Spirit Airlines earned $50 million in fees from carry-ons bags in its first year of the program, according to a report issued by IdeaWorks, an airline consulting company. And the additional fee didn’t hurt passenger traffic, which rose 24.5 percent during the period.
Spirit is the only airline to charge for carry-on bags. The ultra low-cost carrier, based in Miramar, garners much of its revenue through ala carte fees for checking bags, printing boarding passes and onboard snacks.
The charge for carry-on bags is $30 in advance online and $40 at the gate.
(Source: Miami Herald)
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5 Responses
Didn’t people say yesterday that Spirit is owned by a frum Yid? Way to go, Mr. Yid! What’s next…charging people to use the restrooms?
On principle I’d rather pay a bit more & use Jet Blue or some other airline if it’s possible.
bestbubby, a bit more??
You can get 2 round trip tickets from LGA-FLL for less than 200 INCLUDING all fees and luggage.
They let you take a personal item at no cost. (shopping bag, baby bag, hat box, laptop etc)
Who needs carry on for a 2.5 hr flight anyway?
amb, I don’t fly within the US so I don’t know internal fares. Airlines rip you off every which way. Between taxes & luggage costs my overseas fares are automatically more than doubled. It bothers me even more when a company that has a Frum major shareholder or owner contributes to the outrageous prices to fly.
As I can’t very well walk across the Atlantic (& my arms can’t row 3000 miles)I have no choice but to pay on average $900+ when the actual airline fare is about $350 if I want to visit my elderly parent and then return home again.
It is NOT just a matter of carry-on or snacks. On Spirit, you are squashed like sardines, literally, your knees are in your nose. You are hardly ever on time, and you get what you pay for. You are treated no better than sardines.
According to someone I know who has worked in the airline business as a senior financial and accounting officer for more than 10 years, the industry as a whole has, from inception in the first half of the prior century, to present, operated at a net loss. For anecdotal evidence of this fact, consider all the airlines that are now out of business: TWA, Pan Am, Eastern, National, People Express, Air Florida, Northeastern. And American Airlines is now in bankruptcy.
So stop all the nonsensical talk about fares and baggage fees. Flying costs money. When the price wars heat up, the air fares from New York to Miami can get as low as the taxi fares from Cedarhurst to LaGuardia. And don’t get me started on those schnorrers who carry on enough luggage for month’s vacation. They delay the boarding of the plane, delay the flight and create a nuisance. It costs money to carry that stuff, and they want the rest of us to pick up the cost.
I don’t like surprise charges that I don’t know in advance of booking a flight, but government rules usually prevent that, or should, unless you think honesty and full disclosure in pricing is “anti-business” regulation.
No. 3: Could you please explain why you pay $900 for a flight if the “actual fare” is $350? Do you pay $550 for checking your baggage?