chuck1

My friend called me to say Spirit just called her.
She is in Costa Rica on a round-trip ticket for 4 people DTW-SJO.
They told her they needed her credit card for $116 before she will be allowed to check in.

Is this normal or was it an IT glitch when she bought the tickets on their website?

She did pay and was able to check in.

rsteinmetz70112

I would definitely file a complaint with anyone I could after I got back. If they screwd up and failed to collect taxes, that should be on them. Doing it in the middle of a trip and threatening to strand a passenger is really a new low.

crazcarl

Sounds like potentially a scam by a third party. Did she pay at the counter for Spirit or over the phone?

Was there any indication on the website/app for checkin that paying the $116 actually allowed check-in.

Often1

Tell her to call NK customer service, not some number she was given, and ask if everything is in order.

This sounds like a scam.

arollins

You guys should really take look at this, as it appears to be correct, SJO has a $29 per passenger departure tax, which is $116 for 4. less than 30 seconds search, no need to worry. http://costa-rica-guide.com/practica...departure-tax/

Me personally, If I received subject call, I will do the following, get the callers name and number, and ask to provide the record locator, then hang up, go & check reservation to see if you can check in. Verify with google, then call the Spirit 800 number and verify with them if the call received is correct. There are some places in the world where there is an exit tax that must be paid upon departure, and SJO is one of them. Not all carriers are capable of collecting this fee ahead of time, but the ones that do it will save you time on 2 separate lines, one to pay, the other for the receipt and stamp/permit/license, prior to check in.

rsteinmetz70112

Still if Spirit were collect and pay the tax they could have collected it prior to departure.

arollins

Did you read the article completely? It says that some airlines have just started to collect the tax recently in the booking process, Spirit was not one of them, hence a valid call and charge.

chuck1

Thanks - it seems it was all correct and on the up and up. She mistakenly told me they called her but now tells me it was a message on the website requiring payment before it would allow her to check in.

rsteinmetz70112

Yes. The fact that they aren't collecting it ahead of time is on them as well. It now seems there was a miscommunication in the OP post and the issues was slightly different. Still if Spirit has the option to collect the tax in advance they should do it. It seems there is no downside to them and they get to use the money for a while and teh passenger has a better experience.

I don't fault Spirit for teh i business model like some but in this case they are needlessly inconveniencing passengers and leaving money on the table.

ijgordon

I don't know the specifics of this tax, but there are plenty of other examples of departure taxes that at one point were not able to be collected by the airline at purchase, and then at another point, they became collectible. It likely involves both regulations (out of airlines control) and IT (within airlines control).

We flew from Bali a couple of years ago, and when we booked the tickets, Cathay didn't collect the departure fee (for anyone). My companion's ticket was reissued at some point later, and it was after they began collecting the fee, so he was all set, but I had to pay at the airport. It can definitely be confusing though.

Often1

All well & good. Still important to thank the caller and then call a published customer service number before handing out credit card information over the phone.

I have had calls triggered by fraud alerts on a CC and do the same thing.

ricktoronto

The last time I was in SJO a few months ago Spirit and WestJet were the only airlines not collecting the departure tax on the ticket.

If they are asking for it after the fact that is a good sign they are not going to be the cause of the lineups at the departure tax counter because they were the main problem the last time.

However I'd question the paying over the phone to wind up paying again at SJO.

maverikbc

The blame must go against sjo. Vast majority of airports in the world collect fees through tickets, and some still collect at airports but with all airlines. Disorganization by sjo leads to a lot of confusions and nasty surprises for some.