Spirit Personal Item... Backpack?

[allysetraskos]

My family and I are going to be traveling and luggage is so expensive, If I were to make everyone bring a school backpack and fill it with clothes would that work? - online it says small purse or backpack with specific inches given.
Do regular backpacks work or will I be given a hassle?

 

[SirDuff]

Do the backpacks (when filled) fit within the given measurements? Backpacks can massively vary in size (even "school" backpacks), you no one can really tell you. Just check that your measurements fit within those given (can sometimes be a little bit off, if squishable).

 

[nerak]

Yes, double check the measurements and the "squish factor". I flew on Spirit this past winter and to ease my anxiety, I went onto Amazon and bought a bag with the specific Spirit carry on measurements. However there were many people with large bags and duffle bags that seemed bigger than my carry on that had no issues squishing their bags into the test crate they have outside the check in window and gate.

 

[imagineer52]

I usually bring a backpack (the one disney had as the buy more, buy more promo), which is normal school sized, plus usually a duffel bag as my bigger carry-on. If you STUFF it, as I have in the past, you might have trouble fitting it under the seat, but if you normally fill it, it'll be fine.

 

[TCups4Me]

I did this with my family. We all brought an average sized backpack and paid for one carry-on bag. They all fit under the seats with no problems.

 

[momtwoboys]

I did this with my family. We all brought an average sized backpack and paid for one carry-on bag. They all fit under the seats with no problems.

overall were you happy with using Spirit? What about the return trip to MCO, I know we can use DME..just do checkin online ourselves right?

 

[TCups4Me]

overall were you happy with using Spirit? What about the return trip to MCO, I know we can use DME..just do checkin online ourselves right?

Spirit met our needs when we used them. My husband has flown them solo several times with no issues but I was apprehensive to take my kids because I am used to the wonderfulness of Southwest. We flew Spirit to Detroit last year for a family reunion. We checked in online. The seats were tighter than SW and no snacks offered but the flight attendants were great. They asked my boys up to the cockpit (maybe because there were not many kids headed to Detroit!) and the flight was uneventful. I did not book them for our return trip home though because they only offer one flight per day in our area. I didn't want to risk being stranded in Detroit if the flight was cancelled for some reason. So I booked SW home. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[bianca]

We always fly Spirit, as they offer the perfect non-stop flights for us. Have never had a problem with our bags, but we stay within their parameters. Have seen many other people float through with bigger bags with no problem, but wouldn't be worth it to me. We have never had an issue with our flights. In addition, everyone in the family purchases the $9 Fare Club and uses their Spirit MasterCard for all things Spirit-related. It really makes a difference in both cost and lower bag fees.

 

[momtwoboys]

We always fly Spirit, as they offer the perfect non-stop flights for us. Have never had a problem with our bags, but we stay within their parameters. Have seen many other people float through with bigger bags with no problem, but wouldn't be worth it to me. We have never had an issue with our flights. In addition, everyone in the family purchases the $9 Fare Club and uses their Spirit MasterCard for all things Spirit-related. It really makes a difference in both cost and lower bag fees.

I'm watching their April prices... the times are perfect. We can totally get by with the personal item each, went to measure our duffles. If need be I would pay for 1 checked bag, but could save that 30.00 and just possibly pay to assign our seats. Learning as I read. Just the responses of cancelled flights is scary when traveling on a school break.

 

[Woodview]

My family and I are going to be traveling and luggage is so expensive, If I were to make everyone bring a school backpack and fill it with clothes would that work? - online it says small purse or backpack with specific inches given.
Do regular backpacks work or will I be given a hassle?

How much extra for Luggage ? $ 20 per person each way ... so 5 people = $ 200

How much are you paying for Disney Tickets & All the Disney souvenirs ?

 

[momtwoboys]

think its 30.00 per checked bag, we always got along fine with 2 checked suitcases for a family of 4 with no carryons... think with the personal item each ( 3o of us this time) we wont need to pay extra, and hey some people like us buy nothing, we have been going so long we arent the target family for souveniers, and we buy discounted tickets and stay DVC cheaply.

 

[wonderwomen2017]

We always fly Spirit, as they offer the perfect non-stop flights for us. Have never had a problem with our bags, but we stay within their parameters. Have seen many other people float through with bigger bags with no problem, but wouldn't be worth it to me. We have never had an issue with our flights. In addition, everyone in the family purchases the $9 Fare Club and uses their Spirit MasterCard for all things Spirit-related. It really makes a difference in both cost and lower bag fees.

Bianca I'm new to this forum and I have a question about an older post regarding bringing lunchmeat on the plane. We are traveling this Friday how do I bring lunchmeat and other food that can stay cold for at least 24 hours - should I use dry ice, or are those Blue frezze cold enough. thank you!

 

[nacho113]

Bianca I'm new to this forum and I have a question about an older post regarding bringing lunchmeat on the plane. We are traveling this Friday how do I bring lunchmeat and other food that can stay cold for at least 24 hours - should I use dry ice, or are those Blue frezze cold enough. thank you!

Dry ice is generally not allowed. It requires special permission from the airline to carry and must be in a properly vented and FAA approved container.
Ice packs have special restrictions. Essentially, if they are starting to thaw at all, they can't go because they have to be under the 3 liquid ounces and fit in the 311 baggie. Most, if not all ice packs are larger than this.

Per the TSA website:

Frozen liquid items are allowed through the checkpoint as long as they are frozen solid when presented for screening. If frozen liquid items are partially melted, slushy, or have any liquid at the bottom of the container, they must meet 3-1-1 liquids requirements.

 

[Starshine]

Bianca I'm new to this forum and I have a question about an older post regarding bringing lunchmeat on the plane. We are traveling this Friday how do I bring lunchmeat and other food that can stay cold for at least 24 hours - should I use dry ice, or are those Blue frezze cold enough. thank you!

If we need to keep anything cold we buy a couple of bags of frozen peas and use those. That way if they melt they can still go through security.

 

[katriscari]

I just booked my way down to MCO from CLE for April 28th (an 8am non stop flight) yesterday at the airport. When you do that they do not charge the passenger usage fee which is about $18 per ticket one way. I paid $88.80 total for 4 one way tix. I will spend another $100 on 3 checked bags at a later date, but I am happy so far. We used them in May '17 with no issue. Trying them again next month, and again in October for our adults only trip. The total of our 3 trips in 2017 for flights is pretty much what I paid for one trip using Southwest in the past. I also purchased the bags that fit specifically to their flight measurements (18x14x8--if you cant find a bag searching spirit measurements, then search frontier--it will pull up bags that way) They are soft side, no wheels=they actually hold quite a bit of items. We travel a lot for hockey on weekends too, and I use these for our luggage for that too. For our august & october trips we will only be using those personal items bags and not checking any at all. For our longer 10 night trip we buy 3 checked bags each way for 4 people.

 

[bianca]

As long as you're checking your bag, all you need to do is throw one of those blue freezer things in with your cold stuff. I have departed at 6 am and received my bags via Magical express at 10 PM before and found all of my stuff still cold. What I frequently do is have my shopper in Florida just pick up the big stuff for me and then I fill in with the miscellaneous small items from home. Also, anything that can freeze, should be frozen when you pack it in your bag. It's just extra assurance that your items will be fine once you land.

 

[wonderwomen2017]

If we need to keep anything cold we buy a couple of bags of frozen peas and use those. That way if they melt they can still go through security.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[wonderwomen2017]

As long as you're checking your bag, all you need to do is throw one of those blue freezer things in with your cold stuff. I have departed at 6 am and received my bags via Magical express at 10 PM before and found all of my stuff still cold. What I frequently do is have my shopper in Florida just pick up the big stuff for me and then I fill in with the miscellaneous small items from home. Also, anything that can freeze, should be frozen when you pack it in your bag. It's just extra assurance that your items will be fine once you land.

Thank you for the tip! As far as the shopper is this a service - I'm staying at the Swan they don't allow Garden Grocers. As far as the lunchmeat have you ever frozen them before? Thank you again very appreciative!

 

[wonderwomen2017]

Dry ice is generally not allowed. It requires special permission from the airline to carry and must be in a properly vented and FAA approved container.
Ice packs have special restrictions. Essentially, if they are starting to thaw at all, they can't go because they have to be under the 3 liquid ounces and fit in the 311 baggie. Most, if not all ice packs are larger than this.

Per the TSA website:

How about checked bags? Thank you for this info!

 

[momtwoboys]

I just booked my way down to MCO from CLE for April 28th (an 8am non stop flight) yesterday at the airport. When you do that they do not charge the passenger usage fee which is about $18 per ticket one way. I paid $88.80 total for 4 one way tix. I will spend another $100 on 3 checked bags at a later date, but I am happy so far. We used them in May '17 with no issue. Trying them again next month, and again in October for our adults only trip. The total of our 3 trips in 2017 for flights is pretty much what I paid for one trip using Southwest in the past. I also purchased the bags that fit specifically to their flight measurements (18x14x8--if you cant find a bag searching spirit measurements, then search frontier--it will pull up bags that way) They are soft side, no wheels=they actually hold quite a bit of items. We travel a lot for hockey on weekends too, and I use these for our luggage for that too. For our august & october trips we will only be using those personal items bags and not checking any at all. For our longer 10 night trip we buy 3 checked bags each way for 4 people.

so they charge 18.. each way per person? I could save if I bought 3 roundtrip flights in person? thats 108.00!