I recently took a day trip to Disney World. To save as much money as possible, I flew from New York to Orlando and back in one day so I didn’t have to pay for hotels – and I chose Spirit Airlines.
At a time when airfares seem to be getting more and more expensive, I couldn’t resist trying an ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) like Spirit for the first time.
But even though demand remains high and ticket prices are not falling, low-cost airlines are struggling to make a profit.
Spirit alone lost $193 million between April and June of this year, according to the company’s second-quarter earnings release – even though, as CEO Ted Christie said, “summer demand remains robust and occupancy has been strong.”
To counteract this, Spirit is changing the way it sells tickets for flights departing August 27, starting August 16.
“Our new travel options range from upscale to affordable to meet the needs of all travelers,” Spirit said in a statement to Business Insider.
Instead of choosing each additional amenity – like snacks, Wi-Fi and extra legroom – à la carte, travelers now have to choose between several bundled extras that have names like Go, Go Savvy, Go Comfy and Go Big. The problem is that customers have already indicated that they are annoyed by the fees and won’t pay for extras.
I’ve never flown Spirit or any other budget airline in the US before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I now understand why Spirit is making this change…but I suspect some passengers might not like it.
