UPDATED: Spirit raises fee for online booking

UPDATED this post with a very strong opinion piece from Spirit's home state of Florida, on the Sunshine State News Web site, calling the carrier  one of the nation's "suckiest" companies, a sentiment shared by quite a few travelers. I don't agree with the writer's criticism of Spirit for ordering a slew of new Airbus jets. Both US and foreign carriers fly both Airbus and Boeing planes these days; it's a fact of life in the airline business because they basically have no other choices. I do agree with the writer that customers of Spirit have a hard time knowing what it's really going to cost for a flight, given the carrier's penchant for fees. Read the column at this link ...

Here's the original post: Spirit Airlines is the most creative company in the industry -- some might also call it sneaky -- when it comes to adding to the true cost of a flight for its customers, while keeping its base fares as low as $9 one way. Spirit just raised the cost of booking a ticket online, which most customers do. To avoid the fee in these parts takes a trip to the Atlantic City airport, the only place it serves in the region. Read more here ...