According to the Department of Transportation, the $375,000 fine is a record for the kind of violations Spirit is being charged with.

The Department's Aviation Enforcement Office found that Spirit bumped passengers from oversold flights but did not provide compensation or a written notice of their rights to compensation, as required by DOT rules. ... Spirit failed to resolve baggage claims within a reasonable period, on one occasion taking 14 months to provide compensation. Spirit also was found to violate DOT rules by providing compensation for delayed baggage only for the outbound leg of round-trip flights and only for purchases made more than 24 hours after arrival. In addition, Spirit violated baggage liability laws governing international travel by refusing to accept responsibility for missing laptop computers and certain other items it accepted as baggage.

Spirit insists that all of the issues in the complaint "occurred prior to the Spring of 2008" and have since been addressed Oh, and the airline "takes its responsibilities under the Department's consumer protection regulations very seriously." Well, that certainly sets our minds at ease.

DOT Fines Spirit Airlines for Violations of Consumer Rules
[DOT]

Previously:
Spirit Airlines Charges $10 For Buying Tickets Anywhere But Ticket Counter (Again)
Spirit Airlines Tries To Charge Cancellation Fees On Passengers It Put On Flight 1549

(Photo: PhillipC)

Spirit tried to impose this charge last summer as a "web convenience fee," before getting hit with a $40,000 fine from the Department of Transportation for what it called an "unfair and deceptive trade practice and an unfair method of competition." They've been allowed by the DOT to resurrect the fee because they're now including it in the listing of fees.

Spirit says they're imposing the fee as a way to offset distribution costs. Which sounds dubious, considering the costs of staffing a ticket counter and printing actual boarding passes versus operating a computer (or even a call center) and letting customers print their own boarding passes.

Next Airline Fee: Buying Tickets? [WSJ]
PREVIOUSLY: Spirit Airlines Drops $10 Fee For Ordering Tickets Online
Spirit Airlines Charges $10 Fee For Ordering Tickets Online
Thanks, Jason!

Rob and Jeff Kolodjay were scheduled to fly on Spirit Airlines to a golf vacation with four other friends on Thursday out of LaGuardia in New York City. Their flight got cancelled, and they were rebooked on to US Airways flight 1549.

When they tried to cancel the return tickets on Spirit they could not use because they never made it to Myrtle Beach, the company representative insisted on charging them a cancellation fee.

Well done, Spirit! You have managed to take the one really awesome airline story of the last few years and turn it into a bad PR opportunity. Please charge yourself a congratulations fee.

"Spirit Airlines Tries To Collect Cancellation Fee After Putting Passengers on Flight 15" [Fox61.com]
(Spirit Goose: HVargas)

Spirit suckered the Bahamas, supposedly the epitome of relaxation, not annoyance, to serve as the airline's first spam advertiser. More will follow.

Spirit's press release asks: Where else can you find 100 percent saturation with a targeted captive audience that will be actively engaged by your ad for an average of three hours?

Spirit is right. Saturation does have an effect. A profoundly negative effect. After starting at the same taunting ad for three hours, we'd want to stab every ad exec and airline official with a Hurricane-sharpened palm tree. But we're vindictive and have "anger issues." Who would you stab?

Spirit Airlines Launches Mile High Media (Press Release) [Spirit via Jaunted]

[via BudgetTravel] (Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas)

Martin Harrison
Chief operating officer
2800 Executive Way
Miramar, FL 33025
(954) 447-7965
martin.harrison@spiritair.com

Tony Lefebvre
Senior vice president, customer service
2800 Executive Way
Miramar, FL 33025
(954) 447-7965
tony.lefebvre@spiritair.com

Jeff Carlson, vice president of flight operations
(954) 447-7941
jeff.carlson@spiritair.com

Greg Kappen, senior director of flight operations
(954) 628-4856
greg.kappen@spiritair.com

Patsy Carlin, senior director, inflight & talent acquisition
(954) 447-7922
Patsy.Carlin@spiritair.com

Heather Harvey, customer service manager
Heather.Harvey@Spiritair.com

Heather's direct line is (954) 447-7957. If you get through to the phone tree, the transfer extension is 4957.

David W. Lancelot SVP and CFO
david.lancelot@spiritair.com

Barry L. Biffle SVP and Chief Marketing Officer
barry.biffle@spiritair.com

Denise Masella, executive assistant to CEO Ben Baldanza
Denise.Masella@Spiritair.com

(Props to Elliot.org where most of this info came from)

(pictured: Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza laughing because he just took your monies and is going to go buy some cakes)

Scenario of a typical Board Meeting of Spirit Air to encourage new passengers with profitable increase:

"Let's coerce them to buy tickets (with a price reduction), with us online, for flights that the customer customizes, to their benefit."

"Then we can go in and change everything so the customer squirms a bit and has to go by our guidelines to fixing the problem we made for them. Then, to top it off, any arrangements or pre-payment of "luxury" items (ie. Pre-checked baggage and seating arrangements) will not be able to be transferred to the new arrangements and we don't have to give them their money back, but rather keep that money and re-charge them for new arrangements on the new flight, made to our guidelines because of a problem we inflicted upon them."

"This is great, because we are the Spirit of the airlines, and we have the right to do it. Also, let's go one step farther... Let's make the flights un-refundable, so they HAVE to stay with our policies and guidelines. In the end, they will become so frustrated with our customer service that they will either succumb to our rules and live with the delay in destination plans, having to reschedule everything they had planned, or they will go to another airline, where we get to keep their money and they have to come up with new money to pay for that flight. It's a win/win solution to the economy, and
our longevity within the airline business."

"To make the customer even more frustrated, we don't have to contact them with the changes in their flight until 2-4 weeks prior to their flight. We will write this into our policy with a special note for them to be responsible for keeping "tabs" on their own flight, making our job that much easier."

Now David tells us what actually happened to him. David had sent both sections to Spriti Airlines mutliple times, and hasn't gotten a single reply.

We pre-arranged everything for our trip to Florida, and now everything has to be changed because our flight was cancelled, and we were placed on a flight with a 5-hour layover in Fort Lauderdale, putting us in our destination 5 hours late and all reservations made that evening will have to be cancelled.

It's not a matter of how could you do this to your customers, but rather how long you will remain in business once everyone has had an unresolved complaint with your airline, and tell their friends and families not to fly
on Spirit.

We were encouraged by the low airfares as the economy becomes unstable and gas prices soar out of control. We adjust our living to accommodate this, and one of the ways of doing this is by the companies that understand the problem and offer solutions. I assumed your offer to be sincere, in an effort to help people find cost-saving routes to be able to still get out of the house from time to time.

This hassle has caused more headaches than it's price in gasoline. I thought about cancelling the flight because of the way we have been jerked around, only to learn it is unrefundable. We are stuck. So, we changed our flight from the one YOU reassigned us on, to a non-stop to Orlando again. The time works better for us, as we arrive earlier than originally scheduled, and we get to keep our reservations, but now the pre-checked baggage and pre-paid seating arrangements are void and non-refundable. In order to get the seats we want, we have to pay you AGAIN to remake a new seating arrangement. This flight will have cost us the same amount, in money, as it would have to drive there, minus the time. None of this non-refundable problems would have happened if you hadn't changed our plans, and as a result, decided not to honor the US dollars we paid already for the necessary arrangements.

I would rather fly with Spirit Air, since my last flight with you was quite enjoyable. This time around, however, has me thinking the first time was a fluke.

How can we find a solution rather than inflicting headaches, lost money, and rescheduling issues? This policy you guys have is wrong and unjust. How many times will we be switched from jet to jet, having been left with having to pay for new seats? I understand it is affordable, but affordable becomes expensive after doing it three or four times.

Think about it, and please help us out, as returning customers. If something isn't done, we won't return. Another airline will not only become our new method of travel, but yours will not be recommended to anyone we come in contact with, should they be thinking about flying.

Thank you for your time,

David B

We would say to email Baldanza, but he might just make snide comments about you to his coworkers. Maybe try sending him a message via his LinkedIn profile.

As Upgrade: Travel Better and Elliot.org point out, it's just another way to try to recoup costs without having to increase the "landing price," the upfront price shoppers see when they first encounter a merchant's offer.

There are two ways around the fee. You can either purchase your Spirit airlines tickets at the airport, or you can buy them on Orbitz. There's no "web convenience fee" for Spirit Airline tickets bought on Orbitz, and Orbitz's fee is less than Spirit's. Let's just hope the other obsessively copycat airlines don't pick this one up too.

Below, Spirit Airlines verbiage for the fee.

Convenience Fee of $5.00 per traveling customer per one way travel applies to all reservations with the exception of those bookings created directly at Spirit Airlines’ airport locations. All fares are subject to change until confirmed and purchased.

Money talks, B.S. flies [Upgrade: Travel Better]
Watch out — Spirit is socking passengers with surprise fees! [Elliot.org]

(Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas)

Did you know that Spirit Airlines is now charging their customers for making a seat reservation — middle seats are $5, Aisle and Window seats are $10 and the "exit row seats" are $15. I was shocked with this change. I didn't make a seat reservation because I already paid the airfare for the ticket, which entitles me to a seat. I know the gas prices are very high, however, this was too little information, not written int he small print (I checked) and only identified when you selected your seat. I tried to call customer service, but was connected to someone in the Far East (they didn't identify the country they were calling from) and their English was so poor I could not understand the person I was trying to communicate with...When I mentioned I lived in Michigan, I was repeatedly asked, "Where, where do you live?"

Then, when, I asked for a "customer service" number in the US and the number I was given connected me to a "pornographic" phone service — I was more than startled!

Do you want this airline to survive?

Please listen to you customers and please answer your telephones with American residents who speak and understand English and know American geography — this is where you customer base lives and supports you...

I called back and got a number for a "customer service" desk at an airport. When I called that number and talked to a very helpful ticket desk Spirit Air Representative named Karen, she gave me a 1-800 number that had me on hold for 35 minutes with no one answering the phone. I finally hung up.

I have been a customer of Spirit Airlines since they starting flying out of Detroit several years ago. What has happened to Spirit Airlines? They off-shored their customer service lines to people who do not know the geography of the US and are not able to provide answers to questions that relate to the United States, the airports here and the service provided.

I had already paid for my (non-refundable) ticket to NY from Detroit, so I couldn't cancel it, but I sure thought about it. I couldn't get information about the seat selection fees until after I had paid for my ticket. This information needs to be provided up front! The baggage information is also troublesome. If you tap the wrong number of bags you wish to "prepay", there is no way to "delete" a bag if you choose not to take 2 bags on the plane.

From information I have gathered on the web, their customer service has deteriorated considerably in the past few months. They are very good at sending e-mails with enticing fares, but their website does not work correctly, it sent me back to the beginning several times, even when I was ready to select and pay for my ticket. The air fare deals does not even connect with their reservation page.

I hope at least the flight that I paid for is safe and will allow me to travel when I scheduled my flights.

- Barbara in Detroit

The insurance tacks on $12 per person. The club may be worse: It charges $9 up front for a three-month trial offer, then it automatically renews for $29.95 a year. If you're hastily clicking through, you might not notice the extra charges until you get the credit card statement.

"Opt-out" features stink for buyers, but are great for companies that like to prey on the careless or distracted. "Opt-in" is obviously far more consumer-friendly.

So remember to opt out of these features before you click purchase (unless of course you actually want them, in which case, enjoy!).

This is not the Spirit Airlines website and I can't cancel your club membership... [Upgrade: Travel Better]

Certified Air Carriers [DOT.gov] (Thanks to Jason!)