were connected to someone in India. We were informed that we would be issued a flight credit if we opted not to fly to Lima for the service project, and there would be no way to be compensated for flying on our selected days.

I had booked four round trip tickets from Chicago to Ft. Myers for a golf outing. One member cancelled a few days before the trip on March 17th due to his elderly mother's health. I contacted Spirit Airlines a day before the flight and stated he would not be making the trip. After I returned from the trip, I saw no refund to my credit card for either the flight or the $88 for baggage. I then called their Customer Service Center on three different occasions to be greeted by someone who had difficulty with the English language and offered no help. Finally I was told I never called them and no refund would be made. I asked about how could you charge for luggage you never even carried. I was told no refunds over and over with the same prepared responses. I will never use Spirit Airlines again and will never book any of my future golf trips with up to 16 participants with them...period. Worse airline I ever used...

My daughters tried boading (on time) they encountered a women by the name of fabiola. flight attendant, nasty, rude and intolerable. denied there flights said she over heard them crusing (on there cell phone) there was another women using profanity because she missed her flight. denied flight. then told them they were late (one hour early). one twin she spoke spanish to. attendant thought one was dominican and told her she could bored.. to make a long story short. they gave away my daughters seats. ms. fabiola even went on to say that the captain denied them. she said that"we cannot deny the captain oders". all the flight attendants seemed to be working together (to protect fabiola) to make our trip incomplete (sunday morning flight 218, march 14, 2010).in which it was. I still can not understand how all people of color were in the customer service line. my kids were even called basura negra by the flight attendant (fabiola). we asked for more names no one would give us there names. I would like to know why the fine workers of spirit airlines could not just fess up and say the flight was over booked. can someone tell how can I get in touch with a manager or someone of significance. I am seriously wanting to speak with an attorney. other workers from spirit airlines were very accomodating. the all knew fabiola and called her by name. they (the other workers) said if it wasn't fabiola it would then be chickee. they give most peole a very diffucult time. it's all at there discreation (fabiola).

Spirit airlines is devious & unscrupulous.

Do not sign up for spirit airlines mastercard if you already have a $9 club membership and expect to link the two without a 45 day break in your $9 club membership.

Cancel your spirit mastercard - - - this is the only way to get their attention!

Their unscrupulous & devious scam to keep the balance of your paid $9 club m'shp will make you wait 45 days for your "free" $9 club membership & will not link your current paid membership so you will be out the balance of your $9 club paid amount and will not be able to get the club discounts for 45 days!

If this happens to you - - report spirit airlines to the ftc - federal trade commission & your local state better business bureau & attorney general. Also send a copy of your complaint to spirit's board of directors including the company president.

Today 1-25-10 I signed up for their $9.00 promo. The cost was $39.95 per year. I joined because my grandson flies from Atlantia to Fl. twice a month. With other airlines I give his name and they billed my credit card. I believed when they ask for my name and my credit card info I could then book a flight for my grandson WRONG! I am the only one that can fly. If I want my grandson to fly I have to open up a credit card for him. (NOT). I immediatly wanted to cancel and get back my $39.95. they said this promo is non refundable. I also called my credit card and the $39.95 had not yet been charged to my account. Once again I called to cancel since they had not yet charged my account . They said I could cancel the plan, but I still will be billed. I also reminded them of THE RIGHT OF RECESSION LAW, which I thought gives you 3 days to cancel. Nothing I said was going to make them give me $39.95 back. I will still keep fighting them.

You state a price on a website which is substantially lower than the actual price because of the addition of baggage and seating fees which when totaled make your ticket higher than those of other airlines. Which if known by the consumer at the time of purchase may have caused a consumer to select another airline, which because of your website tactic of charging the credit card at each stage of the purchase, reservation, baggage, seating a consumer is locked in at the reservation stage and can not change or cancel without fees. This is deceptive and a bait and switch and I find it even more insulting that your response only restates the obvious. I will take this up with the FTC and FAA and other consumer authorities and your can answer to them about these deceptive business practices.

On Sept. 22 I received an email Frequent Flyer Statement. In the box to indicate miles about to expire Spirit reported none were about to expire. As of Oct. 1 more than 20, 000 miles disappeared.

I have called and written and only receive a canned response about the fine print on how miles expire - but no one is answering why there is a place on the statement to report miles about to expire or why it said none when eight days later enough miles for a free ticket vanished.

This is from that email statement:

Your Activity Details (as of September 1, 2009)
Spirit Airlines

Member Name: Cheryl Labash

FREE SPIRIT™ Number: [protected]

Miles Posted this month: .00 miles
Account Balance:
22988.00 miles

Member Status: Somebody Miles Due to Expire: No miles are due to expire.
Miles Expired: .00 miles have expired from your account. Questions? Click here

No not believe these people!

I had a flight home from myrtle beach to laguardia august 31st, 2009.

It was of course overbooked which I don't even understand. It's 2009 and they have computers... How can this even happen? Anyways they asked for volunteers to take a later flight in exchange for 2, round trip, transferable, no restrictions tickets. I thought I would give up my seat and at a later date maybe come back & see my parents with my wife. I spent all day in an airport I didn't even have to go to because the flight they got me home on had a long layover somewhere else. I had a 10am original flight and got home at 9pm. Seriously, paid an entire day of my life for these lousy vouchers that don't even work. More on that below. The airtime is an hour & a half from myrtle to lga!

The reality: they gave me 2 strings of numbers that do not show up as vouchers. So I called to book a flight and have them apply my vouchers. They told me there are restrictions as to when I can fly with these and to look for the letters rtu when I try to book a flight and check the little box. Rtu is a "class" of ticket. Lower class I guess.

Long story short I have tried at least a dozen different dates and this rtu thing never comes up. I've called and they ask when I want to fly, I tell them the story, give them the numbers and they say that flight is unavailable for that class of voucher. This is annoying and more than inconvenient. I asked for a list of when I can actually fly and they said they don't have a list like that. This is really an unfair business practice.

Do not fly spirit. If you do never, ever, ever, ever, no matter what you are offered, give up your seat! They are just lying to you.

Ben Baldanza
CEO
Spirit Airlines
2800 Executive Way,
Miramar, FL 33025

Dear Mr. Baldanza:

Like many others, I am an avid traveler, both for business and pleasure. Having this lifestyle has taught me a lot about flexibility and patience along with the value of customer service. My background is in business and I have learned that those companies that place high importance on customer service are the ones left standing when others fail.

I recently chose to experience Spirit Airlines for the first time. I was impressed by your ultra low cost carrier model and the flight routes. However, I am now convinced that the hassle, tears and utter disrespect caused by your company were not worth the cheap fare.

My younger sister and I chose to travel to Puerto Rico via Spirit Airlines. I flew from Boston with two layovers while she flew from Detroit with one layover. The trouble for her began when she forgot her phone in the car. Our mother ran it in to Spirit over 90 minutes prior to takeoff and spoke with a representative who said she would take it straight to my sister at her gate. The woman never appeared, nor was my sister paged. When I tried to contact Spirit customer service, I spoke with Paul, a manager in Bangalore about connecting me with Spirit baggage claim in Detroit. He was completely powerless to give out a phone number accessible to anyone with online access or a phonebook! His recommendation was to look it up online myself – which I would have been happy to do if Spirit had not put me on a five hour layover! My mother tried calling from her end. It took over two hours and eight frustrating calls to find someone competent enough to find the phone.

The trouble on my end started when I boarded my first flight. There was insufficient space provided for carry-on luggage, even though the airline encourages only having carry-on. A flight attendant took my bag from me and asked my seat number, saying that she would take my bag and bring me a ticket. I assumed that she was placing my bag at the front of the plane. However, when she did not give me a ticket after takeoff, I became worried and asked what she had done with it. She had checked it, but she was not sure where it would turn up, nor did she have a tracking ticket for me. Her solution: Just de-board the plane during our layover, exit the terminal, find my bag at the luggage pickup, go through security again, and get back on the next flight, hopefully in time and having more space to store my bag. When I exited the plane, I spoke with seven staff members and was appalled by the lack of customer service and of empowerment to help resolve the issue. I did end up going to baggage claim and speaking with ONE kind and helpful person in the Fort Lauderdale Spirit Baggage Claim. Unfortunately, he could not find my bag. Thus, I rushed back through security and boarded my plane, now worried that Spirit had managed to lose my carry-on bag. When we landed in Puerto Rico, we waited for an hour and thankfully, magically, my bag did appear – without a tag and with my outer clip stolen. As I am on the road for nine months and the bag was 50% of my belongings, I was grateful.

Losing a bag is common among all airlines so I let my anger go. However, I was soon to discover that the incompetent staff, rude attitudes and complete disrespect for clients run deep in the culture of Spirit Airlines.

On our way home we arrived at the terminal in Puerto Rico almost two hours early to check-in in for my sister’s flight home. She was to depart San Juan at 3:15am and my flight was around 6:58am. When we arrived we soon discovered that her flight to Fort Lauderdale had been cancelled. How did we discover this? By waiting in line for over four hours and hearing rumors. Not once did the Spirit staff find the decency to explain what was going on. When we finally made it to the front of the line, I watched, appalled, while Jose, a Spirit Customer Service Representative, allowed a friend of his to cut in front of us and check in, even though they had just arrived. (They gave each other a high-five while I asked why he was not serving us.) Why the long wait? Why the total lack of communication? Why the rude behavior? It certainly was not because they were short staffed. I counted five people standing around talking about their holidays behind the counter, while we waited.

When we did finally speak with someone, she was going to put my sister, who graduated high school the week prior, on a tentative flight out of the country after me. I explained that we are family and that she must fly out before me or on the same flight, but not after because 1) she does not speak Spanish and 2) I had seen enough to know not to trust the competence of the Spirit staff. When I called the customer service number, their only response was that they would fly her out within two days without making sure she was safe in a hotel and that all other information was up to the staff in the departing terminal. Wow. Spirit told me to leave my little sister alone in a country where she does not know the language and does not own a credit card. What a brilliant idea.

After waiting for another two hours, we stood by the gate and prayed that she could get on standby for my flight. The staff did nothing to make sure she was moved to the front of the list as to not separate family. Thankfully, she was one of the last people to make it on.

Once in Fort Lauderdale, we tried to speak with a customer service representative again to find out what our options were. Strangely, there was no one who would take the time to help! We exited the terminal and went to the ticket counter where one person was kind enough to give us some advice.

My flight back to Boston was delayed. Her flight to Detroit was delayed by over 45 minutes. My sister sat down on her confirmed seat to Detroit after a seven hour layover (please keep in mind that we cut our trip short in order for her to be back home in time for an event that evening, which she was forced to miss). Moments later, another person appeared with the same seat assignment! My sister was pushed to tears for the third time that day. They escorted her off the plane and told her she was not even in the computer, even though Spirit had given her a ticket and told her she was good to go. Thankfully, a seat opened and she was able to go home. What would have happened if the flight was full? I am terrified to even think about it.

As a working professional and as a family person, I am utterly disgusted by the behavior and the deplorable treatment of customers exhibited by the vast majority of the Spirit staff. As one who regularly provides travel advice to many people, I am positive of only one thing when it comes to Spirit Airlines: This is the worst company (not just airline) that I have ever come in contact with and whatever a customer might “save” monetarily will be lost through the airline wasting their customer's time and treating them with less dignity than a piece of expendable furniture.

It is my hope that you as the CEO will take this letter seriously and begin to change the culture of the organization. Great airlines are needed and you have some of the infrastructure in place. Now act like you care for continued business.

Sincerely,

Erika

Over a year ago, I foolishly signed up for Spirit Master Card and a Membership with Spirit Airlines for cheaper flights. I never used the credit card nor the membership. One year later I receive a bill for the annual fee on the credit card. I called and they canceled the card and the charge.

Now, several months later, I see a charge on my Discover Card for 39.95 for the membership, which I thought I canceled. I called the number Discover gave me and cannot get a person. The recordings are only interested in airline reservations. I called Discover and am told that they cannot help and that it has something to do with Terms and Conditions and that the company can keep charging me this membership fee every year unless I cancel the membership. But I cannot find anyone to help me cancel the membership.

Can you give me any information on how to fix this problem.

As I was about to complete my reservation for tickets to Costa Rica the spiritair website presented me with an option to lower my fare by $40 by applying for a credit card. I then applied for the card during the same session; after completing the transaction, NO discount was applied to my final cost. I then got an email saying I was approved for the card but still no discount. I complained to two different people at SpiritAir over the phone but both gave me different answers. One says that I get the discount on my next flight and the other says that there must of been something in the fine print that I did not see. I told them both that the website explicitly states I will get the discount for the CURRENT flight I was booking but neither could give me an answer and neither allowed me to speak to a manager.