"This is how Ben Baldanza CEO of Spirit Air responded to a complaint letter from a first-time customer:

"Please respond, Pasquale, but we owe him nothing as far as I'm concerned. Let him tell the world how bad we are. He's never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny."

Which might have been ok, had the email stayed inter-office, but Baldanza seems to have hit "reply all" and accidentally sent the message back to the original complainant. Oops.
Even if you read the original complaint and agree with Baldanza in principle, that's a pretty jerkoff way to respond to a customer and if he had any balls, he would apologize and refund the twenty-two cents or whatever the passenger paid to ride on Mr. Baldanza's discount thrift store flying claptrap.." [Via consumerist.com]

The Pointswizard.com Spin:
see the rest of the story and comments - click on blue line above

Labels: Spirit Airlines, travel

Ocho and Ochita are back and they have great deals for you with fares from only 8¢* each way! But hurry, this sale ends Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 11:59 PM ET. All fares are each way, based on a roundtrip purchase and taxes, fees & restrictions apply.

8¢, $8 and $44 fares must be booked on spiritair.com between 4:00 PM ET on June 19, 2007 and 11:59 PM ET on June 20, 2007 for travel on the dates as specified by individual market and by market direction. $88 fares must be booked on spiritair.com between 4:00 PM ET on June 19, 2007 and 11:59 PM ET on June 20, 2007 for travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between June 26, 2007 and November 14, 2007.

Labels: sale, Spirit Airlines

"In a move that other U.S. airlines may copy, Florida-based discounter Spirit Airlines plans to charge for every checked bag.
After June 19, customers may pay $5 each for their first two bags while booking online. At the airport, the charge goes to $10 for each of the first two bags. Additional bags will cost $100 each.

Some European and Canadian airlines already take a similar approach, but privately held Spirit will be the first U.S. carrier to charge for every checked bag. Spirit passengers are allowed one carry-on. Spirit links major U.S. cities to vacation spots in Florida and the Caribbean.

For Spirit, the change is expected to decrease the amount of checked baggage it handles as fliers consolidate bags or pack lighter, says Barry Biffle, Spirit's chief marketing officer. Handling less baggage should improve the carrier's operations. It also can help the airline hold down ticket prices, he says.

"People would prefer to have lower fares and this is one of the ways you can make that possible," Biffle says.

Aviation consultant Robert Mann, of R.W. Mann in Port Washington, N.Y., says he believes it's a matter of time before some U.S. airlines copy Spirit.

"They'd all like to do it," Mann says.

Other than possible resistance from passengers, airlines also may be inhibited from following Spirit by practical considerations. It's inefficient, for example, for an airline to handle a cash transaction at an airport counter.

Spirit management studied the change for the past year and updated technology to handle the charges, Biffle says. Based on its research, management expects that about 10% of passengers won't like the change in policy, Biffle says.

"The positive reaction that you get out of the 90%," Biffle says, "is, 'Wow, you can keep fares even lower?' "

Between 50% and 70% of Spirit's fliers now check bags. The checked-bag strategy comes just a month after Spirit became the first U.S. carrier to limit customers to one bag of free checked luggage. It currently charges $10 for the second checked bag.

In 2006, Spirit completed the conversion of its fleet to new Airbus A319 and A321 aircraft from old MD-80s.

The planned change on luggage is part of a broader Spirit initiative to become an "ultra-low-cost carrier."

Spirit has lowered most of its highest fares by 20% or more, Biffle says. After June 19, Spirit plans to discontinue business class.

Spirit also will start charging $1 for beverages, an idea that consultant Mann claims will be "dead on arrival."

A year ago, commuter carrier American Eagle cut short an experiment to charge customers $1 for drinks because of poor response." [Via USA Today]

The Pointswizard.com Spin:
Thanks to Robert F. for the story

Labels: luggage, Spirit Airlines

4,000,000 Seat Sale*
Everyone Can Save!

So many seats, so little time. This time Spirit has a sale with something for everyone - $9 Fare Club** members, FREE SPIRIT members, and non-members all get in on the action. So check out the incredible sale fares below and don't wait too long - this

The Pointswizard.com Spin:
sale ends, March 22, 2007 at 11:59 PM ET!

Labels: sale, Spirit Airlines

Escape Cold Weather
Make A Break For Sunny Beaches!

While New York City has an average temperature of 32 degrees during the winter, Montego Bay, Jamaica enjoys a balmy 85 degrees. Break away from freezing temperatures and enjoy the ocean breezes and white sand beaches of the Caribbean with fares from the low price of just 32 Cents* each way based on roundtrip purchase!

The Pointswizard.com Spin: HURRY!! Ends 11:59 PM ET on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 (or Thursday, January 18, 2007 depending on sale fare

Labels: Caribbean, Jamaica, Montego Bay, sale, Spirit Airlines

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