braddqq

I consider both airlines fairly equivalent (ok SWA is a notch up, but not much), but I am finding that Southwest is consistently almost twice the price of Spirit... I have a companion pass, so it still makes sense to fly Southwest for now, but it's *really* close to being a better deal to buy two full fares on Spirit! Mostly I am looking OAK --> LAS, especially with those $9 deals, Southwest will never be able to compete (after buying the Spirit membership of course). Guess we will wait and see...

alggag

I don't think anybody attempts to match Spirit on price and I consider that a good thing.

formeraa

Southwest hasn't been very competitive with AS either. AS had some great SEA-PHX fares at $211 r/t, but WN never matched.

ursine1

Southwest hasn't been very competitive with anyone lately. Spirit is a disaster, in terms of customer service and additional fees. Be sure to include the appropriate fees when comparing price.

tusphotog

Have you ever flown Spirit?

oswaldjacoby

Be careful when looking at the Spirit fares. The DOT does not actually allow them to advertise $9.00 fares anymore--They now have include their mandatory fees in the advertised price--usually more than $30 RT. Was very dishonest how they excluded their website booking fee from the fare.

Also, if you want to put a carry on in the overhead bin, be sure to add $60 to your roundtrip price.

grt2106

You're paying a little extra with Southwest for a drink in the air, 2 bags that fly free, and the flexibility to change or cancel.

Spirit is bar none the cheapest on many flights- especially out of their FLL hub. I flew them twice and they weren't nearly as bad as people made them out to be. Cramped yes... but on time! Something I can't say for some other airlines... hmm.... (not southwest, but another LCC)

rtalk25

And for more legroom and more comfortable seat which can make a difference esp. on a flight longer than 1 hour. And, no charge on carry-on. Also, reward points that are probably more useful.

toomanybooks

And if your Spirit flight goes MX, what happens? Don't they have just one flight a day on many routes? I don't think they interline (do they?), and surely you don't want to spend 24 hours at the airport hotel.

3Cforme

$9 fares aren't sustainable on any route, for any airline: providing a plane and crew, throttling up, accelerating for 5,000 feet, cutting power and rolling back to the gate costs more than that.

pinworm

WN's edge on Spirit is routing and scheduling, but not price or experience. WN doesn't price match on it because it is not a big enough competitor yet. They are busy battling the bigger LCC's and some legacies.

no2chem

While I'm sure Southwest is not as competitive on some routes, Southwest remains extremely competitive on intra-California routes and many of the other destinations that are Southwest "hubs". They usually match all the other carriers with price, have more frequent schedules, and are generally more efficient at sending out planes than competitors. Also Southwest's rewards program, although devalued in RR2.0, is still miles ahead of the other low cost carrier, Virgin America's Elevate, and in-line with United's MileagePlus program (Southwest lacks F, but I think RR2.0's bonus point structure has better returns in points the MileagePlus - Southwest points are certainly worth more).

If you look at Spirit, their schedule is pretty crappy, and their customer service is extremely lacking. While a competitor, I don't think southwest and spirit are comparable, and I think Southwest would be stupid to even try to compete with Spirit.

Spirit's $9 fares might work for them, if they carry considerable amounts of cargo, something the people usually forget about. It's why Southwest can send a 737 out with 5 passengers sometimes, because shipping off the cargo can make up for the lack of passengers. However, I don't think Spirit has a very established cargo system...

NLS

I've had good experiences with Spirit but one needs to know how to play their game. (I was able to load everything I needed for the short trip into a large tote bag that fit underneath my seat so I didn't pay any bag charges.)

They've now started charging with agent assisted check-ins and this summer will start charging if you don't print out your boarding pass in advance, even if you use their electronic kiosk.

One of their many quirks is that tickets are $30 more online (whether via their own website or a travel site) roundtrip. I'm lucky enough to work so close to an airport that I was able to go there on my lunch break and buy a ticket. Their counter reps seemed unaware of this policy.

no2chem

These games are exactly why Southwest doesn't need to bother competing with Spirit. The non-experienced traveler has a hard time fitting everything into a single bag, let alone printing their boarding pass in advance, or going to the airport to buy a ticket, and business travelers don't want/need to deal with that stuff.

Spirit might make sense if you fly frequently between two Spirit cities that Spirit actually flies to often, but other than that, I'm not sure how many people actually want to play Spirit's game for Southwest to bother.

Dunbar

I read here on FT that those $9 Spirit fares are actually a minimum of $100 R/T by the time you add fees and taxes. That does not include their numerous other fees (assigned seat, luggage, boarding pass, drink etc.) Their planes have something like 28" of seat pitch. I'm so glad Spirit has such a small presence out west so I don't have to fly them for work.

And seriously, going to the airport to book a ticket? It's not 1985 anymore.
__________________________________________________ ________________________________

Edit, just saw this response from Spirit in the other carrier forum. Only way to avoid the $30 web booking fee is to...pay higher fares by booking at the airport??? Seems like a Monty Python sketch...

Dear Mr......

Thank you for contacting Spirit Airlines.

Fares purchased at the airport are not assessed the Passenger Usage Fee. As a result, it is possible the total fare may be less at the airport.

Please note, however, that our agents do not have access to web-based or $9 Fare Club fares.

Please feel free to contact me with any further questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Mark 62605
Corporate Consumer Relations
Spirit Airlines, Inc.