We empower customers to save money on air travel by offering ultra low base fares with a range of optional services for a fee (shown below), allowing customers the freedom to choose only the extras they value. –Spirit Airlines Website

Really? Check out their optional fee page here

So I was feeling pretty good when I booked 4 people on a round trip for $427 from Atlanta to Ft. Lauderdale, but then I decided to do our online check in.

What you want to pick a seat, there’s a charge. Other wise they seat you on day of departure in seats of their choice. Since Laila doesn’t really like flying anyway, it’s important to her to know where she will be sitting. My choices were $18 extra a seat to sit in a normal row near the front or $25 per seat each way for what they call their “Big Front Seat”. So of course I went for the “Big Front Seats”.  How could i not after they paid some marketing guru to come up with such a catchy name for them?

Then I had to pay for our luggage. I thought I had paid $30 (each way) for a checked bag for each of us. But to my dismay I had paid that for a carry on for each of us. Oops.

So I attempted to change it on the website but it wasn’t possible. So I called customer service and got some nice young lady who possibly had the surname of Patel. I don’t think she’s from around here. She talked me through a process to get right back to the screen I was on on the website which wouldn’t do what I wanted to do. She then started talking about issuing me a credit for the fee so I could rebook. But it wasn’t a credit back to my card, it was for a future travel voucher. Thanks, but no thanks. I finally got her to make the change for me.

While I am on hold with Mumbai, I am also trying to book a car rental on priceline. I attempted to get a Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac DTS but they wanted $55 a day. Well I was distracted and ended up bidding $55 for a standard size SUV and got it. I will probably try to sweet talk the rental agent  to a change to the Caddy, we’ll see how that goes.

The good news is since the carry on charge is $2 more than the checked fee,I now have a $16 future travel voucher! Of course it expires in December. Now I would have been ultra pissed if I had gotten the $240 future voucher for my luggage mistake.

So my $85 round trip per person broke down to this per person.

$85 Fare

$21 Tax

$50 for the “Big Front Seat”

$56 in baggage fees

$4 future travel voucher

Grand Total of $221 per person

I yearn for the old days when flying was sexy and special and you just paid one flat fee and not watching the fees pile up on top of each other.

If they have a pay toilet, I’ll probably make the news.