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Have someone used Spirit airlines to fly to San Jose? I was looking at air fares from Chicago to SJO, and with Spirit is about $200-$250 cheaper plus it is the only airline which has connection so I can depart from Chicago on Friday afternoon and arrive at SJO same day around midnight. But I am worried how safe and relaible are they. I am just going for a weekend so cancelled/quite delayed flights might ruin it.

Has been covered to great detail in previous forums. Use the search button on the upper right.
Will provide a wealth of info.

Would look at a direct to Orlando the a direct to SJO via Jet Blue. Price and time are right.

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Would agree on Spirit except for the MDE Flight. Always pay for the Big seat FLL to MDE.
I just like the arrival time.

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May the force be with you my CRT Jedi.

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If you let the devil ride, he's gonna want to drive

Since the topic of this thread is the safety/reliability of Spirit, I'll give my opinion. I haven't flown on Spirit to San Jose, but I have flown six trips to/from Medellin. They have been on time for every flight except one leaving Medellin, and that was because there was a disabled aircraft on the runway. So that wasn't Spirit's fault. I feel they are safe and the flights are good, pretty cramped for space since their seats and legroom are less than most others. I pay the extra for one checked bag, and that is all. So you don't have to be consumed with their extra charges. Outside the aircraft, they are terrible. If you need to call them, that is an experience from hell. Their call center is in India, and those people must read from a procedures book, because almost everything you ask them, it's a standard answer and a fee to implement it.

I agree Jet Blue is a good airline, but probably not for your situation. I wish I could fly that airline everywhere I go. They are the most comfortable and best run operation I have flown in current times. They rank with what Delta was in the 1970's.

Hotwheels, Spirit is best when you can fly direct from their Florida hub, which is why they are a favorite with some of the Florida guys despite their many faults. However, if you're coming from somewhere else and have to connect at their hub, then you are indeed taking a big gamble. The chances that your trip will be phucked up are rather high, so you have to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"

Oh, and that cheap-looking fare quote won't be as cheap once you add in all the extra fees that Spirit charges for just about everything.

Spirit is a great airline if you are retired (and have plenty time to kill), living on a tight budget, and have no luggage to bring. If you can't live with the above, then search for another airline.

I looked at that but there is no direct flight from Chicago to Orlando. In fact the Jet Blue web site is organized so poorly, that when I put starting destination of Chicago, San Jose doesn't appear at all as end destination. Possibly I could look at all cities to which San Jose is connected and do reverse lookup but it looks too complicated and probably would require 2 connections.
Thanks to all for the tips. After all, I think I will take my chances with Sprint. Worst case scenario I would have 1 day in San Jose instead of 2, but with other airlines that would be my starting point anyways.

24 hours before my last CR trip,6/30, they called to say flight was cancelled. They couldn't get me on a flight till 4 days later (a one week vacation) so I told them to cancel my return leg also. They refunded my outbound fare but refuse to return my return leg fare. Even the credit card could not get a refund. They refused to even throw some miles my way. I cancelled the card and trashed 22,000 I have with them.
OBTW, they have no customer service. Expect a 15 minute wait for a live person and a disconnect when you try to kick it up a level.

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Still brand new to the board but I'm sitting here in CR w/o my friend who was flying Spirit today from LGA to SJO and didn't make it.

Their 7:52pm flight to Ft. Lauderdale was delayed to 9:45pm and arrived in FLL at 12:40am....far too late to catch the 11:35pm flight to SJO. Even worse the flight before that one from LGA to FLL was supposed to depart at 3:30pm and didn't until after 8pm...so anyone on that flight would have missed their connection to CR too.

Customer service was beyond horrific. Said they would try to get them out of Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow night arriving in SJO at 12:30am but no guarantees. They have a 10:30am flight tomorrow morning but said I couldn't change a flight leg over the phone (was trying to help while they were flying) and had to be done at airport for a fee!!! Even though this was all b/c of them. Of course when they got to FLL tonight that flight was overbooked. Provided them a list of 13 different flights/airlines on Saturday to get in by 7pm but they do not refund other airlines. In the end ended up buying a $700 one way to get here tomorrow at a decent time since a short trip.

Cust. Svc. tried to argue w/ me on the phone that the flight was never delayed....I've heard nothing but horror stories and learned the hard way again. Just google and see.

Yepper do + 1

To be on the safe side, you need to add about $100 to the price quoted for the flights to account for the baggage charge (dose not matter if you carry on or check, you have to pay - and since I have flown Spirit many times from FLL to SJO, I only have one segment going and returning - check to see if you have to pay for Chicago to FLL and another set of fees from FLL to SJO)

As Tom stated, living in S. FL, I don't have stops or a change of planes going to SJO - and I would give real serious thought to choosing another carrier if I had to change planes as you have to do, b/c Spirit's customer service leaves much to be desired in the event of a problem - and you increase the chance of a problem if you have a change of planes or stops(s).

Spirit, as I've posted in other threads, has a horrible business plan/corporate philosophy and management that seems not to care for their customers or employees, and are often not the least expensive way to go b/c you have to factor in the extras - you are going to take luggage and you want an isle or window seat vs a middle - so my $100 example could be low.

OTOH, Spirit is profitable (when the industry has record losses) - I personally through many flights have never experienced a problem with their flights being on time - and never heard anything about maintenance issues or safety concerns - just do the math because when you factor in extras they charge that you are going to need they are often not the least expensive - but then, I'll pay up to $100 more to fly Southwest domestically; not only for their service, which is excellent, but also for the (often easier) airports they tend to fly into

I have flown spirit 3 times and would fly them again. The point is going from point a to point b. I am also part of the $9 club which saves me money as well.

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I just got back to Florida on Spirit. 3 out or 4 trips have been some type of isssues coming and going from Central Florida. The last was brutal. Plane was late from Ft Lauderdale to Tampa. I missed my connection to CR. The only other flight was very late and wanted me to go stand by. The other option was to be changed to Delta by the Spirit supervisor.AA was booked solid. Fly to Atlanta then direct to Costa Rica. I thought I will be late. But I will be there that night. Well it got messy. The flight to Atlanta was late. Then the flight to CR had already taken off. WTF? My luggage was lost by Delta. Then they put me on a bus to a GETTO hotel 20 min from the airport. They did give me food vouchers. I stayed all night in ths hotel and got up and caught the first flight to CR. And it was delayed for a hour. I almost said screw it . I did get to CR 29 hours late. To top it off the Spirit supervisor screwed up and canceled my return trip. So I tried to check in on line and had no flight. So I had to call Spirit. I was on the phone for one hour. I finally got the supervisor and explained all this mess.Thank goodness I was at La Amisted with free phone calls back to the US Aka (India). And to beat all I had to pay my luggage fee and for exit row seats again. I got to Fort Lauderdale to get a refund from the on site help person. She tells me that I have to talk to the Supervisor in Tampa to get my refund. The plane set on the runway for a hour due to a lighting storm. Not Spirits fault. When I get to Tampa. No bodys at the Spirit counter. I have already put in a claim to my to my CC company.I am $9 club member. I have canceled in writing. I WILL NEVER EVER FLY SPIRIT AGAIN. I will pay the extra money and take AA. IMHO if you do take Spirit go direct from FTL. DR

I have flown Spirit from FLL (Ft. Lauderdale) to San Jose, and also Medellin many times. I'm a fat bastard with long legs (no I'm not so fat that I need a seat belt extender...jajajajajaja), and the big front seat is worth the extra money for me because of the leg room. The cost with Spirit for the big front seat is hundred of dollars less, if not a thousand dollars at times compared to business class or first class than the other airlines.

I have racked up in the past three years plus years 20 or more round trip flights or more with Spirit. They haven't crashed yet, so I would say they are safe. Now the rest of the problems. If you are connecting to another flight and not going direct, I highly recommend you use another airline. If you need to take more than one checked bag I suggest you take another airline. If you sign-up for the rewards program be prepared to never to be able to use them around a holiday. Not just the big holidays (Xmas or Thanksgiving), I'm talking about Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, President Day, etc..

For the reduce costs of the ticket be prepared to be treated with less than quality customer service. The Spirit flight attendants are often in a bad mood. If you have a problem, don't expect Spirit to work with you to resolve it. If you accept these limitations prior to using their airline, then you will not disappointed.