www.CostaRicaTicas.com

ok guys, on my trip down from Ft Lauderdale to San Jose, i took Spirit because i hade a coupon from another flight that i hadnt used.

the trouble started at the Ft. Lauderdale airport....8 or 10 Self-check in was manned by a single lady, and she was only using one kiosk....
i used one of the other Kiosks and put in my info, it told me i needed to wait for an attendant to help me, so i waited while the attendant ignored me.....

after 20 minutes i asked another lady who happened to walk by if she could help me, she said no, but that lady (the one who was ignoring me) could....

she finally got me on my way, but be warned self-check in does not work if your flying international grrrrrrrrrr

on the way back, my Sansa flight dropped me off at about 8am, and my Spirit flight wasnt until 2pm. we figured we would drop off our bags and get a taxi to town for something to eat and some relaxation, as we did last time with American

Spirit didnt open a desk to check in bags until 11am, and was late at doing that (almost noon by the time they opened)....wasted a whole morning!!!!! after complaining, they then had the nerve to charge me 20 per bag for checked-in baggage!

when i got back to the States, i called to complain about the crappy service, only to repeatedly get a busy signal after going thru all the prompts...i sent a complaint email but do not expect to get an answer back!

NEVER AGAIN WILL I FLY SPIRIT TO SAN JOSE!!!!!!!!

my next flight in 2 weeks will be on American!!!!!!!!

https://costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/viewto ... ight=sucks

be careful, although Spirit is up and down with the membership, so is AA.

yup, i posted in that thread as well prior to this trip!
this coming trip, im flying AA only because the rate was good, 260 r/t.
i do believe im going to start using TACA from now on!!!!
i have friends that fly TACA all the time and never have a problem....

I am one of them...13 out of 18 trips, including 12 in a row with ZERO delays.

Spirit's customer service does suck but I have only had one flight delayed. I do prefer AA but Spirit's times are better. A bit of advice, I find it so much easier if you pack light and just bring a carry-on. I have seen too many folks whose luggage was lost and then they are dealing with that hassle in SJ. Plus, when you arrive in SJO, you can hurry up and get to NF.


PURA VIDA!

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Livin' & Lovin' in Key Largo....oh....And the one in The Keys, too!

I'm sorry pal, you're moaning over a hang nail here... Apparently you don't fly very much...Do your homework...

1. Not many, if any airlines let you check in internationally from kiosks..someone has to visually check your passport

2. Spirit has ONE flight a day into SJO...why should they open their desks 6 hours before their flight?

3. Spirit has been charging 5 dollars (paid online in advance) 10 dollars (at check -in) for luggage since JUNE 2007.

PHX

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Why settle for just one woman when you can enjoy them all?

Flying AA out of MIA you can check in via kiosk for international flights. This started last fall.

Yes, correct. Hope they install that system in FLL as well. Saves a bit of time...but still have to wait until they call your name, etc etc

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Why settle for just one woman when you can enjoy them all?

Pheonix, please dont comment on something you know nothing about.

i fly and travel at least once a month, about half of that is international travel......my last international was to the Turks on Spirit, and they had all self check ins open with several attendants, i got thru in less than 5 minutes with no issues. This trip there where at least 10 self check ins open and only one overworked attendant, who in my opinon, ignored me.

Capt...i have to check in baggage as i always traveling to fish and bring my own equipment...Spirit also charged me 20 dollars per bag on the return leg.

In my opinion any carrier, including Spirit, should have a desk open at all times at every airport they fly out of! if you had a problem with ticketing issues or needed a ticket and didnt have internet access (as i did), the desk at the airport is the next best option.....well if there isnt one open, what do you do???? if you have a question are you going to call using international rates and wait on hold for 30 minutes?

if i needed a ticket, and the Spirit desk was closed i would simply choose another carrier...thats poor business as they have just lost a sale...which could have paid the wages of the young lady behind the counter.

TACA it is from now on!!!!!

What do you expect for the price.... I was checking out a flight on travelocity and lowest was $695. Saw it on Spirit for less than $200. Sorry they arent serving gourmet and giving massages...

1. I have NEVER EVER seen an INTERNATIONAL self serve kiosk for SPIRIT at FLL where you can print a boarding - pass w/o seeing an agent at all (if you have hand luggage). If that has recently changed then I stand corrected, but my last trip to SJO on SPIRIT was Feb 1.

2. Like I said, Spirit has been charging for bags since June 2007. That's fact. I just checked their web site, and they have apparently jacked up the bag charges to $10 online and $20 at the counter as of FEB 20:

http://www.spiritair.com/welcome.aspx?p ... heckedFees

Yeah it sucks, but you could've known about it in advance. Many carriers are getting on this "charge - for - luggage" bandwagon. We are all just gonna have to deal with it.

3. Agreed, it sucks that when you wanna go into town and get a couple of sessions in during your layover, you don't wanna haul your tackle box around....but come on! Spirit is no different than any other airline in this regard...they are not going to pay someone to sit at the counter all day for one flight. And as a "well travelled" gent that you say you are, IMHO you should know this too.



PHX (Spirit Ranking = 135)

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Why settle for just one woman when you can enjoy them all?

I completely understand that "WTF" feeling when you go to a counter and nobody is there. I've been in Brazil before and needed someone and they are just "gone" and you have no idea how to get a question answered. But if you ran the company you would do the same thing and not pay employees, unless of course your customers were willing to see it reflected in prices. I'm glad to have the lower price. I fly Spirit to SJO for the price and it saves me hundreds a trip over Delta.

Crap, Spirit will fly you to Lima right now for around $500 from Atlanta. Sometimes Spirit feels a less warm and friendly but I'll take the money and spend it on chica affection any day.

Checking in for an int'l flight on Spirit at a kiosk? I haven't flown Spirit since LD trip to SJO, but the Bearded Clam flies Spririt to Cancun, Central America and Peru a good bit, never checks luggage, and has always has had to see a person (and wait in line). My belief is they put up the white shades outside of Terminal 4 on the east side to shield those in line for Spirit from rain (good luck) and sunshine. Phoenix flies Spirit much more often (less destinations perhaps) than the Clam, and I would defer to him on any and all matters Spirit. All three of us are Spirit visa cardholders.
Hottubfun, if the self check ins are now available for int'l flight on Spirit out of FLL that would be awesome. How long have you been able to do this?
Now if they only would fly to Medellin and Rio too.

Hottubfun, I am not trying to break your balls, but you say if the Spirit desk was closed you would choose another carrier. I agree with that in theory but at FLL are there that many others options to SJO? I think AA has one flight a day, as of 12/14/07 (took it SB weekend). I could see your point being very accurate but at MIA. I dare say that would be the only domestic airport with the frequency to SJO (but I could be wrong).

Had a Spirit flight out of FLL 2 weeks ago to Grand Bahama and couldn't help but notice there was at least 8-10 agents checking people in, compared to 2-3 a year ago. Could be a sign of better customer service from Spirit.