OzarkD9S From United States of America, joined Oct 2001, 4684 posts, RR: 23 Reply 1, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 10580 times:
After reading that you cant help but like they guy. Still don't think I would want to fly Spirit, and since they don't (as yet) fly to STL I don't have to worry about that option.
MNMncrcnwjr From United States of America, joined Jul 2010, 308 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 10462 times:
RamblinMan From United States of America, joined Oct 2010, 1083 posts, RR: 1 Reply 3, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 10105 times:
Thanks for sharing that, I rather enjoyed it.
As I've said before, I'm not usually interested in the type of service NK provides, but I'm sure glad it exists. Airlines are far too homogeneous. NK is one of the few which, for better or worse, distinguishes itself and its product.
JetBlueGuy2006 From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 1615 posts, RR: 2 Reply 4, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 10051 times:
I didn't realize how much airline experience that he had. As others have said, I do think NK does have a place in the US airline industry. While some of the charges I find "interesting" (charging for carry-ons) there is a market for the type of service and obviously people will fly them.
Home Airport: Capital Region International Airport (KLAN)
catiii From United States of America, joined Mar 2008, 2303 posts, RR: 3 Reply 5, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 10012 times:
Quoting OzarkD9S (Reply 1): After reading that you cant help but like they guy. Still don't think I would want to fly Spirit,
Totally agree. They have a business model, and they stick to it. Is their brand for me? No. However, ot does apparently work so more power to them.
tharanga From United States of America, joined Apr 2009, 1792 posts, RR: 1 Reply 6, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 10000 times:
from the interview
"Whether you say this is funny, really annoying or distasteful, if you forward it to 10 of your friends, then we won."
Exactly. If you don't like their advertising, don't talk about it. The thrive on the attention that creates.
As for the fees - as he points out, unless you buy your ticket from a third party, you know what you're getting into. So long as you know what the fee schedule is when you buy the ticket, then there's no harm. That said, I think these guys want to be able to change some fees after you bought the ticket, too, on the grounds that you can pre-pay some of the fees at the time of booking if you want.
However, the third party sites need to do a better job of giving price comparisons on some equal basis, including fees as appropriate. Also, NK has a booking fee that I think is hard to avoid; a fee that can't be avoided is an abuse.
saloman From Canada, joined Jun 2011, 105 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 3316 times:
"we're giving consumers the option to save money if they are willing to behave in a way that saves us money."
This is, in my opinion, brilliant. Flips the current perception of airline fees as "gouging" on its head. The service provided by Spirit is taking one person from point A to point B, everything else costs both the airline, and thus the passenger more money.
Tango-Bravo From United States of America, joined Jun 2001, 3728 posts, RR: 31 Reply 8, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 2734 times:
Quoting saloman (Reply 7): The service provided by Spirit is taking one person from point A to point B, everything else costs both the airline, and thus the passenger more money.
OTOH.... when and where does it ever end? Taken to its logical conclusion, sooner or later NK will add a "Fuel Fee TBD" which would be collected separately from the fare ...after the flight on which one is booked has been completed and the actual cost of fuel for the flight (plus a hefty markup, of course) can be determined and divided by the number of pax aboard the flight to determine how much each one owes....which will vary from day to day, even on the same route, due to headwinds/tailwinds, ATC routings, diversions, etc.
There will eventually be a seatbelt usage fee as well, to be determined by the actual cost of seatbelt (plus hefty markup, of course) divided by the average # of times a belt can be used before it needs to be replaced or repaired....and on and on the list goes, ad infinitum...but, hey, the ticket was free!....
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22241 posts, RR: 51 Reply 9, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 2520 times:
Love them or hate them, one has to admit they managed to build an airline with a product that works.
Also its nice to the the face behind the airline and that its not some mean monster, but instead a seemingly easy going and frank person.
I certainly wish Spirit many years of success and am thankful there is company out there willing to push envelope.
Quoting Tango-Bravo (Reply 8): Taken to its logical conclusion, sooner or later NK will add a "Fuel Fee TBD"
Already in works.
Allegiant Air in the spring said it planned to offer fares that will be adjusted to fuel prices. After booking, the fare could go either lower or could increase up to a set maximum amount depending on changes in fuel price between the booking time and travel dates.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
HPRamper From United States of America, joined May 2005, 3702 posts, RR: 8 Reply 10, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 2392 times:
Allegiant Air in the spring said it planned to offer fares that will be adjusted to fuel prices. After booking, the fare could go either lower or could increase up to a set maximum amount depending on changes in fuel price between the booking time and travel dates.
I find it hard to believe that any airline would give money back to the passenger no matter what fuel price does. I could see the fare going up if fuel price goes higher, and the airline sitting on its hands and claiming ignorance if the fuel price drops.
OzarkD9S From United States of America, joined Oct 2001, 4684 posts, RR: 23 Reply 11, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 2241 times:
I find it hard to believe that any airline would give money back to the passenger no matter what fuel price does. I could see the fare going up if fuel price goes higher, and the airline sitting on its hands and claiming ignorance if the fuel price drops.
There's plenty of gamblers out there, ever been to LAS?
Airlines hedge their bets on fuel prices all the time, why not let the pax in on the "fun"?
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22241 posts, RR: 51 Reply 12, posted (1 year 11 months 1 week 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 2102 times:
Quoting HPRamper (Reply 10): I find it hard to believe that any airline would give money back to the passenger no matter what fuel price does.
Why not?
There is an example for it already in the international airfreight arena where the final rate is not known till the cargo moves utilizing a transparent fuel index which is based on crude spot pricing and can change week by week if not daily based on the airline involved.
Quoting OzarkD9S (Reply 11): Airlines hedge their bets on fuel prices all the time, why not let the pax in on the "fun"?
Allegiant basically said the same exact thing when the revealed their plans. They said let the passenger gamble with them on the fare a bit.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22241 posts, RR: 51 Reply 13, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 1438 times:
In their earnings call today Spirit advised, their average non-ticket ancillary revenue per passenger was a whooping $43.
Quite impressive compared to Allegiant which many have view as a leader in the industry which generated only about $31 per person in air-related ancillary revenue during their last quarterly report.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
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From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22241 posts, 
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From Canada, joined Jun 2011, 105 posts, 
Allegiant basically said the same exact thing when the revealed their plans. They said let the passenger gamble with them on the fare a bit.
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