Spirit Airlines to begin charging for carry-ons

[TexDotCom]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/spirit ... 2010-04-06
another link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36193399/ns/travel-news/

I almost said "Unbelieveable"...but sadly, it is not.

For flights on or after August 1, Spirit will charge passengers $45 for a carry-on bag, or $30 if they register the bag ahead of time either on line or on the phone.

[bayouhazard]

My momma told me, "You better shop around."

[gigag04]

Lucky for me I said "who is Spirit airlines?"

I'll stick to Continental and SW.

[SQLGeek]

As if I needed another reason to dislike flying.

[ELB]

SW is running ads right now touting their no-baggage-fees...

Whoops, I just re-read the OP $45 for a CARRY-ON? Not just checked bags? Wow! Gotta go read the articles.

[hoot]

Lucky for me I said I'll stick to Continental and SW.

I have no knowledge of SW, but I believe Continental now charges for bags.
At least for the 2nd bag. Here is the link to their baggage fee page...
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/co ... ckbag.aspx
I am carrying two bags. If I read this thing correctly, I am charged $35 for my 2nd bag.
(long flight, IAH -> DFW, on 14jul10)
Hoot

[Vic]

After many years of ONLY flying with Continental, I gave Southwest a try.

I was a bit apprehensive about Southwest's "no assigned seats" policy. You do not get an assigned seat. You get put in a Boarding Group, based on your check-in time (that's when you check-in, up to 24 hours before takeoff, it has nothing to do with when you purchased the ticket).

I made sure I was up early the morning before departure so I could check in exactly 24 hours in advance. I checked in online, which took maybe 30 seconds, and got Boarding Group A, numbers 43 and 44.

Once at the airport, when they begin boarding procedures, they have these pylons up near the boarding ramp. They are numbered with the boarding order. The first pylon might have numbers 1-30. The second pylon might have 31-60, and so on. They call Boarding Group A first. You assemble near your pylon. Then they board in order. You go onboard and pick any empty seat that you want. After that, they call Boarding Group B to repeat the process, then Boarding Group C. Pretty much, as long as you are in Boarding Group A or B, you will get decent seats. The stragglers in Boarding Group C might get the middle seats between travelers that boarded earlier in Group A or B.

It sounds chaotic, but it is actually very smooth. The employees are very relaxed and they know how to keep the process going properly. The entire boarding process for all passengers took less than 10 minutes. I suppose that people who travel Southwest are repeat customers and know exactly how to handle the boarding process.

I thought that Southwest offered everything that Continental offered, but at a lower cost, both for the tickets themselves and for the absence of baggage fees. The planes (each way) were clean and well-kept.

My wife and I are now Southwest customers. While I never had any problems with Continental, I can get the same thing for less with Southwest. I like Southwest so much, I bought stock in the company.

[gemini]

Lucky for me I said "who is Spirit airlines?"

Ditto. $45 for a carry on bag? No thanks. But I had never heard of Spirit Airline anyway.
I fly SW, Amer or Cont.

[pbwalker]

Lucky for me I said I'll stick to Continental and SW.

I have no knowledge of SW, but I believe Continental now charges for bags.
At least for the 2nd bag. Here is the link to their baggage fee page...
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/co ... ckbag.aspx
I am carrying two bags. If I read this thing correctly, I am charged $35 for my 2nd bag.
(long flight, IAH -> DFW, on 14jul10)
Hoot

All but SW charge for checked bags now...it's just that Spirit (who??) now charges for carry-on...

Continental all the way for me...I hate SWA personally. It's like the Wal-Mart of air carriers.

[tallmike]

Continental all the way for me...I hate SWA personally. It's like the Wal-Mart of air carriers.

Yep, Wal-Mart and Southwest. They are both the most successful company in their respective field. I like both companies for just that reason. I like Southwest for many more reasons than Wal-Mart, but I like both companies.

[timdsmith72]

Translations for the boarding groups as it was passed on to me:

A = Anywhere you want
B = Back of the plane
C = Center seat.

After many years of ONLY flying with Continental, I gave Southwest a try.

I was a bit apprehensive about Southwest's "no assigned seats" policy. You do not get an assigned seat. You get put in a Boarding Group, based on your check-in time (that's when you check-in, up to 24 hours before takeoff, it has nothing to do with when you purchased the ticket).

I made sure I was up early the morning before departure so I could check in exactly 24 hours in advance. I checked in online, which took maybe 30 seconds, and got Boarding Group A, numbers 43 and 44.

Once at the airport, when they begin boarding procedures, they have these pylons up near the boarding ramp. They are numbered with the boarding order. The first pylon might have numbers 1-30. The second pylon might have 31-60, and so on. They call Boarding Group A first. You assemble near your pylon. Then they board in order. You go onboard and pick any empty seat that you want. After that, they call Boarding Group B to repeat the process, then Boarding Group C. Pretty much, as long as you are in Boarding Group A or B, you will get decent seats. The stragglers in Boarding Group C might get the middle seats between travelers that boarded earlier in Group A or B.

It sounds chaotic, but it is actually very smooth. The employees are very relaxed and they know how to keep the process going properly. The entire boarding process for all passengers took less than 10 minutes. I suppose that people who travel Southwest are repeat customers and know exactly how to handle the boarding process.

I thought that Southwest offered everything that Continental offered, but at a lower cost, both for the tickets themselves and for the absence of baggage fees. The planes (each way) were clean and well-kept.

My wife and I are now Southwest customers. While I never had any problems with Continental, I can get the same thing for less with Southwest. I like Southwest so much, I bought stock in the company.

[TexDotCom]

The "no fees for carry-ons or your first two checked bags" policy really endears me to Southwest Airlines. Also, my son (now 9) has been flying as an "unaccompanied minor" from (mostly) San Antonio and (for a year) from Virginia on Southwest for the last 4 years and they've been nothing but perfect with him. It means a lot to me when I can entrust strangers to take care of my kiddo, even for just a 45 minute flight. I don't even trust AA or other big-name air carriers w/ my bags!

[pbwalker]

Continental all the way for me...I hate SWA personally. It's like the Wal-Mart of air carriers.

Yep, Wal-Mart and Southwest. They are both the most successful company in their respective field.

True...they've got the market cornered for folks like this. And if they need to travel, SWA has them covered (unless they are fat...then they have to buy two seats. I wish ALL the other airlines did this)