They are the worst. It's two hundred dollars on top of your fare and I tried to get three boards in one bag and they made me take the third board out and I had to put it back in my car in long term parking for my trip. I asked if I could pay extra and the first woman said yes, for another hundred, thereby increasing my fare from 425 plus 200 to the 425 plus 400. I was getting close to departure I asked for a supervisor whose only discernible skill was the ability to ignore everything I said and repeat that there was nothing she could do. Then I just gave in and they said they could not allow any more than two boards in one bag and that for the extra hundred that board would have to travel separately and I would have to sign a waiver for it. I told them that a liability waiver with spirit is a joke and that when they crunched one of my boards in the past they never paid and I could go to binding arbitration in Atlanta. I ended up leaving not one but two boards behind because three guys, me and my buddies, thought we could get six boards in two bags and savd 200$. I hate spirit. I hate that the flight from San jose was at one a.m. I hate that it was an hour late. I hate that the seats are right on top of each other and you cannot recline or move. I hate that a water is $4. I hate that they know they have me and there was literally nothing I could do about it.




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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

Source

Wonder if the 4.50 baggage cap will apply to surfboards.

New Bill Could Cap Airline Checked Baggage Fees at $4.50



Somehow, though, the most likely result is higher fees paid by travelers.

On Wednesday, Congressman John Mica (R-FL) introduced legislation into the House that would severely limit how much airlines can charge passengers for checking baggage on flights.

The airline industry collected a whopping $38 billion in fees last year, with checked baggage charges - which are typically $25 and up for a service that was included in the cost of a ticket not long ago - providing a big chunk of that revenue. Mica's bill, however, would cap the cost of checking a piece of luggage on a flight at just $4.50.

Or more specifically, the bill would mandate that airlines "may not collect from a passenger a fee for an item of checked baggage on a flight in passenger air transportation if the amount of the fee exceeds the total amount of passenger facility charges that could be imposed."

A passenger facility charge (or PFC) is the fee that airports can tack on each time a flier travels through an airport. They are limited to $4.50 for each leg of a journey, and, in the case of a flight with multiple layovers, are capped at a maximum of $9 per one-way trip and $18 per round trip. The money is used - or at least is supposed to be used - to fund airport infrastructure maintenance and improvements.

Why does Mica want baggage fees lowered to the same level as PFCs? "What's good for the goose is good for the gander," the Congressman said in a press release. It appears as if his true intention isn't to lower checked baggage fees so much as it is to use the threat of such legislation as a way to make an increase in PFCs more palatable to the airlines. Mica and others say that the airlines have been getting rich on baggage fees (and other fees, and higher fares), but that baggage revenues in particular are "not contributing to the airport improvement fund. So, taxpayer revenues now pay the difference to operate and maintain the air control and air service systems."


Not surprisingly, the airlines see things differently, and don't want PFCs increased because the added costs discourage travel without providing any direct benefit to the airlines. "What's good for travelers is to not nearly double the tax they pay to step foot in an airport when airports have more than enough resources to invest in infrastructure today," Airlines for America spokesman Vaughn Jennings said, per Bloomberg. "That is why airports can't point to a single project that's not moving forward due to a lack of resources."

Above all, if there's an increase in fees passed on to travelers, the airlines want to be the ones making the decisions - and reaping the rewards. As for the prospect of a bill passing that would cap baggage fees at $4.50, don't hold your breath.



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https://i.imgur.com/rMXKWWK.gifv

Mica is quite a powerful transportation committee chairman, so the airlines will pay attention.  Mica doesn't always get his way.  He failed to dissuade Gov. Scott from axing the Orlando-Tampa high speec passenger rail project.

THE WORST! You can almost guarantee severe damage to your boards if not broken in two.

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R I P Mama G.

@Salt.And.Savagery.Fishing

@Laserwolf.Laserwolf

Ditto on "the worst"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We thought with only backpacks and 1 carry on we could slip thru with no problems. Even without boards they managed to cancel my returning flight after we noticed they had charged us extra baggage fees..... they Agreed they made the mistake .. And still the gall to make us pay full price for a return ticket or my wife and I would be stranded in San Jose. (This came to light the night before because my wife noticed we didn't get the check in email. )We had no notice our flight was cancelled! !

Tried multiple levels of recourse and hours on computer and phone! And then they just stopped responding... And took me for $200+ more than the original ticket I bought?!?!!!!

And again to reiterate .. they ADMITTED... THEIR agent made the mistakes and on top off that cancelled our return flight !!!



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Time and tide wait for no one.....

Edited: 07/27/2015 at 02:47 PM by KP

As someone w/ a connection to spirit airlines, all I can say is most of these airlines screw you and, at least in spirit's case, the best way to avoid the added fees is  to know before you go-checking all of the baggage policies- yes, they suck, but I guarantee you, you will pay more if you show up willy nilly with extra stuff. you'll be mad either way, but might as well be angry with more money in your pocket. 

I will find a way to ship the boards next year. As for spirit, they are a business and they are not interested in anything other than profit and expediency. It's like that old expression, you can fleece a sheep many times but skin it only once. I feel skinned. Most do.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

I took the Spirit redeye from FTL to Nica and back 2 years ago. No probs with anything.

3 weeks ago my wife and father in law got the Spirit flight to hell and back. So many insane screw ups on a simple flight to IAH. I will never consider Spirit for any travel.

Traveling with boards has allways been problematic. Its the inconsistencies that are so fustrating. On 2 recent trips I have not taken a board and rented. ( Tamarindo area and Hawaii)

Going to SoCal in September. I think I should be able to find a board without taking one.

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So if you are a surfer I wish you the prosperity that allows you more time to pursue the salt water dream, and the true happiness that comes from warm water, clean waves and the companionship of your fellow surfers. If you are an internet troll just spewing bs then f off.

I forget the airline, but I remember a long time ago I was flying out of Miami to Panama. The airline lady came up to me and said I had to fill out a detailed paper on the condition of my boards before the flight. After I filled it out and handed it back to her I asked if that was so they could reimburse me for any damage they did to my boards? She replied that, "No, it's just so we can keep track if we damage your boards or not." 

I was dumbfounded. ...and when I arrived in Panama... one fin (days of glass-ons) was cracked at the base. 

Domestic airlines love surfboards.  They make a great platform to stack golf clubs on. 

Foreign airlines like Singapore, Lufthansa, Korean Air, Quatas and such still don't charge for boards. They feed you good and they even  give you a sharp knife to cut your food with.  They treat you far better than the "beef on the hoof" domestic airlines treat you like.

WTF has happened to domestic air travel?  Soon enough they'll be charging you extra to fly with both your nuts.

stop wringing your hands.....get used to it....as they say it is what it is....drive, walk, take a train or bus or fly and pay the fare and pack well.....

An older surfers versus airlines stat, , , , Numbers as close as I can remember, , ,

"Surfers" only account for like <10% of the airlines' "sports travelers", yet account for 80% of "sporting" equipment damage claims.



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Dora Hates You

you get what you pay for. 

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https://www.instagram.com/dj_kaye_/

Took the red eye on spirit to Nica Thursday night..3 boards in each bag.. $100.00 per bag..

The difference is that most of those airlines are subsidized by their home governments so they don't have to worry about things like actually making a profit to stay in business. I'd also do a little research on the average experience of a wide body pilot at any airline in Asia.

I would personally like to apologize to any of you that have had bad experiences on spirit. As a fellow surfer and member of the spirit pilot group it's hard to hear stories like this. I can assure you that myself and my fellow pilots are dedicated professionals that genuinely want you to get to your destination as safely as possible, on time, and hopefully save a little money along the way. As with any airline, the pilots will be at this company longer than any other employee including the executives, so having return customers is critical to us. We are constantly sending suggestions up the chain to make your experience better.

Here is a little background and a couple of tips that can hopefully help you along the way.

With any airline it's always better to buy direct from them. It's fine to shop around on your favorite travel website but when it comes to making the purchase always go direct to that airline's website. This way if there is ever an issue you don't have to deal with a third party, any options (fees) are more transparent, and the price is almost always lowest on the airline's website because they aren't sharing the money with a travel website.

Spirit is an ultra low cost carrier. This is a concept that is new to many Americans but has been common in many other parts of the world for a while. What this means is that your ticket is essentially gas money and a seat on the plane. Everything else is optional will incur an extra charge. This may seem like you're being nickeled and dimed but even with a hand full of options you can still come out ahead of the next cheapest ticket you found. If spirit charges you $3 for a bottle of water or a coke but airline B's ticket was $50 more expensive, how much did that drink cost you? Or what if you didn't get a drink at all? That concept can be applied to any of the series of options you might or might not choose to buy on spirit.

These videos might help my point. The one with Teresa is my personal favorite.

http://marketing.spirit.com/ho...it-airlines/en/I

 

http://youtu.be/Bpc1HpsKCPQ

I can't change the business model but we do know that when the customer is more educated about it early in the process they tend to be more satisfied. That also goes back to what I was saying about buyingyour ticket direct from whatever airline you choose. All of this is laid out when you buy your ticket on spirit.com and the fact that if you wait to buy bags and extras at the airport they will be more expensive. We are still struggling with the travel websites to make this information more clear. It's an uphill battle. That usually leads to passengers that bought from the travel website possibly being blindsided with fees when they arrive at the airport. That wouldn't make anyone happy. We're working on it is what I'm told.

Spirit is also still a small airline but growing very fast. We operate one of the newest fleets of planes on earth but only have about 70 airplanes compared to the big guys that have near 1000. That means when we have a weather issue somewhere in the system it can ripple down the chain much faster and last longer than at the larger carriers. This is the cause of many of the delays we face. All I can say is it will get batter as the airline grows.

As far as surfboards go any airline will choose how they want to charge for them I can only hope that whatever is decided it's a consistent policy at every one of our stations and communicated well to you, the customer, clearly and early in the process. If everyone knows the rules and everyone plays by the rules there is always going to be less conflict. Ultimately when conflict arises we need to have people at the counter that can calmly get things resolved. That's on us. I can tell you that the ticket agents/gate agents/supervisors are absolutely not allowed to waive any baggage fees. The problem is that so many people try to game the system by not buying luggage ahead of time thinking they will just walk it right on the plane, they get quite angry when it's more expensive at the airport. If we make exceptions then it gets out that you can just come to the airport and get out of the fees and we end up delaying tons of flights arguing with customers over fees that were laid out in advance. I wish I had a better explanation.

Back to surfboards. I can tell you that during every preflight inspection I do if I see board bags I make it a point to tell the rampers that they are extremely fragile and should only be loaded on top of all the other luggage. Many of them don't even know they are surfboards. Crazy, I know. Lastly, all I see are hard cases on golf clubs why is the surf industry still making soft bags for air travel? A hard case would save a ton of headache for everyone involved.

I know air travel can be a huge headache. It can also be very expensive (even though adjusted for inflation it's cheaper than it was 30 or 50 years ago). Spirit is a discount airline with new airplanes and a group of pilots that wants to get you where you are going safe, on time, and for a good value. No body goes into Taco Bell expecting a fine steak house and the same goes for air travel. If you want a nice meal, "free" wifi and tv, and crystal champagne glasses, then we are not your airline and you should by a first class ticket on one of the big guys. If you want to save a buck and spend a couple hours in a cozy seat on your way to an epic surf trip then I hope we can be your airline. That said, many of your grievances are valid and we are always working to improve. As the airline grows many of the issues will do just that. I hope we haven't lost many of you permanently.

Stay stoked

Edited: 07/29/2015 at 02:19 PM by sarasotasurfer

Sarasota,

Thanks for the post. I know how the pricing model works and I like the ala cart model. As I stated I had no problems on the redeye out of FTL to Nica. ( I did it twice)

However, my wife and father in law had the absolute worst experience going from TPA to IAH both flights. I believe your comment that you have 70 planes explains a lot. However, it was the lack of communication, rudeness and heavy confusion that really was unacceptable. We all know that delays can and do happen.

I think much of the dilemma with boards is surfer induced. People just don't bother to find out ahead of time what to expect. Then Spicoli gets to the counter and makes a bad argument.

I'm either lucky or good, but in over 20 surf trips over the last 10 years or so, I have never had any problems transporting boards on any airline.

If you pay crappy wages to the ground and administrative staff and then you do not give them the proper training, then cheap is not going to help.

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So if you are a surfer I wish you the prosperity that allows you more time to pursue the salt water dream, and the true happiness that comes from warm water, clean waves and the companionship of your fellow surfers. If you are an internet troll just spewing bs then f off.

I completely agree with you.

I have to be careful here that I don't overstep any corporate communication guidelines.

The fact that it was IAH explains a lot.  Management is aware of the issues we are having there.  I can honestly say it's a top priority.  

As a small fast growing airline that only had a handful of stations for decades and now is in the middle of quadrupling in size, many of these markets are new and were ramped up fast.  Mistakes were made and learned from IMO.  Solutions are forthcoming I assure you.

What dates did they travel on?  If it was the third week in June that goes down as one of the toughest weeks the airline has ever had and IAH was at the center of it.  A couple years ago after a blizzard JetBlue had to shut down the entire airline for 24hrs just to get everything back in order.  No one remembers that but growing airlines sometimes have these problems.  Hopefully in a couple years ours will be a lost memory too.

Edited: 07/29/2015 at 03:10 PM by sarasotasurfer

Yep, Father's Day weekend

Thanks

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So if you are a surfer I wish you the prosperity that allows you more time to pursue the salt water dream, and the true happiness that comes from warm water, clean waves and the companionship of your fellow surfers. If you are an internet troll just spewing bs then f off.

Spirit is following a business model (bare-bones fares, charge for extras) that's done well in Europe.  An additional consideration is an old one:  taxes.  Here's a bit of a New York Times story:

Erik Hansen, senior director of domestic policy at the U.S. Travel Association, blames the way airline tickets are taxed for the proliferation of fees.

"In some ways, Congress is actually incentivizing the wrong fees," Mr. Hansen said. Since ancillary fees are not subject to a 7.5 percent excise tax the way base ticket prices are, carving out fees allows the airline to present a lower total price to travelers searching for fares.

A curb on fees, which would result in rolling these costs back into ticket prices, would let the government collect more revenue, Mr. Hansen said - money that would be funneled toward the nation's aging air transport system.

It was the same precisely 300 years ago.  Treasure divers recently recovered some 40 feet of beautifully crafted gold chain from a 1715 Spanish treasure fleet wreck.  Jewelry was exempt from a Spanish tax on coins.