Flying 'no frills' airlines with no fear

How we flew Spirit on vacation and survived

Airfare prices can soar if you fly with the whole family in tow. But discount airlines can be downright scary. Will you get to your destination on time? Will you end up paying more in fees anyway?

Last week, my family of five took a Spirit Airlines flight to Denver and back to Houston. I am sharing how we booked the airfare and planned in advance so you too can fly the "no frills" airline with no fear.

I wasn't always so confident about travel plans with the most complained-about airline the last two years in a row. When my husband emailed me our flight confirmations, and I saw that he booked us on Spirit, I panicked.

This is the email I sent back to him:

My hubs assured me he considered all of Spirit's extra fees when comparing the cost of flights; and that even after we paid for our bags, we would save approximately $470 by flying Spirit. We also took a few other precautions to limit our risk of getting stuck at the airport and shelling out money we didn't plan on spending.

Check the Reliability of the Flight

Before you book any flight, check www.flightstats.com. Just plug in the flight number to find out how often any flight is on-time, delayed or canceled. It showed the flight we chose to Denver is on time 69% of the time. We rolled the dice and paid for our cheap seats. It cost us 990.80 for our family of 5 (2 adults, 2 children and one lap baby). It was about $470 more on the next cheapest airline, and that flight had a stop. The Spirit flight was nonstop.


Paying For And Packing Your Bags

In the end, it didn't even feel like I had to pack light. If you plan to check or carry on any bags, you should pay for those bags online the same time you book your flight to save the most money. Online at booking, carry-on bags with no weight limit are $26 each. Once you get to the airport, you'll pay $55 at check-in.

Checked bags are $21 when you pay for them at booking online and $52 at the airport. Every passenger can carry a decent-sized personal item on board for free. As long as your item is no bigger than 16x14x12 (the size that fits under the seat in front of you), you can fly with it for free.

If you're traveling with kids there is no cost for checking one car seat and one stroller per child.

Here is what we packed:

2 checked bags at $21 each, 1 carry-on at $26.

My son has a child's rolling suitcase that counted as a free personal item. My daughter carried a small backpack (filled mostly with games and snacks for the plane). I had my purse; and my husband carried a small bag as his free personal item.

The flight was supposed to board by 4:56 and depart by 5:41; but we didn't get to our seats until 5:37pm because of a flat tire on the plane. The plane took off about 20 minutes behind schedule.

Once on board, the flight is like any other except you don't get snacks or even water for free. Bring your own snacks or expect or pay up. A bottled water is $3.

Check In at Home

The other thing you need to do it is print your boarding passes and check-in online before you head to the airport. You have to do this for both legs of your round trip flight. Spirit charges you $10 per ticket if you wait to check-in at the airport.


About the Author:

Passionate consumer advocate, mom of 3, addicted to coffee, hairspray and pastries.