Tell me about United and Spirit Airlines

[BellaBaby]

We always fly either Southwest or Frontier from Denver to MCO or Tampa. Southwest has gotten so expensive and Frontier is very budget and nickel and dimes for everything and seats are like lawn chairs.

I know Spirit is budget so probably not much better. And I haven't flown United in years. But I am seeing some decent prices for our trip in May. I don't really know anything about these airlines so looking for opinions. The good, the bad, the ugly.

TIA!!

 

[kmhowell]

We always fly either Southwest or Frontier from Denver to MCO or Tampa. Southwest has gotten so expensive and Frontier is very budget and nickel and dimes for everything and seats are like lawn chairs.

I know Spirit is budget so probably not much better. And I haven't flown United in years. But I am seeing some decent prices for our trip in May. I don't really know anything about these airlines so looking for opinions. The good, the bad, the ugly.

TIA!!

I've never flown Frontier but from what I've read it sounds like they are very similar to Spirit Airlines (no frills). Spirits flights are a lot cheaper than other airlines, but they only allow a personal item (like a backpack) and there is an additional charge for carryons/checked bags. However, if you live near the airport you'll be flying out of, if you go directly to the airport to purchase your ticket (weeks prior to your trip) you can save an additional amount (around $19 each way) off of the price they have online. For example, my family went to book flights to Chicago that were around $68 roundtrip online (per person), but by purchasing the tickets directly at the airport our flights ended up being $28 ROUND trip (per person). We couldn't believe the price either!

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Just remember no matter what airline if flying with kids factor in seat assignment fee into fare. Don’t count on there being seats together or others having luck sitting together after not purchasing seats.

 

[sponica]

I haven't flown united since they gobbled up continental. The upside to united is usually their flight schedule is more robust. If there's issues, they have more flights/routes/etc to get you from point A to point B. I feel like choosing an airline is more about how much risk are you willing to tolerate?

 

[R&RsMom]

I’ve flown United for business and Spirit from Detroit to Orlando/WDW. I have had multiple flight delays on United - last trip, all four round-trip legs had delays. i much prefer Delta or American. Southwest prices are pretty much the same as a legacy from my surrounding airports. Spirit was $150 per ticket less than the lowest-price legacy, after we added in seat selection and baggage fees. Too good to pass up. Of course, we flew out of Detroit, which has a lot of Spirit flights each day, so less concern about flight cancellations. One thing I will say is that the seat pitch (distance between back of one row to your seats) on Spirit was tiny. We had to slide in Standing sort of tilted back. Once seated, we found the seats more comfy than most other airlines. Our Spirit flights were on time and without incident. We were going to fly them again for our fall trip to WDW, but Delta was amazingly priced within $40 of Spirit last weekend, so we bought Delta.

 

[NJ Goofy]

We used to fly US Air (now American) all the time out of PHL, but they became too expensive. Then we flew SW, as PHL was a hub. But then SW moved the hub to Baltimore and they became more expensive. So, now we use Spirit out of AC or PHL, we usually buy the package deal which includes luggage, carry-on and seat selection. The last 2 trips we've had no issues, however you need to be aware that if there is an issue with the plane, they usually don't have a back-up plan and it can then be a nightmare to get to MCO.

 

[Jimsig]

I haven't flown united since they gobbled up continental. The upside to united is usually their flight schedule is more robust. If there's issues, they have more flights/routes/etc to get you from point A to point B. I feel like choosing an airline is more about how much risk are you willing to tolerate?

Yep. Also United has interline agreements with the other legacy airlines as well so if there is an issue they can always out you on a different airline at no cost to you. Happened to me once on Continental. Cont put me on Delta to get me home as they were having issues in CLE where I was due to connect.

None of the low cost carriers have interline agreements to put you on another airline if something happens. With JetBlue and Southwest there are less issues as they have fly more routes and have more airplanes. But when it comes to airlines like Spirit and Frontier you can run into issues like that.

We had a family friend who was flying Spirit didn't find out his flight home from MCO was cancelled due to weather until he got to the airport. After waiting in line he was told the quickest they could guarantee getting him back home to BOS was in 7 days, but he could come to the airport and try standby every day. He took the refund and rented a car and drove back home, he looked at flying other airlines as they had space but the costs were too high. He said he was grateful he was traveling with a friend and didn't; have his family with him.

 

[AngiTN]

We had a family friend who was flying Spirit didn't find out his flight home from MCO was cancelled due to weather until he got to the airport. After waiting in line he was told the quickest they could guarantee getting him back home to BOS was in 7 days, but he could come to the airport and try standby every day. He took the refund and rented a car and drove back home, he looked at flying other airlines as they had space but the costs were too high. He said he was grateful he was traveling with a friend and didn't; have his family with him.

This is why we don't/won't fly the bargain basement airlines, no matter the cost. The risk when issues do arise is too costly. I can't wait to go back home till they can manage to get me on another flight, which is likely days away since there's only a few flights a week. Or sure don't want to miss out on my trip totally because the flight out of here has an issue. If you are fine with the gamble then they are fine. I'm just not. Not when it comes to a vacation.

 

[Jimsig]

This is why we don't/won't fly the bargain basement airlines, no matter the cost. The risk when issues do arise is too costly. I can't wait to go back home till they can manage to get me on another flight, which is likely days away since there's only a few flights a week. Or sure don't want to miss out on my trip totally because the flight out of here has an issue. If you are fine with the gamble then they are fine. I'm just not. Not when it comes to a vacation.

I'd be more apt to fly Spirit and Frontier if they had more than one flight per day the route I was flying. I'd probably also give them a shot if I was flying by myself and it wasn't winter time.

I was looking into flying to FLA next month into Gainesville for the NHRA Drag Race. The flights down had good fares but the flights back were very high. I looked at flying back out of MCO, TPA, and JAX and Frontier had a great price even with the carry on fee. But I couldn't risk having that flight cancelled and having to possibly more off from work if they had to cancel due to a snow storm etc. One day would be one thing but I could not take multiple days off with out getting in trouble at work.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Just remember no matter what airline if flying with kids factor in seat assignment fee into fare. Don’t count on there being seats together or others having luck sitting together after not purchasing seats.

There are no fees for assigned seats on United on a regular economy fare.

 

[Gary2T]

The Spirit experience will be similar to Frontier. Spirit will be fine but a little cramped as long as everything goes well. A flight cancellation can be a huge problem due to the limited amount of flights. With the prices that Spirit (and Frontier) offer we do fly them. When purchasing 4 round trip fares the savings can really add up even with the fees for luggage and seat selection.

I'm am not willing to miss a day or more of vacation in case fo flight cancellation though. I've been purchasing a service called Freebird ( https://www.getfreebird.com )to cover myself against long delays and cancellations. $19 one way or $34 round trip per person. They rebook you on a different flight (on any airline) if you flight is cancelled, delayed 4 hours or more, or if you miss a connection due to delay or cancellation. They cover the cost of the rebooking, but not any luggage fees. I haven't actually had to use the service yet, but link below is from ThePointsGuy.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/freebird-how-to-maximize/

 

[AndreaDM]

I've never flown Frontier but from what I've read it sounds like they are very similar to Spirit Airlines (no frills). Spirits flights are a lot cheaper than other airlines, but they only allow a personal item (like a backpack) and there is an additional charge for carryons/checked bags. However, if you live near the airport you'll be flying out of, if you go directly to the airport to purchase your ticket (weeks prior to your trip) you can save an additional amount (around $19 each way) off of the price they have online. For example, my family went to book flights to Chicago that were around $68 roundtrip online (per person), but by purchasing the tickets directly at the airport our flights ended up being $28 ROUND trip (per person). We couldn't believe the price either!

Wow, you did even better than I did! Went to the airport last week and bought tickets for a quick weekend trip for this upcoming weekend and got them for $48 r/t pp, out of Akron-Canton. I live less than 10 min. from the airport so it was in and out in less than 30 min.