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Spirit Airlines agrees to $8.25M settlement over ‘gotcha’ bag fees

https://thehill.com/business/4171248-spirit-airlines-agrees-to-8-25m-settlement-over-gotcha-bag-fees/

Spirit Airlines agreed to pay $8.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over its bag fees, attorneys for the plaintiffs disclosed Wednesday. A group of first-time Spirit flyers who booked thei…

Spirit Airlines agreed to pay $8.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over its bag fees, attorneys for the plaintiffs disclosed Wednesday.

A group of first-time Spirit flyers who booked their trips through third-party travel sites between 2011-17 sued the airline in 2017, claiming that it did not disclose its bag fees and other extra fees appropriately.

The flyers said the budget airline’s surprise carry-on bag fees were intentionally hidden in an effort to gain profit.

12 comments

Polydextrous

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“Company builds entire business model on tricking consumers and overcharging for basic flight needs”

Now let’s do every single airline for operating like fucking organized crime and gouging people for using the previously free space built into the fucking plane. The entire industry is out of fucking date and needs to be done away with

iforgotmyinstance

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Everyone has followed airlines into the junk fees market.

You charged 1.99, 2.99 or whatever for random shit all the time. So much so that you probably don't even know about it sometimes.

SheeEttin

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"They should disclose all their fees!"

fees get broken out into line items

"Why are there so many fees!"

Like I get what people are saying, but a lot of "fees" are just regular costs of doing business. It's really only for stupid stuff like a "$5 print your ticket at home 'convenience' fee" that are bullshit. It shouldn't be more expensive to use less infrastructure.

jballs

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Members of the class will receive as much as 75 percent of the fees returned to them, though the payout may be lower depending on how many people claim refunds from the suit.

A fine that allows a company to profit off shitty business practices is not a deterrent, it's just the cost of doing business. If people were receiving twice what they were charged in fees, then there might be actual change.

spongebue

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Eh, it's a civil settlement. It was never supposed to be a punishment (it wasn't brought by the government) and pushing for something higher brings its own risks - including the possibility that the legal costs of chasing outweighs what would be paid.

It's not exactly a secret that Spirit charges for bags. While some people are only getting refunded a portion of what they unexpectedly paid, many are getting an unexpected partial refund of a fee they planned on paying

RickRussell_CA

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I flew Spirit regularly for years. Even with the up front bag fees, they were still consistently cheaper in most cases. I could get a first class seat and full baggage service for less than economy on a major airline.

Now, if Spirit didn't expose the baggage fees to customers booked through third parties, then demanded a king's ransom at the baggage counter, that deserves a paddlin'.