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!

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)

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

Gee whiz.

(Thanks, Rachael!)

What? Milfs for sale? If you go to their website, there it is spelled nice and big for you, M.I.L.F.(many islands low fares). Is this an attempt to be clever and comical, or are they that uninformed?

"The most obscene thing we've noticed," Arbelaez said, "is what other carriers have charged to fly the Caribbean before Spirit's $9 fares."

Cute. We see what you did there.

Airline's 'MILF' Promo Not What You Think [ABCNews] (Thanks, Natalia!)

UPDATE: Reader Rob offers more evidence of the lameness of the publicity stunt.

5. United 11.75
4. Spirit 11.75
3. ATA 11
2. Northwest 11
1. US Airways 10

Spirit and ATA are discount airlines, so you're basically strapping yourself to a flying metal tube knowing that your butt might not feel that great, but at least the extra material in your wallet helps cushion. As for the others, the legacy carriers, yeah they just stink. We find the "breakdowns" in "classic" Zagat's style to be "particularly amusing", and they're posted inside...

US Airways Defenders contend this Star Alliance "journeyman" is "finally recovering' from the "challenges" of its America West merger and can be "solid," especially for "short flights"; but foes let the insults fly - as "unhelpful" as "the DMV", "schedule should be published under 'fiction'" and the Philly hub is the "Bermuda Triangle of luggage"; others conclude "better, but not as good as it needs to be."

United Airlines
There's nothing united about reactions to this "big, go-everywhere" Star Alliance carrier; its "Premium Service" linking JFK to California is arguably "the best coast to coast" and "Economy Plus" is a "godsend" for "extra legroom", but regular economy can feel "more cramped" than a "clown car" and it takes flak for "sour" staff, "delays", "lost bags" and a "buggy" website; still, optimists say it's "improving" post-bankruptcy.

Northwest Airlines
Like its route map, this SkyTeam member's performance can be "all over the place" - boosters find it surprisingly "pleasant", with some "newer planes", "frequent upgrades" and a "better" attitude, but there are also reports of "ornery" staff, "ratty" "Reagan-era" aircraft and flights with "no food, no movies", even "no ppilot" (ergo recent "cancellation" issues).

The Zagat Airline Survey [Zagat]
(Photo: ragekagekaren)

Jane Waun sued Spirit Airlines in the small claims division of 54B District Court in East Lansing, Mich., as a last resort this spring after trying unsuccessfully to resolve her beef with the airline directly.

She won her case last Monday mainly because Spirit never showed up for the original hearing and didn't have a good excuse. But the judgment reimburses her hotel and meal costs, a lost night at her destination and the four tickets she had to purchase on a different airline.

Will other passengers fed up with airline bad behavior now haul them off to small claims court, too?
"I'd encourage them to give it a shot," says aviation attorney Don Frank of Okemos. Even if you don't win, "it can be cathartic."

In Waun's case, Spirit Airlines likely will pay the judgment "and move forward," says spokeswoman Alison Russell.

Still, Waun, 55, who never sued anyone before, likely won't get the one thing she really wants — an apology.

"If Spirit just would have admitted their error and apologized," she says, "I would have flown them again."

Passenger wins damages from Spirit for canceled flight [USAToday]