Spirit announces fee for checking in at the airport
 

http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/p...n-fee/765632/1

From the article:

"Spirit Airlines says it will begin charging customers $5 to have their boarding pass printed by an airport agent. Customers can avoid a fee by checking in online or -- for a few more months -- by using a self-service airport kiosk."

"Spirit says beginning June 26, 2012, customers who use airport kiosks to print their boarding passes will be charged $1. The airline will the boarding-pass fee 'in cities where Spirit does not have airport check-in kiosks or if a customer is not able to use the automated kiosk to print their boarding pass.'"

What if a customer does not own a printer, will they be penalized further. This is stupid really.

But it says it can be avoided by using the self-service kiosk at the airport. The fee is for having an agent do it for you.

They have people there to assist with the self-service who will even push all the buttons on the kiosk for those that need the assistance.

The title of this thread is misleading.

Actually the way I read it, even if you use a kiosk it will still cost you $1.00 to print a boarding pass, and yes $5.00 for the pleasure of an agent to do it for you. Another problem, not every station has kiosks.

How is it misleading? $5 for an agent or $1 for the kiosk.

Where is the misleading part?

The $1 fee begins in 6/12. That's minor since most people print their passes at home or at the hotel these days.

The $5 fee is waived where there is no kiosk or if it doesn't work.

Because the title of this thread is "Spirit announces fee for checking in at the airport".

The fee is for the agent to print the boarding pass. One can check in at the kiosk for free until June, 2012. Then it's $1 to print the pass from the kiosk.

The title of this thread is misleading.

Sometimes when checking in for certain flights, I am unable to, even if it is purely domestic with nothing different going on. When I call the airline, I am sometimes told that for security issues, some customers are randomly selected and are required to check in at the airport. This has only happened to me twice though.

I am not sure this is true or if the airline reservation system just quirked and the agent used "security" as an excuse, but if this were true, I wonder how Spirit will handle it.

Let me see if I have this right:

1) In June of 2012 there will be a fee to use Spirit's kiosk at the airport.

2) Spirit has "announced" this

The next item is purly speculative on my part:

3) In an airport airline kiosks are typically used to check-in or print a boarding pass (so, for example one wouldn't use it to update their Facebook status or look up recipies).

Yet, it is misleading to have a subject line say "Spirit announces fee for checking in at the airport"? What should it have said?

The other bottom of the barrel airline, Allegiant, is the opposite. Free to check in at the airport, $$$ to check in online.

Yes the kiosks are just for checking in. One doesn't have internet access and one doesn't linger there.

Perhaps the title should have been: Spirit reduces one way non-stop fares by $5 and adds a $5 fee for those who want an agent to print their boarding pass.

So, one checks in, goes to TSA and says "nope, I don't have a boarding pass but I did check in" and based on this TSA says "great, go right on by"?

This is the most absurd question ever!

Sorry, let me rephrase the question: Does one need a boarding pass to get past TSA?

If the answer is "no" then I apologize and you are correct the title was 100% misleading.

If the answer is "yes" then I ask how the title of this thread was misleading.

Because the title of this thread is that Spirit announceds fee for checking in at the airport. It's not true. The fee has nothing to do with checking in. One can print their boarding pass at the kiosk for free till June, 2012. One can print their boarding pass from home, at the library or at the hotel or any other place for free. So, it's misleading. I give up. This is a rediculous argument not worth the time of day. So get over it and have a good day. I'm done with this conversation. You can argue with yourself.