From today's Wall Street Journal..........

Getting reimbursed by Spirit Airlines for clothes you buy when luggage is delayed requires mailing the dirty clothes to the airline. You pay the shipping costs.

"It's nickel and diming," said Joel Christian, an Austin, Texas, traveler who had to send in two bathing suits, one woman's beach coverup, one dress and a pair of sandals he and his wife bought after the airline left their baggage behind on a flight to the Caribbean. To get his $531.75 refund, he paid the shipping cost of about $20.

From today's Wall Street Journal..........

Getting reimbursed by Spirit Airlines for clothes you buy when luggage is delayed requires mailing the dirty clothes to the airline. You pay the shipping costs.

"It's nickel and diming," said Joel Christian, an Austin, Texas, traveler who had to send in two bathing suits, one woman's beach coverup, one dress and a pair of sandals he and his wife bought after the airline left their baggage behind on a flight to the Caribbean. To get his $531.75 refund, he paid the shipping cost of about $20.

"I didn't lose the luggage and yet I have to pay out of my pocket to ship the clothes to them?" Mr. Christian said.

The turn-in-the-clothes requirement, Mr. Christian believes, is simply meant to discourage customers from seeking reimbursement. Many people might simply want to keep the clothing they bought and avoid the hassle and shipping costs.

Spirit says it pays for "interim expenses" when bags are delayed such as clothes and toiletries, but it doesn't consider shipping costs an interim expense. The airline says it makes some donations of returned clothes to local community groups in Florida, where it is based, and sells some to a company that buys in bulk. The airline declined to answer other questions about the policy and various fees.

One of the reasons you are compensated by the pound for lost luggage - otherwise people would file claim's stating their luggage was full of diamonds

Keep in mind that being an international flight, lost luggage is covered by the Montreal Convention which is an international agreement concerning damages on international airline flights. This is the 'law' the airlines must live within. On lost/delayed luggage, wiki says this:

The Montreal Convention changes and generally increases the maximum liability of airlines for lost baggage to a fixed amount 1131 SDR per checked item (the amount in the Warsaw Convention is based on weight of the baggage). It requires airlines to fully compensate travelers the cost of replacement items purchased until the baggage is delivered, to a maximum of 1131 SDR. At 21 days any delayed baggage is considered lost, even if the airline delivers it after that period.

You can read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Convention

This is one part of the Warsaw Convention that was changed by the Montreal Convention. Bags are now valued at 1131 SDR (Special Drawing Rights) no matter the weight or 'claimed' contents. I'd love to explain what SDR is but it is too complicated for me. Wiki link here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_drawing_rights