www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Thats what I figured you are all words no action. Nuff said.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

You STILL here?

FYI.... looking at the good spirit fares for some ACTION in CR 58 each way in July ....

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

Admin1 why is type of hate mongering allowed? I got banned from a trip report and my posts deleted for joking around with another member yet troublemakers like this looking for an argument and attacking well respected contributing members goes on unchecked. Someone send Super Moderator CVcap in here to clean up this mess and toss out the trash!

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

Phunny but that's EXACTLY what *I* thought when I read his post,,,,,,,

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Reviews with Name, Where we can find her, Description (Height, weight, measurements (best guesses will do just fine)), and a rundown on services provided (and yes, YMMV is understood) would be GREATLY appreciated.

Just signed up for the $9 club. Reason being they seem to fly to a lot of the places I'd like to go - SJ, Panama city, El Salvador, Managua, MDE, etc. Do they email you with special price offers or do you have to check their website to get these prices? Figured I'd sign up for a year and see how it goes.

You'll be getting promotional e-mail just about every day. You find the $9 fares when you go to book a trip. A monthly calendar will appear with all the deep-discounted $9 fares underlined in red.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/10/2 ... itway.html

Yesterday, in the "Business Monday" section of the Miami Herald, the above article appeared - I think it gave a balanced view of Spirit.

As I've posted, I have (and will continue to do so) flown them numerous times, have their credit card, and am a "$9 fare club" member - while I have some disagreements with their business model, one thing in the article stuck out - during a recent period when domestic carriers collectively LOST over 1 billion - Spirit earned 7.9 million in net income.

Another thing is they are not trying to be all things to all people - its like the old sales philosophy that everyone is a prospect and if you don't sell 'em shame on you; its your failure - Spirit realizes (smartly) that they are not all things to all people. Many businesses have lost sight of this and do not focus.

(A week or so ago, another S. FL hq'd business', Office Depot - they recently appointed a new CEO - was interviewed - he identified as a major problem to many projects, too little focus, and too little focus on what drives earnings - he also said far too many walk out of their stores w/out buying (lets face it; you don't go in to browse the Bic pen collection, you go in with an item in mind to buy) and identified as one the drivers no one to help - in essence, staff just did not give a shit - pathetic - and who knows how much revenue and profits were lost over the last few years - but I digress)

The only quibble - pretty much - I have with the theme of the article (which is Spirit is the cheapest) is that often times they are not - and that is before you add the "extras":

In May, I came down to CR - BOOKED AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME, FLL TO SJO on Spirit was $335 and American was $275 - $60 more on the basic flight - which is not insignificant -

Too, I would have spent an additional $20 for seat assingment (lowest price you can pay to be assured a seat; you can pay lots more) as well as $40 for my carry on (another $60 in fees) - so the "least expensive airline" all in for the same services, was $125 MORE than the old legacy carrier American.

Was this a fluke - who knows and who cares, although common sense tells me it probably was not a fluke - all I know for sure is $125 is 2 nights in a hotel, or 6 nights dinners.

Point is you have to check, and not just assume.

PS if for whatever reason the link does not get you to the article, it was in yesterdays Herald, in the Business Monday section, and you can probably get in through the Miami Heralds' web site.

Spirit is $406 w/tax for DFW-SJO. Checking 2 bags adds $68 for a total of $474 RT without being able to reserve an aisle seat. I believe that reserving seats is $18 per segment which is 4 flts so $72. So I will let them assign seating. The other AA, CONTINENTAL,DELTA are $680 RT; So I would saving about $200 and I like the flt times on SPIRIT. What other fees will they charge me with? I figure a $200 difference is enough to take a chance on SPIRIT.

If it fact turns out to be a $200 difference--Spirit has gotten the practice of nickle-dime fees down to a science (I call it "being nibbled to death by ducks".). Also look again at the weight/size limits on checked bags, above which Spirit can really sting you. How about getting back to us about what you really paid, all-in?

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Good points, Jazz

You will pay (and I don't know for sure whether its per SEGMENT or just each way) like $30 for a carryon (so at least $60 - and maybe - likely?? - $120) - you can also get the seat selection fee to $10 per segment - so if it is $120 plus $40.....the price differencial becomes much less, making it a real question if its worth Spirit's limited flights, and lack of compensation if yous is cancelled.

Personally, unless the flight is direct, non stop, i would not fly them.

I agree w/ you that a $200 difference is substancial, but the savings almost - almost - never is w/ Spirit, b/c you will have luggage, be it checked or carryon and trust me - you want a pre assinged seat, not the middle one they will likely give you.

You will pay one baggage fee for each bag each way, you do not pay per segment. I have flown four round trips to Medellin on Spirit and have not paid for pre-assigned seating. I have been given a choice of aisle or window seat on every flight. So to answer Hank's original question, the only extra fee you need to pay is for your bags. I always carry a snack with me and buy a bottle of water at the airport, after going through screening. If you want a snack or drinks from Spirit, you have to pay for those. Maybe I have been lucky, but I have not had any problems flying Spirit. The only times the flights have been delayed have been from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando. They have waited for customers to get through customs and screening at FLL. The flights were ready to leave on time. I don't know what obligations, if any, they have to wait for customers to get through customs and security, but I think it is a nice gesture on their part to wait.

Spirit Airline sucks across the board- cabin service, booking fees, equipment cancellations.

Spirit Airline has the corporate mentality of a used car sales lot, they promote deception, lies in everything they do. When you book a seat, they purposefully lie that flight is full, in order to pressue passengers to book online seat-for an upcharge; the cabin service is without worst I have ever experienced-function of HR policy in hiring lower paid personnel; they pull aircraft from one connecting flight to cover for other connecting flights that have mechanical problems in order to avoid paying FAA regulated accomodation to passengers and then put others hours behind schedule.

Spirit Air Club is a joke. Once you join, they make it virtually impossible to cancel your membership via internet-bill you yearly fee automatically as long as credit card is still valid.

I did the math multiple times and on the surface Spirit appears cheaper, but the multiple fees, odd arrival times and discomfort for me negate them as a competitor for my dollar unless they are the only option w/o even trying them once. Sorry, but the airlines in general treat their passengers like sheet, so why would I want to subject myself to an even greater level of harassment just to possibly save a few scheckles?

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“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” And we are the guys that keep them in Eggs & Grits

I started flying with Spirit out of FLL about a year ago after I got pissed off that American charged me 50K miles for a trip to CR. The other reason was that I would have to fly out of Tampa nad connect in Miami. On the way down it wasn't bad, only on hour or two lay over most of the times but it was from 5:30 to 10:PM coming back plus I'd have to pick up my car at my brothers and drive 1 1/2 hrs south to home in Sarasota. It's about a 3 hr drive to FLL and 8 bucks a day to park just at Park N Go and a direct flight but Spirit does nickle and dime you. Make sure that your bags aren't over the weight limit ot it'll get expensive. Check in on Saturday is a breeze, took me 8 minutes to swipe my passport and give them my bag once but coming back you can be a nightmare at the SJO counter. Get there early. The Friday 11:00 PM flight is the best, not much traffic in SJO and fast, even with a Platina detour. Customs is a a pain at both Miami and FLL, always backed up and on more than one occassion INS computers went down- evryhting is web based- so nobody clears and it gets really backed up. Immigration is actually faster at SJO. I fly so much now, for business that the express deal INS has would almost be worth the 100 bucks that they charge except that I would have to take an extra day to go and apply in Miami. Spirit would not let me take my guitar as carry on the last trip in early June- another bag fee. Never had an issue there with AA.

Now i'm having the same miles problem with Spirit. Every time I call to use miles for a trip I get some guy with a Hindustanic accent telling me "I'm sorry but that flight is not available". Could hardly understand him but I got the message after I gave him 5 dates. Frustrating. Right now a bunch of US fees are suspended until a new law gets passed so book and save around 7% on air fare. If there was no connection I'd switch back to AA. I'm looking at Orlando(Jet Blue) as well, wrong direction but almost the same drive as Lauderdale.

Exactly. I've flown Spirit quite a few times, from Tampa, thru FLL. If you do not have to change planes, i.e., are flying directly from FLL, they may be OK, otherwise, forget it. With all the fees, they are more expensive than other airlines (AA, etc.). Their check-in process in SJO is a joke. As they randomly check luggage PRIOR TO checking in at the ticket counter, it adds about 30 minutes to the process. Twice, I entered the check-in line the same time Buzzfla and Royboy entered the JetBlue check-in line, with the same number of people in each line. Each time, they had already finished eating in the food court by the time I arrived there. 30 minutes longer! Ridiculous.

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)