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Post by sunnyd on Jun 14, 2023 23:10:40 GMT
Why does traveling have to be such a PITA? Dh & I are flying on American Airlines and Spirit and the extra costs are extremely annoying! If we want to sit together it will cost an extra $150 round trip. If 2 people bring 1 carry-on bag each it will be an additional $250 round trip!
Should we wait and get seats assigned at the airport tomorrow or just book two middle seats on different rows now? The seats without extra charges SO bad (middle seats on different rows) that they can't be any worse when we get there. Right? Is there any chance that we could get assigned seats together if we wait until we get to the airport?
TIA!
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gina
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,303
Jun 26, 2014 1:59:16 GMT
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Post by gina on Jun 14, 2023 23:14:51 GMT
We flew Spirit that my friend booked for us last month. He said he never requests seats and has never not be seated together - we were all together (4 of us) on each leg of the flight.
Also, we did not pay for carryons. We did the 'personal item' which was a backpack of clothes for my husbands and a decent sized PINK duffel bag for me. As long as it fit under the seat in front, it was fine. Granted, we were only gone for 2 nights so yes, I would have needed something bigger if traveling for longer.
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Post by busy on Jun 14, 2023 23:24:50 GMT
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.
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Post by cmpeter on Jun 14, 2023 23:31:11 GMT
We also don’t fly discount airlines. Dh and I also both like aisle seats. So, we sit across from each other and sometimes in separate rows if needed. The exception is longer flights, we do make sure we sit across the aisle from each other. Both we are both watching movies, working on laptops or reading during a flight. So, sitting next to each other isn’t a big need.
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Post by elaine on Jun 14, 2023 23:31:26 GMT
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!
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Post by ~summer~ on Jun 14, 2023 23:40:24 GMT
If it was a longer flight I would personally definitely pay to sit together.
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peaname
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,390
Aug 16, 2014 23:15:53 GMT
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Post by peaname on Jun 14, 2023 23:42:51 GMT
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.
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Post by epeanymous on Jun 14, 2023 23:42:56 GMT
I hope you figure out what works for you. I will be straight and say that at some point I got tired of worrying about extras and uncertainty and just went with an airline and got status. I'll never go back.
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Post by allison1954 on Jun 14, 2023 23:48:50 GMT
Why does traveling have to be such a PITA? Dh & I are flying on American Airlines and Spirit and the extra costs are extremely annoying! If we want to sit together it will cost an extra $150 round trip. If 2 people bring 1 carry-on bag each it will be an additional $250 round trip! Should we wait and get seats assigned at the airport tomorrow or just book two middle seats on different rows now? The seats without extra charges SO bad (middle seats on different rows) that they can't be any worse when we get there. Right? Is there any chance that we could get assigned seats together if we wait until we get to the airport? TIA! I have never been charged for a carryon on American Better seats, sure
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Post by busy on Jun 14, 2023 23:56:32 GMT
I will be straight and say that at some point I got tired of worrying about extras and uncertainty and just went with an airline and got status. I'll never go back. 1000% If you travel much, it's soooo worth it. Pick an airline and don't stray unless you absolutely must. I've been base level status for the last two years, but this year is much heavier travel and am going fly well over 100k. The ease of changing flights without extra charges (only fare differentials), the better seats without charge, the free upgrades when available, shorter wait times if you have to call in, etc etc etc... it makes the whole experience so much better.
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Post by sunnyd on Jun 15, 2023 0:05:01 GMT
I have never been charged for a carryon on American Yes the carry-on charge is just for our return flight on Spirit. They charge $59-$68 per leg of trip. We have a layover so if we both have 1 carry-on each it will be about $250 just to get our luggage home. Checked bags are a bit cheaper than that on Spirit but then we also need to check it with American and pay them for a checked bag going. You all are right, live and learn.
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Post by Basket1lady on Jun 15, 2023 0:24:09 GMT
I’d chalk it up to a life lesson and pay for the rollaway if you will be gone longer than 2 days. But not even Ryan Air charges that much!
As for sitting together, I would not pay extra for that unless my flight was longer than 3 hours. I’ll nap and watch videos and I do t need DH next to me for that. But we will usually get seats behind or across from each other when side by side isn’t available.
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Post by MichyM on Jun 15, 2023 0:31:35 GMT
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.
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Post by katlady on Jun 15, 2023 0:44:37 GMT
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. Yes, we don’t fly often enough. Maybe one long trip a year is it for us, and one short hop to Vegas. We even have a hard time keeping our status with Hilton. ETA - The best advice I have is to book directly with the airlines/hotels. You seem to get better customer service if there is an issue if you booked directly with them.
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Post by busy on Jun 15, 2023 0:49:21 GMT
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!).
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Post by epeanymous on Jun 15, 2023 1:13:17 GMT
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!). Everyone's lives are different. But as a west coast resident with a ton of east coast family, the bargain basement minimum amount of travel I have to do for family events and relatives maintenance easily gets me enough miles for airline status well before you get to pleasure or business travel. If you fly once or twice a year, of course! But if you don't, for me, the tradeoff from cheapest flights to airline loyalty has been worth it.
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milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,570
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
Mar 18, 2015 4:10:31 GMT
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Post by milocat on Jun 15, 2023 1:28:02 GMT
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.
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Post by ~summer~ on Jun 15, 2023 1:46:01 GMT
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. the reason I’d say I’d at extra - isn’t bc I want to spend more time with them - but I can lean on them and fall asleep easier and it just seems less awkward than sitting next to a stranger. Just for 1-2 hours though, I wouldn’t care.
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Post by sunnyd on Jun 15, 2023 1:48:30 GMT
We decided to both take a backpack to avoid all baggage fees. We will be gone for 5 days. We are joking about making our first stop at Goodwill to buy some clothes. Then we will drop them back off at Goodwill on our way back to the airport at the end of our trip. It'd be a lot cheaper.
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caangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,673
Location: So Cal
Jun 26, 2014 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by caangel on Jun 15, 2023 1:51:01 GMT
I don't fly a ton but have just decided to fly Southwest whenever possible. I'm on the west coast so lots of options. We just flew up to SF with the 4 of us. Got A group and could have easily all sat together if we wanted, we did 2 and 2. It was a short trip so we just did backpacks but I like not having to worry about cost for carryon or checking bags. Traveling can be complicated enough sticking with one airline makes part of it simple for me.
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Post by Merge on Jun 15, 2023 11:56:31 GMT
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.
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Post by mcjunkin on Jun 15, 2023 12:29:03 GMT
I don't fly a ton, but at least twice a year. Sometimes more. So I don't rack up enough miles to get status, per se, but what I do is get the airline credit card. Delta is our choice, so its the American Express with them. We live close to a Delta hub, and cannot go anywhere without going through ATL, big Delta hub. Yes there is an annual fee. First level card is $99/yr. Second, Gold, I think, is $250/yr. First level is one free checked bag for everyone in my reservation. Gold is 2 free checked bags. If we fly once, it pays for itself just for that. I have a lot of food allergies and when I fly international, I take food. I split it up into 2 checked bags, even if I don't need 2 bags, in case one gets lost, I still have food.
I earn miles with it on purchases and have used them several times for free flights. I also get one domestic free companion fare each year. I think the gold card, or the amount of purchases I put on it allows me to go on some kind of upgrade list. I have not been lucky enough to get upgraded yet, but for my last flights I was at the top of the list.
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Post by auntkelly on Jun 15, 2023 13:13:32 GMT
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.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jun 15, 2023 13:48:10 GMT
The last time we flew was in 2019. After doing some price checking research, by the time we would have paid all the add on fees for everything from checked bags to seat assignments we quickly realized that a first class ticket would end up being only $150 more per person. To DH it wasn’t even a question. He’s a big guy and even business class seats can feel claustrophobic to him. We had three people traveling for about 12 days so we needed the extra luggage. It ended up being well worth the extra expense because when you fly first class you get a lot of extra perks, not the least of which is skipping a lot of the long wait lines. After that, he said we’re never flying economy again.
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Post by mikklynn on Jun 15, 2023 13:48:34 GMT
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.
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Post by smasonnc on Jun 15, 2023 13:50:06 GMT
We got the cards for Delta & American and we avoid Spirit. We gate-check our bags free if we have a connection. We never pay up to sit together but we sit across the aisle from each other. DH has gotten a little chintzy lately and we've ended up in the back of the plane so we can have seats together. That puts me in the middle by the bathroom and it's not gonna fly. We had the highest status when he worked so we were spoiled to death with upgrades, visits from the flight attendants, alcohol. One year later, it expired and now we're just cattle, but I still don't want to sit in the bowels of the plane.
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Post by katiescarlett on Jun 15, 2023 14:40:17 GMT
We flew Spirit that my friend booked for us last month. He said he never requests seats and has never not be seated together - we were all together (4 of us) on each leg of the flight. Also, we did not pay for carryons. We did the 'personal item' which was a backpack of clothes for my husbands and a decent sized PINK duffel bag for me. As long as it fit under the seat in front, it was fine. Granted, we were only gone for 2 nights so yes, I would have needed something bigger if traveling for longer. 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!
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Post by katiescarlett on Jun 15, 2023 14:46:51 GMT
We decided to both take a backpack to avoid all baggage fees. We will be gone for 5 days. We are joking about making our first stop at Goodwill to buy some clothes. Then we will drop them back off at Goodwill on our way back to the airport at the end of our trip. It'd be a lot cheaper. I did this! I bought a couple of tshirts and shorts and some underwear (not from Goodwill lol) and left them with DD in her dorm so I'd have more room to pack in my free carry on!
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jun 15, 2023 14:50:48 GMT
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. 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.
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Post by cmpeter on Jun 15, 2023 16:31:42 GMT
If you get a card with airline miles (we have the Delta AmEx) you can achieve status with spend alone. We put every penny we can on our card to keep our status now that we don’t travel for business regularly. Then we use those points to get free flights.
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