They're cheap, but they charge for everything, including water, snacks, and carry on items that don't fit underneath the seat in front of you. They also apparently don't have priority for gates at airports, as I've had to wait for over half an hour for a gate to clear after landing on a OAK-LAS flight (a <90 minute flight).
This may have changed, but they also didn't do precheck a few years ago.
Oh, and expect to hear about their credit card offer during the flight. You can get a spirit points voucher for applying today, and can leave the application with your flight attendant as you leave the plane.
That being said, they do get you from point A to B relatively cheaply, as long as you're willing to live with the constraints of a low cost carrier.
Spirit will often only have a flight to/from a particular destination every few days. They used to have a fair amount of cancellations/delays that would cause you to be stranded.
I have never flown Spirit, and I will continue to avoid it in the future because the low fares aren't enough to justify potentially getting stranded and having to book last minute at extreme cost on a competing airline. If your plans are flexible and you just want to travel for the lowest amount possible, it's probably a good option to consider.
I have never flown with them but did work for a startup airline for a few years. Reputation is low-cost, no-frills airline. I believe you only get a personal carry-on (under seat) free. Everything else you need to pay for.
It's basically Ryanair but 2-3 times more expensive for comparable distances and terrible reliability.
I have only flown them once (well twice, round trip to Vegas for a show and back). It cost $400 to go from Houston to Las Vegas round trip, which was only 30% cheaper than the next option... which i should have paid for.
I got on the plane about 10 minutes after take off was supposed to happen, the pilot and co-pilot were huddled talking very fast and low, which piqued my suspission. After 30 minutes of not moving back, the pilot let us know that we had to get off and go to another gate to another aircraft, and that this one had a light that was concerning them.
So then, after everyone had finally boarded the new plane, we took off about 2 hours late. As we got to Vegas, and the flaps were down and we were coming in on final, the flaps went back up, the pilot sped up and we circled the airport for around 45 minutes, and apparently the landing gear was stuck.
I guess they eventually got it unstuck, because we landed. But 2 planes in a row that were screwed up was too much for me. Even after an uneventful flight back home that same night, I swore them off forever.
