Dear Spirit Airlines: Thanks for giving me a good deal on a flight to Costa Rica. ($431 Round Trip FTW!) I hope those savings pay for the therapy I’ll need for how badly you tried to violate me with ridiculous fees.
As many of you know, I’m going to Costa Rica for three weeks this summer to learn Spanish and surf. I got time off approved by my manager last week, so I decided to buy my plane tickets and lock in that expense right now. If Libya and the rest of that part of the world keeps acting crazier than Charlie Sheen and driving oil prices up (I’m all for revolution against dictatorships; I aint mad at ya Libya), plane tickets are gonna just get more expensive.
Spirit Airlines – Where we Charge you to Breathe
To fly from Dallas (DFW) to San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO), the cheapest airline I could find was Spirit Airlines. I checked all the big travel sites: Kayak, Expedia, Priceline, Hotwire, Cheapoair, and others. In all the sites that had Spirit Airlines, they were the cheapest. To be honest, I’ve never heard of Spirit Airlines, but I figure a plane is a plane, right?
However, as I went to purchase my tickets at a very reasonable price of $431 round trip (including taxes and government fees), the Spirit website asked me a strange question:
Would you like to purchase a CARRY ON for $30 each way?
I’ve heard of airlines charging for checked baggage (which this one does and it’s even more than the carry on charge), but never for a carry on. Is this real life?! At least they were generous enough to give me one personal item. I guess a free bag of peanuts is out of the question.
I declined the carry on fee (I can change it later if I want) and then it sent me to a new page where I could pay them more money to pick my seat. Not only did it want to charge to assign me a seat (you even have to pay for crappy back row middle seats), but it was going to charge me PER FLIGHT.
Since my flight has a connection in Florida, I would have had to pay them for both legs of the trip. Then they wanted me to pay for both legs of the return flight. They tried to hit me up for a seat charge for FOUR FLIGHTS. First they inconvenience me with a layover, and then use that opportunity to double their seat selection revenue?! Tell me again why we are mad at Wall Street and not the airlines.
I obviously declined both of those options and just paid my $431. Lindsey Lohan will go a week without doing something illegal before I pay them to assign me a seat (you can have your seat assigned at the airport free), but I may need more than just a personal item considering I’m going to a new country for almost a month.
What Should I Do?
Here are my options:
- Pay the $60, pack whatever I think I’ll need in one suitcase and hope I have everything (I have no idea what I will need to bring)
- Load up my “personal item” with whatever I can, wear a few layers of clothing on the plane, and try to buy whatever else I need when I get to Costa Rica
- Just wear clothes on the plane, and when they get dirty just go naked for the rest of the trip
I’m leaning towards option #2. Not only am I pissed off at Spirit Airlines for trying to wring so much money out of me, but I kinda think it will be fun to just buy some clothes from a street vendor or something and see what happens. It could end up costing me a lot more then $60, but it could also cost very little, depending on if I find the right merchant.
The problem is, I don’t speak a whole lot of Spanish. I’ll need to find the right deal on the streets of San Jose looking like a tourist and speaking very broken Spanish. Oh and try not to get pick-pocketed. Could be tough.
What do you think I should do? Should I fork over the $60 and bring my own stuff, or should I take a chance and see what happens on the streets of San Jose? Or see how long I can go naked in Costa Rica without being arrested/deported?
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
I experienced similar situations with Ryan Air in Europe. At some point they decided that you had to check in online. But…if you weren’t a citizen of a European Union country, then you had to pay to check in at the airport. It was crap! If your personal item is a backpack, then I’d just fill it up. If you take clothes that will dry quickly (e.g., NOT jeans) then you should be fine. I used to kind of hide my carry on bag so they wouldn’t see how big it was at the check in counter. Once you’re past the check in counter, there’s not much anyone is going to do to you anyway. Besides…how much was the next cheapest flight? If it was more than $60, then just pay to carry on a bag if you have to. You’re still money ahead!
It would still be cheaper to pay for the carry on with Spirit than to go with another airline, but I don’t want to spend any more money. I have a feeling I can fill up my backpack with quite a bit of stuff and get by on that. If I spoke better Spanish, I would definitely just want to buy stuff down there, but I have a feeling I’ll get ripped off because I don’t know how to communicate.
I would pick option 1 only because wouldn’t want to go somewhere for a month without all my own stuff. I think it’d be fun to walk the streets and see what you could buy but you would most likely spend way more than $60.
Have you ever seen the show Locked Up Abroad – definitely skip option 3!!! : )
It would definitely be safer that way, but I don’t really have any emotional attachment to “my” stuff. Thanks for the input.
I’m confused. So it costs you $60 extra to have a carry on, but nothing to check luggage? Why not just go without the carry on? If it costs $60 to check it, I’d say just suck it up and pay.
In Canada, we have an airline called Westjet that doesn’t charge a dime for checked luggage. I exclusively fly with those guys, assuming they go where I want to.
Checking luggage is even more expensive. I guess I should have clarified that.
When I travel within the US, I fly Southwest almost exclusively, partially because they don’t charge for bags (carry on or checked).
I would go with #2. It’ll be a lot more fun and you’ll have another blog post on your hand. 🙂
It’s a little ridiculous to charge for carry on. I hope this is not spreading to other airlines.
I like adventures!
Just wear two layers of everything and put your toothbrush in your ‘personal item’…I say it would be a fun and liberating experience to live that simply and start over with any other necessities 🙂
You sound like a true adventurer. I’d at least need a few pairs of clothing, a swim suit, and my laptop. You’re really talking about roughing it with just a toothbrush!
Just pay the $60.
One question about that: What do I do with that luggage. I fly in around noon and won’t check into my hotel or whatever until that afternoon. I hear pickpockets can be bad in San Jose, and walking around the city with a big bag of goodies sounds like a bad idea.
+ You think you’ll get there on time?
+ So pay more attention to your bags.
+ Sounds like your mind is made up… so go naked.
Don’t see why I wouldn’t get there on time. I guess I’m scared because last time I was abroad was with two very large (6’4″ and 6’9″) friends, which pretty much warded off any bad guys. This time it’s just me and my 5’11”, 165 lb frame.
don’t give in man! I’d say just wear/pack what you can and see what happens when you get there. It’s an adventure and that’s where all the fun is. I remember when I went to Mexico for aweek with family, I picked up a lot more Spanish than I thought I would, you’ll be fine!
Yeah, I know I’ll learn lots of Spanish by the time I leave. It’s the first day I’m worried about. Thanks for the advice!
I haven’t been to Costa Rica, but they speak plenty of English in that country. More than Mexico, from what people who have been there have told me.
Do they give you a free “Check-In” bag? If so, make sure it it almost maximum allowable dimensions. Bring your own SunTan lotion (pack all liquid items, toiletries, etc) in Zip Lok gallon bags. trust me on that one. Just Do It! You could be a terrorist for all they know (wink) … and it’ll make coming back into the USA and customs much more bearable. And quick. Have them easily accessible in your checkin baggage … least they tear up your luggage trying to get to it.
Let’s see … Surfing, learning Spanish, and a foreign country. Now that’s a vacation. Have FUN. (drink only bottled water … bring some Pepto tablets just in case) They say Costa Rica is very “American-ized.” You will be welcome there … bring money. 🙂 I’d buy some T-shirts there anyway.
Life’s an adventure. Just plan ahead for any contigencies … you will be a stranger .. in a strange, but tropical land. Send those postcards. You’ll probably get back before they arrive in the USA.
This just made me even more excited than I already was about my trip. Thanks for all the advice!
I spent 9 days in San Jose and the Guanacaste province in December.. There are a lot of people that speak English (it is taught in school), but I don’t think you’ll find a new wardrobe from any street vendors for under $60 in San Jose! The mark-ups for tourists are quite high.
The best way I can think of to describe San Jose.. A wealthy slum! Many of the houses look like shacks, but there will be a BMW in the driveway. North American summer is their winter, and in San Jose that pretty much means a lot of rain. Head for the beaches on the Pacific coast as quickly as possible!
Beautiful country, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 🙂
Thanks so much for the tip. I’m only in San Jose for 3 days, then the rest of my time will be on the Pacific Coast in the little surfing village of Tamarindo. It’s about an hour south of LIberia on the coast. Sounds like I should wait to purchase my new wardrobe in Tamarindo.
Option 2 could be the way to go. Depends on how big your personal item can be. Considering on Delta I can carry on a whole suitcase, and then my personal item can by me (large) laptop bag, I could defnitely fit a whole lot of good stuff into just a carry on (and I’m a girl.)
1) Wear sneakers and jeans to travel in. Pack flip flops and shorts that take up less room.
2) Don’t give in to the urge to pack 3 pairs of jeans – know thyself! If it’s hot, are you really going to wear jeans all day every day? You’ll be in a surfing village, wearing your bathing suit every day. Just pack that!
3) If you’re there for a month, you’ll need to do laundry while you’re there anyway
4) If you’re not picky about sun tan lotion/shampoo/soap brands, buy those there. I would feel more confident that I could buy cheap hygeine products in costa rica than clothes. Plus, those are heavier than clothes. Plus, I think you’d buy those from a pharmacy, rather than a street vendor, so more likely you can buy with less spanish and haggling needed – although vendors in most countries make it their job to learn english to sell to you.
Yeah, I think my 5 weeks of backpacking through Europe will help me pack for this trip. I really just plan on shorts and tshirts and flip flops for the whole trip, unless I’m going to church. Should be simple.
Tamarindo is beautiful, but definitely a resort town! There is a night club, a Pizza Hut, Subway, and the bank machines give you the option of withdrawing in US funds (because US is the currency of choice).
Sounds fun! I just found out I’m staying in Santa Rosa, which is about 6 km away from Tamarindo, so I’ll have to take the bus into town every day. I’m excited because I didn’t want to stay in a touristy place.
That story, my friend, is Spirit Airlines at its BEST.
If you read the contract that you (the flyer) have with Spirit, it states that Spirit is not actually required to fly as scheduled. Spirit reserves the right to cancel the flight and leave you in Colombia with no way of getting back to the U.S. (Ask me how I know!!)
Spirit refunds PART of your ticket — the Colombia – to – Atlanta leg of your ticket — but doesn’t help you, oh, get your butt back to the U.S. It doesn’t put you on another carrier. It doesn’t book you on a later flight. Nada.
So what’s a girl to do, especially if she has a job to get back to? Buy a LAST-MINUTE airline ticket that leaves the very next morning.
But it’s cool. I didn’t want that $800 anyway.
Hola Amigo, Como Esta! You’re gonna love Costa Rica. Laid back, friendly people. I was there a few years ago and I have to say, even the hotel staff spoke minimal English so bring one of those basic conversation books. You could also add a letter ‘O’ to every word. Instant Spanish. Perfecto? Rapido!
That sucks that Spirit is ripping customers off. I’m glad you didn’t pay the extra fees. Since you will be surfing all the time, I’m guessing you could pick up some t-shirts from the local vendors. However, won’t Spirit hit you with fees on your way back home with all the extra luggage?
Kevin,
Hope you check out the breaks in Jaco. Don’t really need clothes there, go native, fast!
Rode Spirit once, just once, to see my wife, in Lima, Peru. Never again!
One of the joys of an int’l flight is the open bar and cheery atmosphere and everyone speaking Spanish. OK., that’s more thanm one…
A layover in Panama or Costa Rica for an hour is a good chance to stretch the legs and get some free samples of the local distilleries.
Spirit was 5.5 hours of non-stop torture. They announce at the beginning, no freebies. No water, no soda, no snacks, no meal. Then they pass out a complimentary bag of salty crunchies and wait for you to give in and pay $5 to wet your whistle.
If you’re good, you can pack all you need in 1 carry-on. I have used my 20″x14″x8″ with wheels, for years. Put your lap top inside, if need be.
Back to CR: Canopy tour is a must! Surfboards are $5 a day.
Have a a ball!
That is ridiculous! I’ve flown with my share of discount airlines, but I’ve never heard of one charging for cabin baggage. I’m always careful to check the fine print now, after we got stuck with a $25 check-in fee at the airport (we were supposed to check in through the web at least 4 hours beforehand).
My bf went to a surf camp in CR a couple of years ago (can’t remember the name), and said that once he got past San Jose there weren’t many opportunities to speak Spanish- most of the others were Europeans (mainly German). You might have to seek out some speaking opps if you’re looking to brush up on your Spanish!
Hope you have a great adventure- someday I’ll get to CR!
I’m staying with a host family that doesn’t speak English, so I’ll definitely have plenty of opportunity to speak Spanish between the host family and 4 hours a day of Spanish class, even if I can’t speak it elsewhere. I’m really glad I went with the host family option.
I vote option #3. If Lindsey and I come down thats what we are gonna do… well, I will at least. If i am surfing naked no way a shark is gonna take me for a seal…
what school are you going to
Def option 2. Why spend 60 bucks to carry stuff you already have when you could prob spend 20 to get new stuff there. Plus if you’re going to be surfing and stuff you won’t need a huge wardrobe. Wish I was going…