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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.

How is this a rip off....

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Jaco is called little USA by all ticos

Osgood...........

My experience is that other airlines will reimburse (to some limit) for what they loose or delay if you merely show receipts for what you had to buy due to their failure.

Being forced to pay shipping charges to get reimbursed seems like a ripoff to me and many others.

It's chicken shit, but Spirit is a chicken shit airline. Not surprising, but it's just one more reason not to fly on Spirit.

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Slut Puppy in Training

Is low self esteem a prerequisite for being a good Ho or is it a result? ;-)

531 dollars for just THAT? Who was ripping off who here?

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

Come on now..two bathing suits,sandals and a cover up and a dress $531...and then complaining to the wall street rag about $20....yeah..

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Jaco is called little USA by all ticos

If I was the Spirit employee that reviewed the receipts some serious red flags would be going up. From what they are claiming it looks like $100 max, it doesn't say how long the bags were delayed.

sounds fishy

No airline is "good" in this regard - if you ever read your ticket - or terms of air conveyance - you would walk, or take a car boat or train to your destination. Luckily, truly lost luggage is a very small percentage of all handled bags - until it happens to you!

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

Terrible feeling to have a missing bag - even if it shows up - I almost never check luggage just for this reason

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

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The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

It looks like one SDR now equals about $1.50 USD.

So one lost bag is worth about $1,700 USD, maximum, after 20 days.

Try to get that much money out of Spirit or any other airline (sometime before you die).

PVT ... excellent information. Thanks.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!