Spirit Airlines review by Jeffrey

My wife and I joined my college-age son on a trip from Chicago to Peru this past summer. Spirit airlines not the airport, not the weather, not a mechanical issue cancelled our first leg with less that 4 hours notice from departure with no explanation and would not help us in any way get to Miami to catch our connecting flight to Lima. After waiting on hold 30 minutes to speak to a rep who told me he was based in the Philippines offered to re-book us to Miami 2 weeks later! Spirit had another flight to Miami that night and could have bumped one of those passengers with no connecting flight to catch. We were left stranded in Chicago and left on our own to get to Miami by 6 am to catch our connecting flight to Lima at 6 AM. We had to drive 90 miles north to the Milwaukee airport to get the only flight on a different airline that could get us to Miami in time. This was a huge additional cost. It took Spirit 4 weeks to refund the Chicago to Miami leg. Then they tried to charge us an upcharge for checking a bag at the Lima airport instead of online when there was no option to check a bag on their stupid website in Peru. And boy I tried a bunch of times. Finally, my wife needed water to take her medications on board and they wanted to charge her for water to take her medications! But "A cup of ice is always free." Do not expect any sort of courtesy or caring service from this unscrupulous carrier. Never again will we fly Spirit. By the way, their frequent flyer program deletes all you earned miles every 3 months unless you get their credit card in which case you must make a purchase every month to keep your miles alive. This in my experience is the worst miles program in the industry -- the odds stacked against the passenger. Good luck finding the fine print and information you need on their website, in waiting on hold an average of 30 minutes to speak to someone who will be of no help anyway and good luck in using those earned miles. Seats are hard plastic with vinyl cover. Its no value for your money when your flights are cancelled and you have to pay double at the last minute to another carrier.