Spirit Airlines Tightens Personal Baggage Allowance
Jackie Reddy February 02, 2017
Passengers traveling with the ultra-low cost carrier will see their onboard allowance cut by almost a quarter in early April.
If they aren’t already feeling the squeeze, those traveling with ultra low-cost North American carrier Spirit Airlines will soon notice that things are about to get even tighter in terms of their hand baggage allowance. From April 4th, the airline has announced that those traveling on any of its “Bare Fare” tickets will have their personal item allowance cut from a dimension of 16″x14″x12″ to just 18″x14″x8″.
Those wanting to check bigger items will of course need to pay and Spirit charges passengers anywhere between $30 and $150 to check larger pieces of luggage.
But the airline, whose motto is “Less money, more go,” is unabashed about its policies, which are deemed to simply be part and parcel of Spirit’s “Frill Control” ethos. In addition to putting strict controls on luggage, the carrier is honest about the stripped-back experience it offers passengers.
There is, as the airline clearly explains on its website, no free luggage, no free food, no Wi-Fi and no in-flight entertainment.
In addition to its no-perks policy, the airline is also completely honest about its snug cabin conditions. “We add more seats to our planes because when we fly with more people, the cost per person goes down. Our seats are simple: they don’t recline, so you don’t wind up with someone’s head in your lap…A little cozier seating and fewer expensive extras mean lower fares for you,” it says.
But Spirit makes no excuses for its no-frills policies. “We believe in paying only for what you use, not what you don’t,” it says.
Dear Spirit Management: We commend you for taking this courageous lead in the race to the bottom. You're paving the way for us to make similar advances tom improve shareholder returns. These include: 1) Introducing a new "basic basic economy" prohibiting carrying anything whatsoever aboard, including coats during winter. 2) Charging a $5 surcharge for water to take medication (props to WOW for this idea). 3) Prohibiting use of lavs. We would have considered charging for lav access, but that would be uncivilized. And finally, 4) Dispensing with the whole "seat assignment" thing and just making customers stand for the duration of the flight (by the rear lavs, which they cannot use). Love, The US Legacy Carriers
Spirit just gets more and more disgusting, by the day. In my opinion, Spirit make Greyhound and PeoplExpress look like the Four Seasons or St. Regis. I suspect when the day comes (I suspect it's coming, based on Spirit's economy/amateur operations) that passengers have to evacuate a Spirit aircraft, by sliding down the chutes, that the passengers best have 8 US quarters, the ?? Cost of Admission to Spirit's Emergency Evacuation Slides/Chutes. US quarters only.
I've never flown Spirit. I've thought about it, but this ensures that I won't. As for the "we believe in paying only for what you use, not what you don't", reality check Spirit--people travel with luggage. Very clever way to spin nickle and dime though. Bare fares, BIG surcharges.