A $40 Round Trip Flight from Tampa on Spirit Airlines: Would I Do It Again?

Author Geno

October 4th, 2023 1:32 PM

This past weekend, I had to do some work down in Miami. Normally, I just hop in the car and do the long, boring, monotonous drive south on I-75 and then try to spot gators on Alligator Alley during that last hour. BTW, I never have. And I’ve done the Alligator Alley drive dozens of times. It’s been an ongoing thing since moving to Florida. I’ve only ONCE seen an alligator anywhere in Florida – except in places you would expect to see them like at Busch Gardens or on an airboat tour. I’m convinced alligators are afraid of me. But I digress.

Flying has always been an option, but I never really saw much sense in it. You’d have to get to Tampa International Airport an hour early. The flight would take an hour. Then it’s another hour or so to get where you’re going once you land in South Florida. So you really don’t save time. But the $40 roundtrip ticket was so cheap, I figured why not?

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  Hmm gray skies... seems like an ominous start to the day.

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  We're lucky to have an airport that is so easy to get to your terminal fast. I was through security and at my gate in no time. So far. So good.

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  Spirit tends to fly to a lot of cities I like to visit - Boston, Las Vegas... but this trip would be a short little ride to Fort Lauderdale.
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  I should hope Fort Lauderdale would be a non-stop flight. The total airfare was a whopping $39.78. A bus would cost more.

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  Boarding the plane, I noticed the seats were pretty thin. But they weren't really uncomfortable. They did not recline though. When you're 6'4", that's big.

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  With as little leg room as you have, every inch counts so they don't have a pouch - they just hold the safety cards in place with a bungee string.
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  6'4" problems. It wasn't that bad though.

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  Fortunately there was no one in the middle seat of my aisle.

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  And the tray is about the size of a small iPad. You can fit maybe a cup of water (had they offered one) and a "fun size" bag of M&Ms (had the offered them).
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  But there was plenty of space for carry ons. That's probably because they charge extra for them. I bought a travel bag on Amazon for like $10 that's specifically designed to meet the "personal item" size measurements. I was able to easily bring a couple days worth of things. I imagine someday they'll charge for those too.

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  I didn't see the WiFi light. But I guess they do have it... I didn't bother since that also costs extra. And by the time I would log on, we'd be landing anyway.

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  The clean up crew might need to go a little slower, but airlines these days have little time between landing and the next takeoff so I can let this kind of thing slide.
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  The plane was about 90% full.

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  When you pay less than $40 for a roundtrip ticket, you know they're going to look to make up in other places. Bags, early boarding, extra legroom seat upgrades... airlines look for any way to make a few bucks.

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  The prices were not all that unreasonable though. $9 for a beer seemed steep. But any restaurant will charge you $9 for a glass of wine.
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  But $14 for a screwdriver? You're definitely getting screwed.

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  Snack prices weren't too bad though. The Cafe Snack Box for $9 with crackers, cheese, olives, brownie brittle, pistachios... decent, right? The flight was so short though I don't think it was even offered.

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  Take off was super smooth. Howdy.
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  Putting my new iPhone with 5X zoom to the test flying over the Sunshine Skyway.

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  About to land in Ft Lauderdale. The Hard Rock Casino guitar always looked half finished to me. They need to add a guitar neck with an elevator to the top.

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  The flight was nice. No issues. We were on time. However....
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  However, the flight BACK to Tampa was delayed by an hour and a half. I don't think it was weather related. I think someone fouled up because the crew kept walking up and down the aisles and doing a headcount.

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  I would fly Spirit again... just not this route. I'm much more excited about those Brightline trains. Orlando's station is now open. Tampa is next. Can't wait to be able to never have to do that drive again to South Florida. Flying was ok, but it didn't save much time.

Would I fly Spirit again?

Yes.  Actually I already have another flight booked. My next test on Spirit Airlines will be a much more profound one. I’m flying out to Las Vegas to meet up with some friends for the “When We Were Young” Festival this month. It’s a bunch of Warped Tour 90s acts like Green Day, Blink 182, Sum 41 and other emo bands from the era of skinny jeans and guyliner. (No I don’t own either.) My flight to Las Vegas and back are both non-stop flights… but they’re LONG. We’ll see if my generally overall positive impression of Spirit holds up after that trip.

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Author Geno

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Money,Tampa,Tampa International Airport,travel