This passenger was not new to flying but was new to Spirit airlines and had only flown the Airline just once but was overwhelmed with the superb type of service the airline rendered to its passengers. He was attracted to the airline with an advertisement of cheap airfares and great discounts on air tickets on all routes that he decided to give it a try so he bought a cheap air ticket and boarded the aircraft from Washington's Dulles Airport to Fort Lauderdale, both destinations in the United States. That was as far back as June, 2001. Ever since then, he has remained a devoted fan of the airline.

In case you are not so familiar with Spirit Airlines, they are a small but growing privately owned airline based in Miramar, Florida. Founded in 1980 as Charter One, Spirit airlines operated charter vacation packages to popular destinations out of Detroit, MI. By 1993 they had become a scheduled airline and moved their base of operations from Detroit to Florida. Currently, Spirit airlines fly 32 aircraft on over 125 flights a day. Spirit airline’s fleet is currently a mix of regular and newly acquired Airbus 319 & 321s. There are ongoing plans for a changeover to an all new Airbus fleet by the end of 2006.

Spirit Airlines offers low fare jet service to 15 of America's most popular leisure and business destinations. The airline's current route structure includes scheduled service to Atlantic City, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Islip, Myrtle Beach, Newark, LaGuardia, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Melbourne, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach. They have recently branched out to fly to Caribbean destinations and now also fly non-stop from NYC to Los Angeles. Unlike other inexpensive airlines, Spirit airline is not short-staffed, so there are no queues or long waits at any of the counters.

Spirit airline has very friendly and pleasant service, from all its Staff and flight crew. The airline also offers great air ticket discounts and cheap airfares for last minute flights to several destinations. Spirit airline’s offers cool in-flight services on a series of flights that are at least two hours long. Peanuts and pretzels are part of its light meals. On non-stop flights that are at least two hours long, a packaged snack is served. Complimentary tea, coffee and non-alcoholic drinks are available. Beer, wine or cocktails are available for purchase ($3 each for beer and wine; $4 for cocktails).


As for leg room, the airline’s aircrafts provides plenty of leg room in the emergency exit seat. The other seats also have very generous allowances for accommodating live travelers. This can make nearly any flight ten times more tolerable. For a low-cost airline like Spirit Airlines, one very worthwhile option is to upgrade your cheap air ticket to their Spirit Plus, a sort of first class section in the front of the plane. The $40.00 per segment is well worth the cost, if only for the extra space you get in the first four rows of the plane. Note that this is not a separate cabin, but the seats are much larger and more comfortable than the narrow seats in the back of the plane.

In Spirit Plus, all drinks are free, and you will not have to purchase the box of snacks. The box of snacks usually includes crackers, nasty processed cheese, a Rice Krispies bar, and some sort of chips. Other than this snack box, you may have to purchase other types of food on Spirit Airline’s flights. When you are paying next to nothing for Spirit airline’s dirt cheap air tickets, you cannot be too picky about the food choices or the lack thereof. Nevertheless, for an inexpensive airline, the Staff are all too pleasant. The flight attendants are friendly enough and attend to whatever needs the passengers have.

Spirit airline’s air ticket rates are still among the most reasonable to be found in the United States airline market. With this in mind, many passengers will pass anything to fly with the airline again. In exchange for the cheap airfares and discount flight tickets, passengers still get to enjoy Spirit airline’s classy air services with some additional compliments from the airline, all in the spirit of oneness between the company and customer.