I_Am_Weasel: Last week, Spirit publicly lashed out against another part of the DOT regulation that required them to include taxes and fees when advertising the price of a ticket. "Warning. New government regulations require us to HIDE taxes in your fares" reads a statement at the top of the airline's website. "This is not consumer friendly or in your best interest. It's wrong and you shouldn't stand for it."

That's a shame. Damn DOT not allowing you to print the total price, but breaking it down into ticket prices and taxes.

"Cost is $500, but we're not allowed to tell you what part of that is taxes"

Read what you are saying.

monty python school of business

gund: I_Am_Weasel: Last week, Spirit publicly lashed out against another part of the DOT regulation that required them to include taxes and fees when advertising the price of a ticket. "Warning. New government regulations require us to HIDE taxes in your fares" reads a statement at the top of the airline's website. "This is not consumer friendly or in your best interest. It's wrong and you shouldn't stand for it."

That's a shame. Damn DOT not allowing you to print the total price, but breaking it down into ticket prices and taxes.

"Cost is $500, but we're not allowed to tell you what part of that is taxes"

Read what you are saying.

Sarcasm, mutherfarker, do you speak it?

The last time I flew Alaska Airlines, I could make a reservation and hold it for 24 hours - for free!

This demonstrates Spirit is really implementing a "screw our customers fee."

How much is the fee to just take a dump in the cabin because you don't want to pay the $10 toilet use fee?

How much is a change fee? $200? So if more than 1 in every 100 customers changes flights, Spirit now makes less money.

Though the real interesting info would be how much it cost them to change flights in the first place...

NIXON YOU DOLT!!!!!: gund: I_Am_Weasel: Last week, Spirit publicly lashed out against another part of the DOT regulation that required them to include taxes and fees when advertising the price of a ticket. "Warning. New government regulations require us to HIDE taxes in your fares" reads a statement at the top of the airline's website. "This is not consumer friendly or in your best interest. It's wrong and you shouldn't stand for it."

That's a shame. Damn DOT not allowing you to print the total price, but breaking it down into ticket prices and taxes.

"Cost is $500, but we're not allowed to tell you what part of that is taxes"

Read what you are saying.

Sarcasm, mutherfarker, do you speak it?

Apparently not...

After I read the first few paragraphs I had to check the address bar since I though I had been redirected to The Onion.

I don't see the big deal. Whenever we buy gas, we pay a 40% federal tax, a 5% state tax, a 1.2% municipal tax, a 10% pump fee, 3% credit card processing fee, and a $1.00 convenience fee, and a $0.20 parking lot maintenance fee. All transactions should be this way.

I don't have a problem with Spirit, they just do a la carte pricing. You pay for what you want/use. And they are very clear about passing on costs to you.

They're a cheap bargain basement airline flying people to places. Don't want to fly them? I'm sure there are other options, nobody is making you fly Spirit. Spirit is catering to the people who wouldn't be flying at all if it weren't for their cheap-as-crap and no service tickets. They get you Point A to Point B. Its like riding a Greyhound bus in the sky.

People pay next to nothing for an airline ticket... cheaper than it would cost you to drive... and yet, you're getting there a lot faster and flying through the farking air 7 miles above the ground, and expect to be treated amazingly and act like they're being ripped off when they aren't.

Air travel in the US sucks because people have voted with their wallets. They want cheap flights above service.

OK, I'll be the one to post it.

"Spirit believes that consumers have a right to know that this misguided regulation is expensive and is hitting consumers directly in their pocket books"

bullshiat

Maybe make a rule that the last 5 seats on the plane can't be changed without the fee (customers must be warned of this), and make it so that the no fee rule doesn't apply less than 24 hours before the flight. That way they have no argument.

Osomatic: I don't know if they are the worst company ever. But they are for damned sure the worst airline ever. I flew on Spirit once, and decided then that I would never use them again, I don't care *how* much cheaper they are. It's worth a few extra bucks to get treated like a human being.

So much this. It's like the entire staff is made up of people fired from other airlines because of attitude problems.

hmm, an intentional unintended consequence fee?

Meh, just get me there and don't nickel and dime me to death. It makes expense reports a pain in the patootie.

andersoncouncil42: "Spirit believes that consumers have a right to know that this misguided regulation is expensive and is hitting consumers directly in their pocket books"

bullshiat

Maybe make a rule that the last 5 seats on the plane can't be changed without the fee (customers must be warned of this), and make it so that the no fee rule doesn't apply less than 24 hours before the flight. That way they have no argument.

IIRC the 24 hour rule only applies to flights booked at least a week out, so they really don't have an argument. Really, the DOT should have been honest and called this the Spirit Rule.

andersoncouncil42: "Spirit believes that consumers have a right to know that this misguided regulation is expensive and is hitting consumers directly in their pocket books"

bullshiat

Maybe make a rule that the last 5 seats on the plane can't be changed without the fee (customers must be warned of this), and make it so that the no fee rule doesn't apply less than 24 hours before the flight. That way they have no argument.

But this would allow people to continually rebook flights if something cheaper pops up. As great as that sounds on the consumer end, airlines just wouldn't be able to make money.

Airline A would get some seats bought on their flight for $200 each. Airline B, wanting to sell some seats and knowing that Airline A's customers will come over if they offer their flights for $199 and does so. Passengers migrate over. Airline A, having just lost a bunch of customers, drops their prices to $198, and people go back.

End moral of the story is that the airlines get stuck in a no-win situation and all go out of business. And no, that wouldn't be a good thing. I can only see this working if, in addition to what you suggested, somehow they make it so each passengers can only do it say.. once per year.

I flew them a few times in the late 90's. shiatty then, probably worse today.

FTFA As a consequence, someone who really does want to fly wouldn't be able to buy that seat because the airline is holding it for someone who might or might not end up taking it.

Doesn't every airline overbook every flight because they assume some people wont show up? And then when everyone does show up the airline boots off the person(s) who paid the least?

Why pretend? We all know perfectly well what this is about. Spirit wants me to have an abortion.

CtrlAltDestroy: FTFA As a consequence, someone who really does want to fly wouldn't be able to buy that seat because the airline is holding it for someone who might or might not end up taking it.

Doesn't every airline overbook every flight because they assume some people wont show up? And then when everyone does show up the airline boots off the person(s) who paid the least?

I've always wondered how this works with pre-booked seating. Any industry know how you can overbook a flight while still preserving my seat assignment?

/And I think it's by check-in time, not ticket price.

WTF is with all these random $2 fee's ?

Some jackwad must be going around being paid big bucks consulting; and telling these corporations that people won't even notice and will just pay, when in fact the exact opposite is true.

If the CEO is that hell bent on running Spirit into the ground with these desparate, bullshiat fees, why not just sell out and hand it over to someone that might actually give a shiat about running a decent airline? What happened to the old Skybus folks? Surely one of them is looking for a job.

yall wanted cheap fares, and this is the result.

pay more on the ticket, get more service. except on ryanair and spirit, of course.

/deregulation was a great idea
//until the results were 180 degrees from what congress thought

Begoggle: [www.xenafan.com image 633x465]

OK, I'll be the one to post it.

You win.

meyerkev: CtrlAltDestroy: FTFA As a consequence, someone who really does want to fly wouldn't be able to buy that seat because the airline is holding it for someone who might or might not end up taking it.

Doesn't every airline overbook every flight because they assume some people wont show up? And then when everyone does show up the airline boots off the person(s) who paid the least?

I've always wondered how this works with pre-booked seating. Any industry know how you can overbook a flight while still preserving my seat assignment

A bunch of seats are reserved for the gate agent to assign. If you have a seat, you generally keep it

I heard al qaeda won't even fly spirit.

Is that the one where you have to stand in your own excrement? Cause I'm thinking that I'd like to pay a little more.

Flown Spirit twice. The second time free, because they screwed up so bad the first time.

I've never flown them. I do nearly all my booking on Expedia and I'm assuming they're too cheap to pay Expedia's fees to be listed on there.

Anyway, I pulled up Spirit's site. Didn't realize they fly to various cities in Colombia and even to Peru. Seems a bit odd for a low-cost carrier, but I guess they make it work.

Last week, Spirit publicly lashed out against another part of the DOT regulation that required them to include taxes and fees when advertising the price of a ticket. "Warning. New government regulations require us to HIDE taxes in your fares" reads a statement at the top of the airline's website. "This is not consumer friendly or in your best interest. It's wrong and you shouldn't stand for it."

I wish they'd make that rule for all merchants, not just airlines. It's stupid to buy something for $5.00 and end up paying 30 or 40 cents more. Unless I'm quick at math I never really quite know what I'm gonna pay until I'm at the counter. Just put the full goddamn price, tax inclusive, on the tag. I'd be willing to pay $6 for it just to avoid getting a bunch of coins back.

I love Spirit, they're total assholes and they seem to relish it. Flight attendants will get on the intercom and call you an idiot if you don't board or deplane fast enough. Everyone that works there has a shiatty attitude. Flights are full though.

stiletto_the_wise: I wish they'd make that rule for all merchants, not just airlines. It's stupid to buy something for $5.00 and end up paying 30 or 40 cents more. Unless I'm quick at math I never really quite know what I'm gonna pay until I'm at the counter. Just put the full goddamn price, tax inclusive, on the tag. I'd be willing to pay $6 for it just to avoid getting a bunch of coins back.

Americans are taught to just accept this.

// and it is spreading to others, thanks yanks

exick: The fact that they call it the Department of Transportation Unintended Consequences Fee is really just icing santorum on the asshole cake they've made.

FTFY

Begoggle: [www.xenafan.com image 633x465]

OK, I'll be the one to post it.

OK.. I'll admit it.. I'm not hip.
I see this posted on Fark all the time, but have been too timid to ask.

What is this from?

Begoggle: [www.xenafan.com image 633x465]

OK, I'll be the one to post it.

Yeah, sorry I didn't post it myself, but my little brother got his arm stuck in the microwave. So my mom had to take him to the hospital. My grandma dropped acid this morning, and she freaked out. She hijacked a busload of penguins. So it's sort of a family crisis.

The Bestest: OK.. I'll admit it.. I'm not hip.
I see this posted on Fark all the time, but have been too timid to ask.

What is this from?

A 1985 comedy movie named Better Off Dead..., starring John Cusack .

The scene in question.

andersoncouncil42: Maybe make a rule that the last 5 seats on the plane can't be changed without the fee (customers must be warned of this), and make it so that the no fee rule doesn't apply less than 24 hours before the flight. That way they have no argument.

The law says only people that purchase tickets 7 days in advance have 24 hours to cancel or rebook. If you purchase your ticket with less than 7 days to go, then you're S.O.L. if you want to change.

There's no way the cost of allowing the cancellations or rebookings for flights a week out will cost $2 per passenger on every flight. That's just nonsense.