Spirit Airlines sees no dichotomy between being the leader in the airline industry in charging additional fees while at the same time offering cheap travel options including cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages.
Spirit is the first airline to charge for carry-on bags that are to be stored in overhead compartments, the first to charge for boarding passes issued at the airport, and the first to add a fee in February principally to protest new government regulations.
This Florida based airline views its fees as consumer empowerment because customers only have to pay for what they actually use. Customers who do not want services that Spirit looks upon as extras, such as checked bags and advance seat assignments, pay the lowest fares.
Among the extra charges Spirit customers face:
Advance seat assignments cost ranges from $1 to $50 each way, depending on the flight length.
If a printed boarding pass is not brought to the airport, it costs $5 for an airport agent to print it.
As of June 30th it will cost $2 to print boarding passes at airport kiosks.
Checked bag fees start at $28 per bag if paid when booking a ticket.
A carry-on bag that will not fit under a seat costs $30 if prepaid online
Additional legroom can be had in the Big Front Seats section, starting at $12 each way if purchased in advance.
Members of Spirits $9 Fare Club, which costs $60 annually, pay lower fees.
Spirit has been aggressively campaigned against new Transportation Department rules put in place in January designed to protect consumers. Spirit views a rule requiring airlines to include taxes and mandatory fees in their advertised prices as requiring airlines to hide government taxes in their fares.
Spirit imposed what it is calling a $4 round trip DOTUC (Department of Transportation Unintended Consequences) fee in response to another rule which guarantees customers 24 hours after booking to hold or cancel a reservation without penalty so long as the flight is more than seven days out. Spirit claims that this rule costs it money because it allows travelers to lock up seats that they do may not ultimately purchase.
The airline argues that such rules cannot be implemented without costs that must be passed on to their customers.
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