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Our man on the inside at Spirit Airlines writes in with this warning:

Spirit airlines is rolling out a new reservations and check in system called Navitaire. The changeover will be happening on Feb 4th.

[…] These changes can cause as much commotion as they did when US Airways merged systems with America West. Except this time we are predicting a meltdown because the gate agents and employees have been “trained” on the new system, but by the time it is rolled out they will have forgotten how it works. I’ve surveyed several employees and the response is the same: “I don’t know what will happen, I have no clue how to work that system.”

Expect long lines, delays, and angry passengers…

Consider yourselves forewarned.

If you’re flying with Spirit, despite most advice offered here (see “related” links below), then check in early, leave yourselves extra time at the airport, and keep those fingers crossed.

For passengers’ sake, here’s hoping that the systems will have been figured out and operational by the launch date…

Related:
- Spirit Airlines’ CEO flips his customers the bird
- Is Spirit Airlines’ new club worth joining?
- Downgrades: Spirit Airlines to charge for ALL luggage, coffee, and soda
- Spirit Airlines to Democrats: Drop Dead

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Oh, Spirit Airlines! What would a travel blog be without you?? The double entendres, the imagery, the low fares that few if anyone can actually purchase… But this latest sale, as mentioned in the Consumerist earlier today, is a raising the bar, even for you: The MILF Sale.

Oh sure, the “MILF” sale portends to be the “Many Islands, Low Fares” sale, but we know better, Spirit. You’re talking about the lustful thoughts for a friend’s mom. And you know what: We have the evidence to prove it.

Have a look at these screenshots. You have to look quickly as the Flash passes, but thanks to a fast finger on the print-screen button, we see the seductive silhouette-shaped island north of Cuba…

My Caribbean geography may be a bit rusty, but something tells me that’s not any island I’ve seen. Better look quickly, as it changes to this more generic image:

Keepin’ it classy, Spirit!

Spirit has named sales before, after hurricanes, after Jeb Bush, and now, after the randy thoughts of teenage boys across America.

So: Whaddaya think? Are Spirit’s fare sale antics the marketing equivalent of a crisp snap of a towel in the postgame locker room? Or are these sales crossing a line into the obnoxious and offensive? Or, are they just plain stupid? Vote!

(Viewing in a feed reader? Click here to vote.)

Related:
- Spirit Airlines to Democrats: Drop Dead
- Downgrades: Spirit Airlines to charge for ALL luggage, coffee, and soda
- Is Spirit Airlines’ new club worth joining?
- Spirit Airlines’ CEO flips his customers the bird

If you’re flying between the United States and Latin America or the Caribbean, you’d better pack light. Why? It’s December.

Huh??

This is a policy that airlines don’t really publicize, and it’s doubtful that many people get a call or e-mail about this before it’s too late. But every year, usually on December 1, airlines start putting strict limits on the amount of baggage you can check if you are traveling to the warmer climates of the Americas.

Why? Apparently, passengers traveling to and from these countries are packing so heavily, the planes can’t accomodate all that baggage, along with a planeload of passengers. So they slap on a limit, and adhere to it strictly.

In most cases, the holiday baggage rule states that passengers can check two bags, but no overweight bags or additional bags. Not even for an additional fee. If you arrive with overweight suitcases and want to check the bag, you’ll have to take something out and leave it behind. Ouch.

This latter point is what catches most people by surprise, usually at the last minute, at the airport. And then they’re pissed off.

It’s a widespread practice, with minor variations. December 1 to January 10 is a common range of dates for these more draconian rules, but it’s different at every airline. For example, it kicks off on November 15 at Delta. On United, it starts on the first Sunday in December each year.

But one thing is common: Unless you’re a seasoned veteran, traveling in this timeframe between these regions, you’re in for a surprise if you packed heavily.

Case in point: A comment left on a March 2007 post today in the Upgrade: Travel Better archives. Neal writes:

My seventy year old Father in-law is heading back to Jamaica today and was told that one of his bags was overweight. Not a problem right? He will simply pay the extra charge and continue on his way.

WRONG!!!

Unbeknownst to the consumer, beginning TODAY, December 1st (try to find this on their website luggage section), Spirit Airlines has suspended carrying ANY overweight luggage (51 lbs +) during the Holiday season.

So, this wheelchair ridden man is in the process of emptying his suitcase to rid the 18 pounds he is overweight AND waiting for my sister in-law to retrieve the items (they will not store or hold the items until someone can come to the airport). Whilst on the phone moments ago with the “Customer Service Representative” at the check-in counter, I said “Where is this written?” to which she replied, “Our policy is subject to change at anytime”.

Spirit Airlines gets WORSE and WORSE by the moment!!!

While Spirit Airlines is easy to flog for its litany of customer-unfriendly policies, this isn’t unique to them. And in fact, perhaps in response to angry calls and e-mails, Spirit has posted their holiday baggage rules at the top of their FAQ.

I’ve done a quick search and found the rules for Spirit, American, Delta, Continental, and United. For other airlines, search for “holiday baggage” or “excess baggage Latin America” on an airline’s site to find it.

(That search also yielded a page on Delta’s site explaining the process for checking a Christmas tree as luggage. I’m not kidding.)

But passengers shouldn’t have to go through this rigmarole. The restrictions should be readily explained to all passengers traveling in that time, and not buried deep on an airline’s website. Once again, the airlines have found a way to piss off the consumer and create bad will. Wonders never cease.

Pack light, folks.

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Time to send the CEO to Microsoft Outlook School! Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza hit “reply to all” instead of “reply” and thereby sent this charming e-mail not only to one of his customer service employees, but also to the angry passengers who contacted the company to complain in the first place. Here’s the CEO’s message:

Please respond, Pasquale, but we owe him nothing as far as I’m concerned. Let him tell the world how bad we are. He’s never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny.

Comedy gold, or the perfect distillation of the state of air travel? Maybe both!

“Let him tell the world how bad we are.”

Well, Mr. Baldanza, you’ll be glad to know that the customer did! Blogger Alex Rudloff posted a reader’s entire correspondence with Spirit on his site. Go read the whole thing.

Rudloff’s post hit the Consumerist earlier today, which is where I first saw it. But it’s making the rounds, going viral even, and frankly, the airline is getting exactly what it deserved.

James Wysong asks why U.S. airlines are so bad. Spirit Airlines’ disdain for their passengers just provided Exhibit A.

I get a lot of complaints about Spirit — more than any other airline. (Chris Elliott recently named US Airways to his “blacklist” on the basis of sheer volume of complaints that he receives. If I were writing that list, Spirit would have to be take the top slot. No contest. Most of the complaints surround their baggage fees or automatic opt-in to travel insurance or the $9 club. One airline employee wrote in with a long list of complaints, many of which were common to other airlines, but the sheer litany of issues… Tip: Avoid the coffee.)

Spirit just keeps leading the charge downhill.

Back in March, I posted about Spirit Airlines’ $9 fare club, which charges a $29.95 annual fee to provide members with access to “private” sale fares, apparently as low as $9 each way. In recent weeks, I’ve been receiving multiple e-mails requesting that **I** cancel someone else’s membership in the Spirit $9 club.

Letters start like “I am being charged at $29.95 fee for membership in Spirit Club. I do not remember joining this and I need to be removed/canceled immediately.”

Huh?? Why are you asking ME? I mean, I’d love to help, but shouldn’t the question be addressed to the airline? What’s going on here?

A few web searches and clicks, and I think I’ve found the answer.

1) If you do a Google search for “Spirit Airlines $9 club” or “Spirit $9 club,” the top-ranked search result isn’t Spirit’s own page for their club. It’s this site. This post. (Interestingly, if you add the word “fare” to your search terms, such as “Spirit $9 fare club,” you actually do get the Spirit Airlines website. The quirks of Google!)

But surely people can see from the content of that post that Upgrade: Travel Better is not the same as Spirit Airlines? For pete’s sake, the post even skeptically suggests that you shouldn’t waste your money on their club membership. I guess people don’t read.

2) More importantly, why are so many people complaining about memberships that they say they didn’t purchase? Is Spirit automatically signing people up for this club without their consent?

Again, it seems that people don’t read. Here’s what I think is happening:

If you go to the Spirit Airlines website and select flights for purchase, you get a summary page that presents your selected itinerary. On that page, there is also the following text:

Aha! The dreaded opt-out. If you don’t uncheck the boxes, you automatically buy travel insurance and join the $9 club, which automatically renews for $29.95 a year. Very sneaky, questionably ethical, and clearly designed to prey on the folks who don’t read things carefully — the same people who don’t notice that this site isn’t Spirit Airlines.

So, what do you do if you were careless and signed up for the $9 club? You can certainly cancel, but you may be out of luck in getting a refund. The terms and conditions of the $9 club state:

1.3. A Member may cancel his or her membership in the Club at any time by selecting the unsubscribe option within their FREE SPIRIT account profile or by notifying Spirit in writing at the address at the bottom of this page. Cancellations by mail will take approximately 4 to 6 weeks to become effective.
[…]
3.2. After 3 months after initial enrollment in the Club, and on each anniversary thereafter, Members will be automatically charged an annual fee of $29.95 for membership in the Club. Annual fees are non-refundable, notwithstanding Member’s cancellation of membership in the Club.
[…]
3.5. A Member will not be entitled to any refund of any membership fees upon cancellation of membership in the Club.
(emphasis added)

By forcing people to opt out, instead of opting in, to join the club, and by then making refunds impossible, it’s clear that those club memberships are designed to be pure profit, preying on the careless. Classy as always, Spirit!

Disgruntled club members may not get a refund, but should be sure to follow the instructions above and cancel their memberships. But I’m afraid I can’t help anyone do that.

Related:
- Is Spirit Airlines’ new club worth joining?
- Downgrades: Spirit Airlines to charge for ALL luggage, coffee, and soda
- Spirit Airlines to Democrats: Drop Dead

Upgraded: US Airways elite status for non-elites
Downgraded: Existing US Airways elite member satisfaction
US Airways is letting those without status buy their way into the rank and file of the elite frequent flyer set, giving them access to the upgrade waiting list and a few bonus miles. Whoo. If I were a US Airways elite, I’d be peeved at their “Try Preferred Status on for size” promotion. Much like Tim Winship argues, it’s hard enough getting an upgrade; now the airline is willing to sell your loyalty down the river to make a quick buck, thereby making it even harder to snag that wider seat with the marginally better service. Classy.

Upgraded: Virgin America
Slow-going upstart Virgin America got its approvals all lined up, and they’re officially legal to sell tickets and fly around the USA. But they’re not selling tickets yet. Their website still promises the moon. What’s the holdup? Jeez, people! August, they say.

Downgraded: Airport scales
Surprise, surprise. The scales at airports are often wrong. How often? 90% of scales were off in a Phoenix television station’s investigative report. Problems limited to Phoenix? Probably not. Try to make sure your scale is at zero when you put down your bags, but that won’t necessary avoid trouble. (Via Consumerist)

Upgraded: The little guy
Jane Waun rocks. She took Spirit Airlines to small claims court for the additional expenses she incurred after Spirit summarily canceled her flight and left her high and dry. They refunded her money for the ticket (eventually) but didn’t cover her additional costs. So she sued. And she won, in part because Spirit never showed up to fight it. 90% of success is showing up, or something like that, right?
(Update: I see Chris Elliott picked up on this, too. And he goes a step further, suggesting that everyone take every travel company to small claims court. Sue them every time, and hope they don’t show, in order to force them to change their practices. Nice idea, but small claims cases still take time! That’s probably why Spirit blew the case off in the first place. But if you have the time, go for it.)

Upgraded: Price transparency in the European Union
The EU Parliament has passed a set of rules mandating that airlines have to quote full prices, not just base fares. (Take that, easyJet!) The law needs approval from member states before taking effect, but this is pro-consumer. Let’s hope the member states pass it.

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Downgraded: Lavender
Update: The controversial and lame American Airlines website for women got a minor redesign, as Meg at the Consumerist noticed. See the before-and-after screenshots above. The criticism must have gotten to them. Gone is the lavender flight search box, though it’s still a dumbed-down version with fewer options than the main search page. Is this progress?

Upgraded: US Airways, Downgraded: Southwestern temperance
The booze is back in the Land of Enchantment! US Airways is once again serving alcoholic drinks on flights to and from New Mexico. Recall that they got busted for serving liquor without a license. Tipple with impunity.

Downgraded: Late night arrivals at Detroit; Upgraded: Odds of a PBOR
It happened again. Passengers were stuck on a plane for hours, bathrooms had no water, etc. A late-arriving Spirit Airlines flight from Cancun couldn’t be processed after landing (at 11 p.m.), because Homeland Security’s Customs/Immigration agents had gone home for the night. It took until 4 a.m. the next day for passengers to be let out. Update: Or the plane landed early! And Customs’ computers were down. And passengers left the plane at 12:30 a.m., if you believe Customs. Or later, depending on who’s telling the story.

Upgraded: Lufthansa first class seating
No preview images yet, but Lufthansa is upgrading their first class cabins, beginning with winter 2008. The new seats were meant to debut with the A380, but given the delivery delays, they’re just rolling them out anyway.

Upgraded, potentially: Baggage screening
Assuming the bill survives a veto threat from President Bush, airports across America could receive new equipment that supposedly screens baggage faster and more accurately than previous versions. Why the veto threat? The bill also contains a provision permitting TSA agents to unionize.

Downgraded: Flights from LAX
United Airlines and Los Angeles World Airports are having a spat about the rent. United says the rent hike is a violation of the lease agreement, but until the dust settles, they’re charging passengers who board a flight at LAX an extra $10 to cover the difference, even though the actual costs to the airline are allegedly a lot less. Now Delta and US Airways have followed suit and raised fares out of LAX by the same $10. Lovely.

Upgraded: Baltimore!
Layover at BWI? Grab a glass of wine at the newest branch of Vino Volo, the chain of in-airport wine bars. Other locations include Washington Dulles, Sacramento, and Seattle. (Via Jaunted)

This past weekend, I was a guest on Peter Greenberg’s radio show, talking about Spirit Airlines and their new luggage fees. (Shameless self-promotion alert!)

During the segment, Peter had his producer fire up the Spirit website to see how low their fares went. The answer: $9.

But there was a catch: She found a $9 fare, but only if you joined their “$9 Fare Club.” I had noticed this on their site Friday afternoon, but didn’t think anything of it, really, not realizing at the time that this members-only savings society was anything new. Since then, it has hit the news and blogosphere as something newsworthy.

I’m predictably skeptical. For starters, I’m not a fan of the new Spirit fare structure, so paying a membership fee to maybe — just maybe — have access to limited-availability ultra-low fares doesn’t seem like a good way to spend your cash.

That said, for now the club is relatively cheap to join. A 3-month trial is $9. Thereafter, it’s still pretty cheap, honestly, at $29.95 per year. If (and only if) that really gets you access to ludicrously cheap fares year-round, then it may be worth it. But I have my doubts. Besides, Spirit doesn’t shy away from sales with cutesy names.

I’d wait for the sale.

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The ink had hardly dried on their announcement last month that they would be charging $10 for a second checked bag. Now, Spirit Airlines has rolled out a range of changes, converting the airline into a European-style discount carrier, similar to Ryanair or Easyjet.

The key changes, effective June 20, 2007:

• $5 flat fee for EACH checked bag, up to 50 lbs., if arranged in advance online
• $10 flat fee per checked bag, up to 50 lbs., if you wait until the airport to pay the fee
• All beverages such as coffee, juice, and soda will cost $1 (water is free)
• First class is downgraded to premium economy. It’s renamed “the Big Front Seat.” No more free booze.

Why am I reminded of Andy Borowitz’s “Airlines to Offer Fuel-for-Purchase Option” satire?

Obviously, it’s all meant to reduce costs. But the positive spin that the airline is trying to give these “reforms” doesn’t always add up. In this account, the Spirit chief marketing officer Barry Biffle said that “by having a one-class plane, we can provide better service to all our passengers, not just those sitting in the front.” That makes no damn sense. Just because there’s no first class anymore doesn’t mean that the service in the back will improve! Ahh, marketers.

Adding a fee for all checked luggage is certain to be unpopular. And as Chris Elliott recently suggested, other airlines might be loath to charge for luggage, because it could confer greater liability on them for lost or stolen goods. I’m not sure this is right, since the contract of carriage could nix that, but people coughing up a fee could well be under the heightened impression that the airline owes you more reliable luggage handling.

To “prove” that these provisions lower fares, Spirit is running a fare sale right now. Obviously, it’s too early to know if the changes have any long-term effect on fares.

If fares actually DO go down more than, say, $20 or $30, to cover the cost of checked luggage each way, a few cups of juice, and the value you assign to your own time for making calculations like this one, then this might be okay for consumers.

But it’s still not consumer-friendly in the grand scheme of things: The online travel agencies aren’t yet equipped to show you a real total price, including the add-ons like luggage fees. This means that Spirit will, for the moment, appear cheaper than other airlines on the booking sites, whether the actual final price for you and your needs, once luggage, drinks, etc., are factored in, is cheaper or not.

Comparison shopping just got harder.

Hat tip to to the folks at FlightWisdom!
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Spirit Airlines, known for its clever (and sometimes politically partisan) marketing, is the first airline in America to charge a fee if you want to check a second suitcase.

Effective February 10, 2007, each passenger will only be allowed ONE checked bag of 50 pounds. The second bag will cost $10 and a third will run you $100. Bags over 50 pounds will cost extra, as always. Full detail of Spirit’s baggage policies is here.

Smells like the nickel-and-diming business plan of European discount carriers like Ryanair, and I don’t like it.

As usual, the airline’s business case is understandable. Less luggage means lower expenses for the airline, and we’re already seeing signs that we’re headed for a-la-carte ticket pricing. But that doesn’t mean we have to like it. For those who are traveling with a second suitcase, this is effectively a fare hike.

If Spirit is in contention for your travels, it’s time to consider your packing strategy before you buy your tickets. Or just reconsider your airline.

Many or even most corporations donate to political parties and individual candidates, but few are as blatant in their support as Spirit Airlines.

The discount carrier has been “naming” its sales the way tropical storms and hurricanes are named, and the letter J sale has been named Jeb. Jeb Bush, governor of Florida and the brother of the president, is reportedly on the Republican Party’s short list of candidates for president, and Spirit’s “Jeb 2008″ imagery in the Spirit ad riffs off the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign iconography.

What an unbelievably boneheaded move.

Sure, this will garner some publicity, and all press is good press, right? Maybe not. For starters, most companies try to keep their political contributions out of customers’ sight, out of fear of alienating a clientele. But also, did any lawyers actually go over this ad? Will the ad spend be calculated as a donation to Jeb’s campaign? Donations need to be reported to state and federal regulators, and this could easily be interpreted as a campaign contribution. Enjoy your legal bills, Spirit!

Maybe Spirit was just upset that they weren’t included in BuyBlue.org’s list of airlines. The BuyBlue website categorizes companies of all industries according to their political donations, as well as issues such as labor practices, environmentalism, etc. These latter issues are more contentious, but the political donations data are fairly straightforward. (For international readers: blue = Democratic Party, red = Republican Party.)

Regardless of your politics, it’s interesting to check out BuyBlue to see how your “favorite” corporations have behaved. There is to my knowledge no “BuyRed” site, but the site lists data for both blue and red companies — so draw your own conclusions from the data. (Click for BuyBlue lists for hotels, airlines, and an alphabetical list of all tracked companies across industries.)

Via Jaunted.
tags: travel | Spirit Airlines | Jeb Bush | politics | Democrats | Republicans

Startup longhaul budget airline Oasis Hong Kong Airlines offers tickets from Hong Kong to London-Gatwick for £75 each way. Ludicrously cheap. The company plans to fly to other discount carriers’ hubs around the world, such as Oakland, CA, and Cologne, Germany. (via Jared Blank)

Spirit Airlines‘ “Ocho Libre” sale, featuring flights for $8 each way, ends tonight. Good luck finding any fares at that price.

“Cheat” your way to airline elite status… by following the airlines’ own rules! Fortune Magazine calls adherence to the rules cheating? Nonetheless, the article provides a decent overview of elite qualification “challenges” on American Airlines, and how you can get your status matched by other airlines. (See also this earlier rant and advice on status matching.)

Finally some good news for Northwest Airlines flyers: More food choices in first class. A new rotation of 16 meal options debuts in August.

United’s p.s. (”premium service”) flights between JFK and LAX or SFO just got a little less premium for passengers in coach. Free hot meals in economy are being cut, effective August 4, with food shifting to the buy-on-board model. At the same time, food at the front of the bus is supposedly improving, with a “new gourmet menu” being phased in. And, on United flights to Hawaii, prepare for nonstop tiki… The airline has rebranded their inflight catering with Trader Vic’s. Not a huge change on this last count: United already serves mai tais on Hawaii flights…

Finally: What do you do when your team is defeated in the World Cup? Go on vacation! Lastminute.com reported a surge in bookings following England’s departure from the tournament. Notably NOT a destination: Portugal, the team that ousted England. Vengeful tourism!

tags: travel