The latest news from Spirit Airlines doesn’t involve a risqué ad campaign or other semi-clever marketing gimmick. This time the news is pretty serious, and they are going to have to break out the checkbook to make it go away because we don’t think the US government takes plastic.

The low cost carrier was fined $375,000 late last week for allegedly violating consumer protection rules. Specifically, they didn’t do such a good job about following guidelines regarding bumping passengers from their flights. ]]> kjb 2009-09-21T09:13:56-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/17/65537/0146

Even though Tax Day has come and gone, the marketing staff over at Spirit Airlines filed an extension. That means that you can still fly from only $10.40 each way to a number of their destinations. However, there’s a catch—which isn’t surprising with this low cost carrier. You’ll need to sign up for their $9 fare club which will set you back about $40 for a year’s membership. Seems a little odd that we’re signing up for the $9 club just to get fares for $10.40. ]]> kjb 2009-04-17T09:41:39-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/3/8/20337/48278 Last week we covered a couple of customers who vowed never to fly Spirit Airlines again, no matter how competitive the fares. Given the direction the airline is going, that's not going to be a problem.

Spirit has decided to introduce a new fee, something called the passenger usage fee of $4.90 per ticket for flights purchased outside of Spirit's own airport ticket counters. Yes, that includes the tickets you buy online at Spirit's own website.

The fee, designed to cover reservation-booking costs, will be part of Spirit's aggressive and edgy strategy, which doesn't always fly well with passengers... For airlines, one huge advantage of fees is that they don't show up in most reservation systems when consumers are shopping for airfares. That's because airlines aren't required to advertise fees that only certain customers will pay, like those checking baggage.

Low cost carrier and marketing maven, Spirit Airlines, recently announced new flights from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Santiago, Dominican Republic. They’ll fly this route starting in June and will go back and forth four times a week. Although we love us some new routes and airfare options, we’re wondering if taking a trip on Spirit is worth it. ]]> kjb 2009-03-02T11:46:13-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/1/28/171739/286

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

Gross, East Coast!: Winter storms today disrupted travel plans in Boston, New York City and... Lexington, Kentucky? Some 473,000 citizens are powerless today from last night's ice storm, surpassing the number affected by 2003 ice storms in The Horse Capital of the World. Blue Grass Airport is open but currently run by generators. [Kentucky.com]

Jets On Sale?: Boeing announced it will cut 10,000 jobs after posting a fourth-quarter loss of over $56 billion. The airline cited a 2-month worker strike in its announcement along with, of course, the recession. [Bloomberg]

Time for a spirited debate: Should flight attendants be made to wear ads? New uniforms for Spirit Airlines' flight crew have been criticized for including an apron with a Bud Light logo slapped on the bib. The company countered the charges that such ads were "demeaning" by saying the ad sales are necessary to keep fares low. [South Florida Sun Sentinel]

Gateway to the West: Angel Island Immigration Station, San Francisco's answer to Ellis Island, will reopen in February after a four-year, $60 million renovation project. Originally built in response to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 -- that is, to detain or turn away Chinese immigrants -- the station became a national park in 1954 but visitors were largely restrained to the grounds. [USAToday.com]

[Photo: temporaryspastic]]]> egw 2009-01-28T17:25:56-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/12/11/14384/803

Early adopters may remember all the way back to before 9/11, when all JetBlue seemed to do was ferry people from Upstate New York to JFK. Now, nearly nine years after its first flight, the carrier is pushing ever-southward, with its latest new route, between Orlando and San Jose, Costa Rica, set to start March 26, 2009.

It's one of many new Caribbean and Latin American routes JetBlue has planned for the coming months. Next week, flights leave both Tampa and DC for Cancun for the first time, and Dulles will also get a connection to San Juan, Puerto Rico. In addition to Costa Rica, the airline will also start flying to Bogota and Nassau from Orlando early next year.

Why the big push at a time when other airlines are cutting service? We think it might have something to do with another LCC: Spirit has heaps of flights to the Caribbean and Latin America on Airbus 319s with 31 inches of seat pitch. But JetBlue is planning to fly E-190s--complete with live TV, two-by-two seating and at least 32 inches of pitch--to Costa Rica. With both carriers offering low fares to San Jose, who would you choose?

Related Stories:
· Open Skies over Colombia [Jaunted]

[Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas]]]> pbb 2008-12-11T14:45:20-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/18/12137/3965

Obviously, Spirit Airlines would be the carrier to try this. It didn't really work out for Skybus, but then again, the now-defunct LCC didn't lure in passengers with attention-grabbing fare sales.]]> pbb 2008-09-18T12:14:07-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/