Delta vs. Spirit [On Greg’s Mind]

I was pleasantly surprised by how pleasant the experience was, even though I paid for a big front seat.

I was impressed with how nice the experience was when I flew with Spirit in October.

Reexamining spirit.

I wonder if I need to change my approach to domestic flights after flying Spirit recently.

The image is courtesy of FlightConnections.

More routes from Detroit are covered by Spirit than by AA and United.

There are direct flights from Detroit to American Airlines and United Airlines. The image is courtesy of FlightConnections.

Since Detroit is a Delta hub, we have more nonstop options.

The flights from Detroit are shown above. The image is courtesy of FlightConnections.

A side-by-side comparison.

I decided to do a little experiment and fly Delta one-way and Spirit the other in order to compare them nearly side-by-side. I expected the experience to be similar to what I experienced a month ago.

I was able to apply for a Platinum elite status benefit with Delta and I was able to buy a cheap flight with Spirit.

Booking: Outbound

Delta has a regional upgrade certificate.

Return:

$30.49 + $56 for Big Front Seat is the spirit.

The two airlines were close in price, but Delta charged more for the return flight. I had originally booked the return on Delta, in economy, for 13,500 miles.

I didn't have to worry about paying for bags because I have a free checked bag and a free carry-on bag.

Result.

The outbound flight is a flight.

First class meal for the Delta region.

I was pleasantly surprised that they served a boxed lunch on the flight.

First class for the Delta region.

Return flight

The return flight was supposed to leave at 2:43pm on Friday.

Hello Gregory.
>
We apologize for what happened on your trip. We want to make this right and care about your satisfaction. We would like to give you a voucher for future travel to any of our destinations.

We were given $50 vouchers towards future travel bookings, as long as that future happens within 3 months, but what was that all about?

We were issued a meal voucher for $7 after the flight was acknowledged to be a couple of hours late.

The departure was pushed back many times and finally took off at 9:18pm, 7 hours later than scheduled.

I booked a Delta flight for 24,500 miles plus $5.60 each, and we were upgraded to first class.

The refund of the spirit.

I asked if we could cancel our flights and get our money back, but was told that we would only get $10 credit each.

I am so sorry about that and I will cancel the flight for you and give you a refund.

My flight was booked with credits that I had left over from last month, and so they refunded my flight in the form of credits.

I might book Spirit in the future.

I don't think the long delay is due to Spirit.

When things go wrong with a Delta flight, Delta can usually put you on another Delta flight or even put you on an AA or United flight.

The flexibility of changing or cancelling flights is something I love about Spirit.

Sometimes they have the best price and sometimes they have the best flight times.

Conclusion.

I was going to do a side-by-side review comparing Delta's regional first class to Spirit's Big Front Seat, but I didn't fly it.

What do you think about flying spirit?