Spirit Airlines: It's Not That Bad

I needed to be in Chicago for a weekend, and most of the flights were really expensive ($300 - $400 range).  Spirit Airlines on the other hand was only $130 for a round trip flight.  I've flown Spirit a few times before and swore to myself I'd never fly them again after some bad experiences.  But the savings here were too good to pass up.

I got to the airport and parked my car at an offsite parking lot called The Parking Spot.  After parking my car, the shuttle driver gave me a ticket to give to my driver upon my return.  He wrote where I parked and the make and color of my car.  He wrote the color as green even though my car is clearly silver.  It's not like it was dark outside or anything.  It was broad daylight.  I told him that my car was silver not green.  He just gave me a look like I was crazy.  

A few minutes later, I was at the airport.  I headed to security which had no line and I was through in seconds. I then headed to the Admirals Club for a bit of lounge relaxation.  While in the lounge, I shoved my face with American's mediocre tasting cookies and drank like five cappuccinos.  I also made a call to Icelandair to book my flight to Hawaii on Alaska Airlines (stay tuned for that trip report).

Denver Admirals Club

Denver Admirals Club

Denver Admirals Club

If you want to see more of the Denver Admirals Club, check out this video:

After some quality lounge time, I headed over to my gate where the plane was already completely boarded.  Spirit Airlines boards really fast, I guess because most people don't have carry-on luggage.  I was one of the last people to board.  Upon entering the plane, a friendly flight attendant greeted me by saying, "Good afternoon, Jeff. Glad to have you on board."  I told her my name wasn't Jeff.  She then said, "Darn, you must Ben, I had a 50/50 shot of getting it right."  Hey, at least she attempted to address me by name.  That's pretty good.

Spirit legroom

The plane was less than half full.  I took my seat and the nice old woman sitting next to me asked if I could help her figure out how to put her seat back.  The flight attendant then came over and said Spirit seats don't recline.  After hearing this, the old woman looked as if someone had just killed her first born. She spent the rest of the flight complaining to me how she thought it was crazy that the seats didn't recline.  You get what you pay for.  

Also on the flight, was the most annoying baby I've ever sat near on a plane.  The baby wouldn't just cry, but rather would constantly let out a heart-wrenching scream.  She didn't stop for the entire 2.5 hour flight.  I thought my ears were going to start bleeding.  The baby also had an equally annoying older sister (probably about 3 or 4 years old) who ran up and down the aisles singing "heads, shoulders, knees, and toes" at the top of her lungs.  At the end of the flight, I saw about five people yelling at the parents for giving them the worst flight of their lives.  I felt bad for the parents.

After deplaning, I headed for the train into the city.  I spent a nice weekend in Chicago.  I visited the Field Museum, Sears Tower, and went on a food tour.  

Sue at the Field Museum

Sears/Willis Tower

Sears Tower - Skydeck ledge

Cloudy view from the Sears Tower

Chicago hot dog

So in summary, it was a good trip.  The return flight was pretty uneventful.  I ended up not paying a single fee to Spirit.  I didn't check or carry on a bag (just a backpack).  I didn't buy any drinks, printed my boarding pass at home, didn't select a seat in advance, etc.  So it is possible not to pay any fees.  I think Spirit overall is a good airline.  Everybody's had at least one time where they've held off booking a flight until the last minute and then prices are sky high.  Spirit offers a nice alternative of bare bones service for a really low price.  They are trying to become the Ryanair of the US, and hopefully one day we can see their prices as low as Ryanair.  On the other hand though, I've never heard one person say anything remotely nice about Spirit.  So who knows how long they'll be able to last with so much hatred toward the company.