Friday, October 3, 2008

Summary: Southwest rules; Spirit sucks. The End.

So I flew Spirit Airlines last week to Florida. The weary wayfarer on Spirit has to pay to check even one bag. Our sad sojourner has to pay to select her seat online, and to pay extra for a good seat. Our poor parched passenger has to pay not only for any food at all on the flight but even for a drink, any drink. Yes, my friends, $3 for water.

So, I flew Southwest Airlines last night to San Jose. In contrast with the above flight, this one was one hour long, not six-plus hours, and yet, they found the time to serve me a FREE BEVERAGE AND PEANUTS. I mean, I could have bought myself a snack in the airport, seeing as how I didn't have to pay to check my damn bag or reserve my seat or BREATHE.

And seriously, on the Spirit flight, my knees touched the seat in front of me when I was sitting normally in my chair. And I'm tall but I'm not that tall; I'm only 5'10" in shoes... what does your average 6' man do? My knees touched the whole way there and the whole way back. I tried watching a video on my computer, and couldn't, because there wasn't enough room on my lap to open the screen to 90 degrees because the person in front of me had tilted her seat back and was therefore lying in my lap. And my knees touched when she was in the fulluprightandlocked position, so imagine it after she leaned back. Ouch.

Southwest, you rule. Spirit, you suck. That's my story.

3 comments:

Briane said...

Your average 6'1" guy, like me, prays that the person in front of him doesn't recline his seat, and shoots for an aisle seat so that occasionally he can stretch out his legs and flex his knees a little.

It's probably only a matter of time until airlines charge for air. And now you've given them the idea!

Unknown said...

Yes... I've noticed the more leg room that Southwest has last weekend on my way to San Jose, and their amazing customer service, while I have to change the name on a ticket after purchased it.

And... did you get their survey already? I was surprised to get one on my inbox after the trip evaluating their service.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't mind paying to check a bag if I could bring my freaking toiletries on the plane!!!!!!! I'm a good packer and I can get a lot of stuff in a carry on, but I see no reason to spend the extra money on travel sized items (though I guess it's cheaper than the checked bag fee). The seat selection thing makes me really mad though. It's almost like you're paying the airline to pick your seat and make their lives easier - one less person they have to assign. However, I guess this answers the question of how I'll get from SF to LA in January :)