Spirit Airlines – Excellent Budget Flights!

I booked my first ever flight to Guatemala with Spirit Airlines. Why? Simply because Spirit offered, by far, the cheapest flight I could find from Ft. Lauderdale.

I paid just $157 US one way for the 2 ½ hour flight. That included paying $30 for my checked luggage. Even so, Spirit was much much cheaper than any other airline. And any travelers who can fly light-weight with no checked luggage can fly even cheaper than I did.

Obviously I knew from the prices and Spirit Airline website that they are an ultra-cheap, no-frills airline. I had actually never heard of them before, but my experience with most other US airlines has been total crap. So I was naturally skeptical about my upcoming experience. I wondered:

Would the ground staff and flight attendants be unfriendly, even rude, like at several other US airlines?

Would the seats be tiny, tight and crammed together, with all the passengers’ legs squashed up against the seats in front of them?

Would Spirit be ultra-picky about the weight and size of carry-on and check-in luggage (like Jet Star in Australia/New Zealand) ?

Would they even let me board the plane without an onward flight out of Guatemala?

To answer those questions, soon after I booked my flight I went online to ask FB friends and fellow travelers if they had any experience and/or advice about Spirit Airlines. I only received one reply. A fellow travel blogger quietly said, “It should be an interesting experience.”

That did not sound too good!

Spirit Airlines flight routes

Since it was my first trip with Spirit, I prepared everything on the conservative side, assuming they might be ultra picky about luggage, check-in times and onward tickets. I measured and re-measured both my bags. I practiced packing and weighing my check-in bag twice.

Since I was only allowed 18 kg / 40 lb. in my $30 check-in bag (which is incredibly low. The usual international weight is 23 kg / 50 lb) I was naturally greatly over-weighted. My best packing brought me in at 50 lbs. Drats.

So I cleverly devised ways to get everything on-board the flight with me. I removed most of my long-sleeve and warm clothes, which I planned to simply wear in layers at check-in. I took out my heaviest compact items and somehow stuffed them into my small carry-on bag. And I planned to put all my food into pockets. Ha ha, the budget traveler’s ‘tricks’ to plane journeys!

Although I was annoyed at the 18 kg bag limit, it actually proved a bonus for my travels. I was forced to travel much lighter than usual. And that’s a great thing! I can now carry my backpack for long distances if necessary. Which I can’t do with a 23 kg or 30 kg pack (which was my previous usual weight).

US aviation rules concerning refundable airline tickets

Concerned about not having an onward ticket out of Guatemala, I carefully researched Guatemala’s entry rules (Officially no onward flight is required). I also checked US Aviation rules about refundable airline tickets, just in case Spirit required me to buy an onward flight to board the plane.

Because of that research, I discovered an apparently little-known and much hushed-up rule governing all US carriers. It is required that every US airline allow every purchased ticket to be refunded within 24 hours or else to offer to hold tickets, unpaid, for 24 hours for every customer. Wow, who knew that?!

Finally my flight day arrived. Armed with all my research facts, I proceeded to the airport. I arrived more than 3 hours before my flight, just in case I had any complications with boarding and check-in due to my luggage or lack of an onward flight.

Ft. Lauderdale morning departures on Nov. 1, 2015

At the airport, I first attempted to check in with Spirit’s self-check-in machine. It wouldn’t allow me to check in. Uh oh. I took my ‘can’t check in’ paper issued by the machine and proceeded to the usual check-in line. It was well organized and moved along quickly.

Soon it was my turn. The check-in girl was quite friendly and helpful. Predictably, my check-in bag was still much too heavy – 45 lbs instead of 40 lbs. To my amazement, she said I could get it down to just 42 lbs. Yippie! That meant I didn’t have to wear quite so many layers of warm clothes.

We did run into a snag when she found out I didn’t have an ongoing ticket. She checked with her supervisor. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised. They would let me board the flight anyhow. Yeah!

There was a possibility that I could be refused entry at the Guatemala airport, but that would be on me to sort out. Yippie, I could fly to Guatemala today. And without having to buy another airplane ticket that I’d never use and would have to hassle with getting a refund on as soon as I arrived in Guatemala.

first glimpse of Guatemala from flight

My coast was clear! I was flying to Guatemala!

Hola Central America…

The Spirit Airline flight itself went very smoothly. We boarded on time. We left on time. And we arrived on time.

The flight attendants were pleasant and friendly. The seats were comfortable and not crushed. I looked around and noted that none of the other passengers’ legs were crammed up against seats either.

All in all, my Spirit Airline experience was great. In fact, there was not one little thing that I disliked or would complain about.

Come to think of it, believe it or not, Spirit is the best US airline I’ve ever flown on, aside from Southwest, in terms of good service and friendly staff. I will definitely fly Spirit again and I highly recommend them to everyone else who’s looking for comfortable, inexpensive flights in the US – South America region of the world.

Spirit Airlines video 101- Showcasing just how much passengers can carry in a small take-on bag

A few notes:

Spirit Airlines bills itself as a no-frills budget airline. They have a playful, hip website explaining their services and philosophy, with a cute video about the allowed carry-on bag.

As with all no-frills airlines, tickets include only the flight itself. Tickets don’t include food, beverages, in-flight magazines, movies, pillows or blankets. They also don’t include selected seats or check-in luggage. They do include one small-ish carry on bag. However, the regular large-size airline carry-on bags do cost extra money.

Spirit does, of course, offer a whole slew of optional extra add-ons. For a few dollars more, passengers can chose selected seats, seats with more leg room, flight insurance and other little additives. Bags are a bit costly. So it’s best to fly as lightly as possible to avoid baggage fees. And, like I just learned, that also actually helps people travel lighter. :)

Conclusions / Summary:

I highly recommend Spirit Airlines to anyone looking for inexpensive flights around the US, Central and South America. I know I’ll be flying with them again!

QUESTIONS:

Have you ever flown with Spirit Airlines?

If so, how was your experience?

Would you recommend them to other travelers? Why or why not?

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