About that Spirit Airlines flight…

CAUTION: This article contains thoughts and feelings that are known to the author to be highly privileged and most definitely first world problems.?        

As you may know, I travel often and as such I am a loyal Delta flyer. I fly Delta so often that I’m actually Platinum Medallion stats. I’m also really proud of that, she said with a glimmer in her eye. Which is just proof that I am victim to consumerism just like everyone else.

But, anyways...?

I love the perks that come with Platinum status- things like checking bags for free, refreshment service in flight, and the ability to be upgraded to a better seat without even asking. These are all privileges that I have come to love, enjoy and really notice when they’re gone. #entitledfirstworldperks

This year I decided to go to CES - the Consumer Electronic Show- in Las Vegas. Easily the biggest trade show I have ever seen, with over 400,000 people expected to attend. I had booked my flight early and was so excited that I got a decent price - something like 35,000 frequent flyer points on Delta - or at least that is what I thought. When I went to confirm those details in my Delta app a few weeks later, I found that I had NOT booked my flight. I must have failed to hit complete purchase. ????♀?

I panicked and went to book another flight but they now wanted?$1200 or 120,000 frequent flyer miles (about a years worth of flight miles).?

I just couldn’t do it.?

So. I booked the best time/least expensive alternative. Spirit Airlines.

(pause for collective crowd grown) ??

I have long said I would never EVER fly Spirit again. In the past, I have not had great experiences with Spirit - I don’t know many people that actually have had a good experience. And now, I had booked a roundtrip and I was really?dreading it. But I tried to reframe it as - this is an adventure!

Deep sigh.???

First Flight: DTW to LAS

Did I have a bad experience??Actually, no.?

My experience was fine, but there are some things about spirit that I do not care for:

Everything is à la carte. EVERYTHING.?

Want wifi access to stream or message? That'll cost ya $16.99 per flight. No inflight entertainment exists at Spirit.

Want something to drink on the plane? That’ll cost ya at least $5+. Yep, even water.???

Want to pick your seat?? That’ll cost ya between $9-$134+. You actually have to bid on the seat and best do it early because the price keeps changing. ??

For the trip from Detroit to Las Vegas, I bid $9 (minimum bid) to get into an exit row - and I got it for $9. Of course, this was about three days after the window exit flew out of the Alaska Airlines plane. ??

Want to bring your luggage with you on the plane? You can bring one personal item for free, but no bigger the size of a standard backpack. Everything else is considered a carry-on and costs $55+.?(I could do an entire article on how I packed and repacked my bag four times trying to make everything fit in this personal item sized bag. I lost that battle and paid to check a bag.)

Now, I am not a super cheap person, but this all seemed very excessive. I get it that Spirit is a fees based travel experience, and as a consumer I am spoiled by Delta. But the nickel and dimeing of me and my travel experience for everything wasn't the worst part.?

Threatened Public Humiliation

While I was waiting at the gate to board, the Spirit Airlines gate agents were very vocal and?adamant that “You must measure your bag to be sure it fits the size requirements. If your bag does not fit the size requirements, we will pull you out of line and you will have to pay $99 to take it on as a carry-on."???

So, they were saying they were going to publicly humiliate me and then charge me $99 - if my bag didn’t fit.???

(pause for deliberate slow blinking)

Uh, I feel like I have enough passive aggressiveness to deal with in my life - I really don’t need it from Spirit Airlines.

Second Flight: LAS to DTW

I wish I could say that the return flight was more of the same. But that would make this whole article irrelevant and completely superfluous. You came here for a travel horror story - didn't you? Well, ok its time to tell it!

As my time in Vegas began to wind down, I was definitely ready to come home. It was a great experience but there were lots of snow storms happening across the country and threatening to reek havoc on travel plans. It took a couple tries but I was able to move from the 5:50pm flight to the 1:38pm flight - same day at no cost. Well, there was no monetary cost.

Because I switched so late in the game, I got whatever seat was available - towards the back of the plane in the middle. Yep, middle seat. In case you have never flown Spirit, you should know that the seats are very close and also there are very little amenities on the back of the seat. The "tray table" was the size of a checkbook, there were three bungee cords instead of a pocket, and as you can clearly see no inflight entertainment.

As we were waiting to push off from the gate, they made an announcement that it would only be a few more minutes as they were adding some extra fuel for the ride. ??

We took off just a few minutes late, and the ride was smooth. I couldn't sleep because it was so cramped, so I got out my iPad and watched some of the WandaVision episodes I had downloaded. Bout the time my iPad and Air Pods died, we were circling at the Detroit airport. Yep, I said circling.

The captain came on to tell us that we had been circling for about 20 minutes but the Detroit airport was closed due to the weather. He went on to say that we didn't have enough fuel to keep waiting for them to reopen so we were being diverted to Chicago.??

At first, I got mad and was like DAMMIT SPIRIT! Then my fellow row mate reminded me it was the weather and I thanked him for that. But still... ??

So, long story not really any shorter, the flight back from Las Vegas was to Detroit (sike!) then Chicago. Refueled on the ground at Chicago and then back to Detroit. I spent almost 8 hours in that tiny, middle seat in the back of the Spirit plane.

I also got to experience multiple episodes of fellow passenger flatulence, about a dozen teenage boys that got in trouble for having a pushup contest at 30,000 feet, and a minimum of 100 sneezes and coughs from right behind me (really wish I was exaggerating about that one).

Honestly, I was impressed by how Spirit handled the diversion. They did a great job of keeping us posted, keeping the crowds calm, and they even started handing out water and cookies - at no charge! They also sent everyone a $50 voucher before we landed in Detroit.

Would I fly Spirit again? ?

Only in desperation, like this time. But those are MY issues. Not Spirits.?I really like my Delta Platinum Medallion perks.

What have I learned??

Spirit is a budget airline - hence the nickel and dimeing. But as far as budget airlines go, if I HAD to pick one, it would be Spirit.

Also, I am spoiled rotten by Delta and I am okay with that. And I will keep on with Platinum Medallion status.?