merpine

Does anyone know why LGA to DTW (and the reverse) has recently dropped off as destinations from Spirit Airlines' numerous sales announcements?

arfgoblue

Probably has such high load that there is no need to put seats on sale. But that is just a guess.

owl49

I saw that some of the Spirit Air fares for LGA-DTW are about $160 right now. Does anyone know if this is normal? I'll be flying that route a lot and want to know what sort of fares I can get!

(It seems also that all the other airlines charge much higher fares for NYC-DTW -- any ideas why they're not trying to compete with Spirit?)

Thanks!!

merpine

I am of course not an expert in the inner workings of the airlines...I like to say, I have a yellow pad and a pencil and they have algorithms... BUT, I am somewhat of an expert in the particular DTW-LGA (and reverse) route, having 'commuted' for 15 years. I know some tricks...but it seems to me the pricing right now is a direct result of the Delta/NWA merger. Delta no longer competes with Spirit, the only low-cost carrier flying the route. Delta used to match Spirit with at least some seats on some flights. The latest Delta that I have seen is $332 RT. In fact I have one booked for next week, but I used some Sky Miles to reduce the cost.
Spirit has the lowest fares on the route...you have to watch their web site carefully for fluctuations in pricing.
However, having said all that, the reason I started this string was because of the sudden disapperance of the DTW-LGA route from the various sales that Spirit has been posting for the last (at least) 5 years...their method is to post a sale and name it with a playful (sometimes controversial) acronym. The rest of the time they are just called "Red Light Specials' or $9 Fare Club specials (you have to 'join' the $9 fare club...free with their Spirit Master Card). Anyway, in the past, they have had some crazy fares on the route. One time it was $-2.00 each way. Yes, the total RT fare, LGA-DTW, was negative $4.00 plus the taxes. It came to about (I forget exactly) $18 or so, total RT. The sales are for specific dates, usually about a month out, but sometimes for a few dates 6 months or so ahead. Due to an erratic schedule, I am only able to take advantage of these once in a while.
But like, I say, the DTW-LGA route has suddenly dropped off their sales and I dont know why...????

My advice to owl49 is to definitely join the $9 fare club (free with the Free Spirit Master Card), and to get their emails and watch the sales carefully, espcially if you are going to fly the route a lot.
Also, AA occasionally matches Spirt. They fly the route using RJ's. Like Wednesday they came out with a $150 RT. (Spirit is all A419 or 420's)
Delta also flys the route using EWR and JFK (and HPN)-DTW. (Spirit is only LGA). Before the merger, for about the last five years, when NWA had a reasonable price LGA-DTW ($150 or so) the price EWR-DTW was $1084 RT !!! I always wondered, who would NOT go 15 miles or so over to LGA to save $950??? But prior to those five years, EWR-DTW had a low fare and LGA-DTW was expensive... like I say...the yellow pad and the algorithms...
Thanks for putting up with the long-winded response....

owl49

Thanks so much for such a detailed post, merpine. That was really helpful! I've never flown Spirit Air before, but it seems like I will be getting to know the carrier quite well.

I just checked fares after reading your post, and it seems like Delta just went down to $170ish too for some days -- guess maybe they are matching finally! I guess I'll keep an eye on the fares and see if this is a sale or if Delta (or AA) is going to make this the normal fare.