I apologize for the length of this in advance, but it's a long story!
My friend and I were planning to go to Costa Rica through a study abroad program for 6 weeks. We were not flying with the rest of the group, as we didn't know anyone else and the only airport available for the group flight in the midwest was Chicago O'hare.
First of all, you do get a great deal on the fares, but they can afford to do this because they charge you for every little thing. Every checked bag must be paid for, either in advance or at the airport (which costs twice as much). To reserve seats in advance on your flight is anywhere from $5 to $15 dollars per seat per plane. So, as we were taking 2 flights each way, this would have been $20 to $60 dollars, just to reserve seats next to each other.
I attempted to preorder my checked bag, and the website wouldn't let me, I called customer service to find out why, and never really got an answer after over 45 minutes on hold, and then was hung up on. I tried back later and waited an hour and a half on hold before I gave up.
Then, the day of the trip came and the fun really started.
The chart on the spiritair website lists how long before your flight you should get to the airport, depending on the airport and the time. Our flight to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl left at 6:35 am, and the chart said 3 hours, so we got there around 3:15 am just to be safe. We showed up to an empty airport, with about 20 other people waiting for the same flight, only to find out that no one even showed up to begin the bag checking/checking in process until 4:00 am.
So, we waited for an hour, they showed up at about 4:10, and things seemed to go fine. Our plane even started boarding early. We were all seated, the plane engines were turned on, when an announcement came over saying we would need to deplane immediately. We left the plane and watched out the window as 3 police cars showed up, along with K-9 units, and all of the luggage was removed from the plane and taken away. It's about 6:45 at this point. The police and dogs search the plane, and it is 7:30 before we hear anything from the airport staff.
We are told we can go back on the plane, and once seated another announcement comes from the pilot saying 'someone didn't pay for their extra bags, so they needed to be removed.'??
We expressed concern that we would be late for our connection flight in Ft. Lauderdale to San Jose, as we only had about an hour and 20 minute layover. We were told that all connections were on schedule and we shouldn't worry. During the flight, they offered drinks and snacks, but none of them were complimentary. Even a small cup of water or a soft drink was $3! They also announced that they were only accepting exact change cash, when their website clearly stated that they only accepted cards, which several of the other passengers were obviously counting on.
When we landed, we saw the plane that was supposed to take us to Costa Rica in the gate, and again expressed concern that our plane had already started boarding. We were told that the plane would be held if it needed to be, and they would have been radioed if we needed to be concerned. We stopped at the gate, and they held us there. For 20 minutes. When we finally got off, we ran to the next gate (it was 10:40 and our plane was scheduled to leave at 10:35) only to find out that the plane had just left without us.
The spirit agents were very rude and tried to put us on a flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico! We said no, that won't work, we need to go to San Jose, Costa Rica because that is where our program is. They informed us that the next flight to San Jose was at 10:50pm that night (About 12 hours away). They refused to let us go on earlier flights offered by other airlines, and offered us meal tickets - $7 for lunch and $9 for dinner. We could not leave the H terminal, which contained 2 food places - a deli and a hot dog stand - and there wasn't a single item of food under $7 at either. For lunch, we each had to spend $10 just for a sandwich and drink.
So, here I am sitting in Ft. Lauderdale airport. Been here for 6 1/2 hours now, and still have 6 hours to go. Not only will we not get to meet up with the group (which arrived in Costa Rica 2 hours ago), but we won't be getting in to San Jose until after midnight tonight, which means we can't check into our program site and have to pay to stay in a hotel and find our own transportation.in a foreign country. Throughout the whole thing, the spirit agents have been nothing but rude to us, and that was only when we could find one. At one point, I walked up and down the terminal (which is not very long) and couldn't find a single spirit agent for about 1/2 hour! Airport security couldn't even find one. The customer service number works on and off, and you only find out if it's an off day after you've been on hold upwards of an hour. Hopefully, we make it to San Jose ok tonight, and make it back at the end of our semester.
Moral of the story: NEVER FLY SPIRIT!
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