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Tags: Spirit Airlines / Airfare Sales / Airfare Deals / Deals / → All Tags
Frat Guy Continues to Head Spirit Airlines Advertising Division
Seems you either have to be a Maxim devotee or an Urban Dictionary savant to keep up with Spirit Airlines' ad campaigns. The latest--which is running on Jaunted at the moment--features "Big Spirit Deals."
And just in case you didn't catch the double meaning of BSD, the "$19 each way" part of the ad actually swings back and forth. More tacky than Spirit's "MILF" sale? We didn't think it was possible!
Related Stories:
· Spirit Airlines: Home to the MILF [Jaunted]
· The Spirit MILF Returns [Jaunted]
· Spirit Airlines coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Spirit Airlines / → All Tags
The Spirit MILF Returns
Oh, Spirit, your tackiness knows no bounds. Why have just one MILF sale when you can bring it back for the second time in five months?
As usual, the advertised $1 fares are only on short hops--but they do exist. We found a flight between the Bahamas and Fort Lauderdale for a buck, though the taxes and fees add quite a bit more. Still, Spirit currently has the best deal on the route according to Kayak.
Other cities are up for grabs, too, as this is the, ahem, "Many Islands, Low Fares" sale. All fares must be booked by midnight tonight, so don't putz around.
Related Stories:
· Spirit's MILF Sale [Official Site]
· The Stupid Spirit MILF Sale is Back [The Consumerist]
· Spirit Airlines coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Spirit Airlines / Customer Service / Airline Hell / → All Tags
Airline Hell: Spirit Airlines and the Disappearing Reservation
An anonymous concerned Spirit Airlines customer (or is that ex-customer?) has written in to Jaunted to share his (her?) grievances after a recent booking gone horribly awry:
In pure frustration, I thought I would pass this info to you......I made a reservation for me and my family (a total of 7)......everything was fine, until I had to choose our seat assignment on the day I was told (90 days prior)....that went well.....Then I received an e mail from Spirit saying that the itinerary had changed, and to re-confirm the seat assignment, which I did.............then received another e mail a week later saying the itinerary had changed once again, and to re-confirm the seats.........THATS WHEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE.....
Tags: New Routes / JetBlue / Spirit Airlines / Delta / American Airlines / Continental / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / → All Tags
New Routes: Open Skies over Colombia
The worldwide leader in scandalously-named fare sales, Spirit Airlines, just locked down an interesting new route. The LCC will now get to operate seven flights a week between Ft. Lauderdale and Bogotá, Colombia, which is rapidly becoming 2008's It destination.
Spirit had to get Department of Transportation approval for the routes because they're regulated by a bilateral treaty. When the US and Colombia decided to up the number of flights between the two countries last year, a heap of airlines clamored to get in on the action. Delta, JetBlue and Continental will join Spirit in the newly-open skies.
American Airlines--which had a near monopoly on the route--still offers the most frequencies of any carrier. But when the low cost players start flying in April, it's almost a sure-thing that fares will fall. The only thing in doubt is what kind of off-color marketing campaign Spirit will use to hype the new flights.
Related Stories:
· Spirit Finally Wins the War [Airline Biz Blog]
· Battle for Colombia Heating Up [Jaunted]
· Everyone's Excited about Bogotá [Jaunted]
Tags: Spirit Airlines / Baggage / Luggage / United / → All Tags
Spirit Spins Its Checked Baggage Charges
When United announced it would start charging $25 to check two bags instead of one, we didn't really see the big deal. Seriously, why are you checking two bags? Carry-on only, people, unless you're schlepping skis or a surfboard.
But we can't give Spirit a pass on its new announcement that fees for checked baggage are going up, simply because of the ridiculous way the airline's spinning it. Here's what the chief marketing officer had to say:
Instead of raising every fare across our entire network in response to ever increasing fuel prices ... [this] gives our passengers the opportunity to control their cost of travel by packing lighter. We are all about giving our passengers options.
Um... thanks? Given that this is Spirit, we're waiting for the "We Ain't Got No Baggage" fare sale, which should be announced directly.
Related Stories:
· Getting What You Pay For Travel: The Best Seats in Coach [Jaunted]
· Spirit Airlines: Home to the MILF [Jaunted]
· Spirit Airlines coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Kaptain Krispy Kreme]
Tags: New Routes / US Airways / JetBlue / Spirit Airlines / Delta / American Airlines / JFK / → All Tags
New Routes: Battle for Colombia Heating Up
Under pressure from JetBlue, Spirit and US Airways, Delta isn't surrendering its lock on Colombia without a fight. The carrier hopes to add daily service from JFK to Bogota as well as service from Atlanta to both Cali and Medellin. It already serves those cities from Miami and New York, and can only expand with Department of Transportation approval.
Delta will be going head-to-head with American Airlines, which begins offering even more service to Colombia this Thursday. All of American's new flights are out of Miami, though the airline has lots of connections to New York City.
With all the new flight options opening up, we'd like to predict an increase in leisure travel to Bogota, Cali and Medellin. But we need to see a few more articles about sophistonauts before we declare Colombia the hottest destination of 2008.
Related Stories:
· Sophistonauts Are Marching to Colombia [Jaunted]
· Everyone's Excited About Bogoá [Jaunted]
· New Routes coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of El Dorado International: Aguno]
Tags: Spirit Airlines / Airfare Sales / Airfare Deals / Caribbean Travel / → All Tags
Spirit Airlines: Home to the MILF
This could go down as the sexiest year on record for low cost carriers. Not content to let the Girls of Southwest, the pinups of Ryanair and the models of Virgin America get all the press, Spirit Airlines has kicked off its MILF sale.
The budget carrier says the acronym stands for Many Islands, Low Fares. (Funny. We remember it as something else.) Spirit's dropped prices for heaps of flights to the Caribbean, including routes to the Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
You'll have to book by midnight tonight, and you'll need to fly between December 10 and February 13, with plenty of blackout dates to avoid. A sample trip from Chicago to San Juan in January sells for just over $400 all-in--quite a bit more than Northwest or American's fares on the route. But with a little digging, you may be able to find a deal on Spirit. Just act fast.
Related Stories:
· Spirit Airlines CEO Learns the Dangers of 'Reply All' [Jaunted]
· Spirit Airlines At It Again [Jaunted]
· Spirit Airlines coverage
[Photo: IMDb]
Tags: Virgin America / NWA / Spirit Airlines / AirTran / Virgin Atlantic / → All Tags
Getting What You Pay For Travel: The Best Seats in Coach
Leg room? That'll be 20 bucks...
With apologies to George Orwell, some airline seats may be more equal than others. And the airlines know it. That's why you may find yourself shelling out for better seats these days, even if you're still stuck in coach.
On Virgin America you'll pay $15 or $25 extra for a bulkhead seat, depending on the length of your flight. Northwest famously started charging $15 for exit row seats last year and AirTran now takes $20 for its spacious seats. Spirit Airlines keeps a cache of sweet spots in the front of the plane, but you won't get 'em without a $30 surcharge.
We can hardly blame airlines teetering on the brink of profitability for this nickel-and-diming, but creating a separate, bookable premium service like foreign carriers have would certainly look less sleezy. (And, heaven forbid, might actually create some customer loyalty!)
Virgin Atlantic created the "premium economy" class in 1992, and Air New Zealand, BMI and British Airways now all offer not-quite-business-class seats, perfect for long-hauls. Those seats may cost a little more, but you'll still be able to move your legs by the time you touch down.
Related Stories:
· In the Back, Not All Cattle Are Equal [NYT]
· Airlines coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: pixthree]
Tags: New Routes / US Airways / JetBlue / Spirit Airlines / → All Tags
Everyone's Excited About Bogotá
Buried at the bottom of US Airways' October traffic report was a fun little tidbit, the likes of which we're beginning to see everywhere:
[Plan] to file for proposed Charlotte, N.C.-Bogotá, Colombia service when the Department of Transportation formally commences the application process. The proposed route will be US Airways' first service to South America.
US Air is already a big player in the Caribbean. But service between the US and Colombia is currently limited to 70 flights a week, and American Airlines, Continental and Delta run all of those flights. US Air is hoping to crack the emerging market when more flights are opened up within the next year.
They won't be the only airline vying for the limited amount of new service. JetBlue has proposed daily round-trips between Fort Lauderdale and Bogotá. Spirit Airlines is also interested in the route, but American has kept them from it by announcing expanded service. Looks like Entourage was right--Colombia is the new hotness.
Related Stories:
· New Routes coverage [Jaunted]
· Colombia coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Naty Rive]
Tags: Travel Trendwatching / Rick Steves / Richard Branson / Stephen Colbert / Spirit Airlines / → All Tags
Travel Trendwatching, PEZ Dispenser Style
This quick hit list is all about pop culture travel trends in real-time. Six bits of travel pressed, dry candy pixels for you to digest weekly.
| Fame |
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 | Comedy Central Airs Colbert-Branson Water War |
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Rick Steves: Legalize It! |
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Google Cracks Open the Space Travel Market |
| Lame |
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China Airlines Photoshopping Real Life |
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Spirit Airlines Still Figuring Out Email |
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Puffer Fish Masquerading as Salmon |
Tags: Ben Baldanza / Spirit Airlines / Customer Service / → All Tags
Spirit Airlines CEO Learns The Dangers of 'Reply All'
Everyone who sends email for business oriented purposes has a "reply all" story. 'Reply All' has taken down many a good worker. However, Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza's story just might take the cake.
It all started when a dissatisfied first time Spirit Airlines customer wrote a long complaint to Spirit Airlines outlining a terrible experience on the airline. The customers biggest complaint? Throughout all the delays he endured Spirit was uninformative and downright rude to the couple:
On multiple occasions, we observed your employees talking rudely to customers and just in general, exhibiting extremely poor customer service skills. My husband and I have flown other discount air carriers before and have never had the kind of problems we experienced with Spirit.
While far more egregious transgressions have obviously occurred in the annals of airline customer service, what really caught our attention was Spirit Airlines unintended response:
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.
Wow. Turns out the customer must be right. That is a downright rude way to respond and shows extremely poor customer service skills. Even though this message was obviously meant to stay in-house, it is time for Baldanza to contact this customer and make things right. In his defense, maybe he was reeling from the fallout of the monkey-snuck-on-plane deal.
Related Stories:
· Spirit Air CEO Learns the Dangers of Hitting Reply All [Consumerist]
Tags: Spirit Airlines / Travel News / Animals / → All Tags
Man Pulls Off Ultimate Feat: Sneaks Monkey onto Plane
Something like this could only happen in our wildest dreams--a man smuggled a monkey onto a Spirit Airlines plane originating from Lima, Peru on its way to LaGuardia Airport. Lucky Monkey!
Officials say the monkey, a pygmy marmoset, apparently belonged to a male passenger from Lima, Peru. He bought the animal off the streets in Lima.
The man then smuggled the animal, which measures only about a foot tall, through security in Peru onto a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He then got past security again when he took a connecting flight from there to New York City, and he even kept the monkey out in the open mid-flight.
Passengers of that flight say they noticed a small monkey clinging to the man's ponytail during the flight and reported it to authorities.
Unfortunately for the man and the monkey, they were met by Port Authority officials once they touched ground in New York. The animal was sent to Animal Control and is being examined for diseases. (WCBS-TV has some video of the caged monkey.)
Naturally, TSA officials have their panties in a bunch about how this monkey could have gotten past security. But c'mon now. Can't they just appreciate the beauty of a monkey on an airplane? He was even well-behaved passengers a few passengers reported, more so than some children we bet.
Anyways, the larger worry does seem to be whether the monkey was infected with diseases. One passenger expressed his concern saying, "There may be worse things that could happen -- it could grow into one of those big ones." Although, we're not quite sure if he meant a big outbreak or a big monkey.
Related Stories:
· Major Health Scare After Monkey Sneaks Onto Plane
