question about flying, paying extra for seats & carryon

This is why I don't fly discount airlines. They nickel and dime you and by the time you're done, it's about as expensive as a regular airline but with a much worse experience and lousy service. If it's worth it to you to be sure you sit together, pay for it. If you're comfortable either way, wait and hope for the best. Good luck.

Good luck! We don’t fly Spirit because the extra charges, worry, and hassle make it not worth it.

I hope that everything goes smoothly for you!

I would never pay $150 to sit with my DH. I love him but I spend plenty of time with him and we would use the $150 for a nice dinner at our destination and laugh about the flight.

I have never been charged for a carryon on American

Better seats, sure

Just a reminder to those espousing status. Please keep in mind that while many of us do fly on one airline (for me it’s Delta and affiliates when traveling internationally, and on rare occasion I’ll fly Alaska) unless we travel for our job, the likelihood of attaining status is pretty rare for most. Thank you

ETA: I stopped flying Southwest about 12 years ago. It was the only discount airline I’ve ever used. I agree with the others about just going with an up front airline.

Well, sure, of course status isn’t practical for everyone. But I do know a handful of people who could easily have status on one airline but instead spread flights across multiple airlines for unknown reasons and deal with extra headaches as a result. We’re just saying it’s awfully nice if you can do it (and let’s be honest, for the most part, flying that many miles isn’t so great so whatever makes it a bit better is welcome!).

Uggg I hate this so much. We fly WestJet and always have 2 flights per way. Whatever is left after everyone paying for seats is what you're left with. They don't keep tickets booked together blocked out. So 2 or 4 of you could be in 4 different rows all over the plane. Seats cost anywhere from $25 to 50, per person per flight. I just wish they would keep the bookings together. I don't want to fly apart from my family on a 6 hour flight.

I have a WestJet Mastercard so our bags are free. My niece came with us on a trip, her mom booked the flight using her WestJet card, I also booked our flights with my WestJet card. When we were flying home, they charged her for her bag, $25. We fly a few times a year, I know that's not a ton compared to some people.

I agree that having status on an airline is great, but we’d never have it except for DH’s business travel. Lucky me, I’m just along for the ride.

Even if you don’t have status, though, I’d avoid the discount airlines. Do a price comparison between the discount one and a major one and include all of the add on fees you’ll have to pay with the discount, and you may find that the major airline is cheaper.

One thing I’ve done to be able to get my carry on through TSA and not pay a checked bag fee is to switch to mostly bar-form shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc. Otherwise I struggle to keep my liquids to the little bag they allow. I even have lotion in bar form.

If you live near a major airport, it’s easier to stick with one airline and go for status than if you live near a smaller airport. When we lived in Houston, we could hop on a United flight and fly direct to just about any place in the world for a reasonable price. We were very loyal to United and really racked up the points and status.

Now that we live in Oklahoma City, our flight options are much more limited. It might be several hundred dollars cheaper per ticket to fly to New York on United rather than Delta, but much cheaper to fly to Raleigh, North Carolina on Delta than United.

The layovers are often the determining factor as to which airline we fly. I can fly direct to Phoenix, for example on Southwest, while if I take Delta or United, I’ll have to change planes along the way and probably have a long layover. I recently flew to Boston for a girls’ trip. I flew on Delta and had one short layover in Atlanta. My friend flew American on points and had to change planes two times. She left OKC 15 minutes after I did, but arrived in Boston almost five hours after I did.

My preferred airline is Delta. I have a Delta credit card and I try to fly Delta as often as possible, but it doesn’t always make sense to fly Delta out of OKC.

I refuse to fly the discount airlines. It's way too much hassle.

I stick with Delta. I have the Delta American Express credit card. I generally use all my miles for upgrading to Comfort Plus. I can check a bag for free. Earlier boarding in Comfort Plus means I always have room for my carry on bag.

Paying the annual fee gets me a free companion fare every year. I usually take my DD to visit my DS with that.

This is my experience with Spirit as well.  I've flown Spirit multiple times since my DD moved to Florida for college.  I travel with a friend who's daughter also lives there and we've always been seated together when we purchase our tickets together without paying for that.  We have learned to pack light and only take the free personal item (a backpack or small suitcase that meets their specifications.)  I have flown to Fort Lauderdale from DFW for as little as $47 round trip.  Worth it for me to get to see my girl more frequently.  We checked a bag one time when we were going on a cruise out of Miami and it was still so much cheaper to fly Spirit than other airlines so I'm learning to embrace their requirements and make it work for us!

It's interesting that my husband and I were just talking about this in regards to retirement. I told him I had zero interest in moving ever, as we're near a hub and I'm 100% spoiled with direct flights. My family is all over the place, and am pragmatic enough to guess that will continue with our kids, so being able to fly less expensively and direct is going to be huge. One of my kids is going to school with a small airport and the hassle and expense has just reinforced my desire to prioritize living near a hub.