Spirit’s penny fare goes up, but is still a penny
I’ve always liked Spirit’s penny fare sales. Where else can you get a ticket for $14.11 after taxes? Sadly, Spirit quietly raised the pr...
Sadly, Spirit quietly raised the price and it now cost $20.22 or more even though the base fare is still a penny. Spirit, still seething over the DOT’s requirement to allow passengers to cancel most tickets within 24 hours of purchasing, instituted a new fee appropriately called “Consequences of DOT regulation.” For years it was about $2 and applied to tickets purchased at the airport, online or over the phone. I’ll admit, I found it a cute way to inform travelers about the cost of regulation even if I didn’t agree with it.
Recently, Spirit raised the DOT fee to $8 and raised its online booking fee to $18.99 (up from $17.99) and I’m not happy. There was no heads-up this was coming and there’s no way to avoid it. At $2 you’re nudging passengers to learn about a fee. At an unavoidable $8 it’s a blatant fare increase.
I have to wonder how long regulators are going to allow the fee-for-all system to continue. Tickets are taxed on the base fare portion only, not fees. The result is a loss of revenue for the federal government. Then again if they’re not complaining about not taxing a $17.99 fee why should they care about a $6 increase.
