Sigh, Yet Another Spirit Fee

Another week, another headline about Spirit upping its fees. The South Florida-based airline just snuck into its lengthy list of optional fees yet another charge: Come June 30, it’ll cost $2 to print boarding passes at Spirit airport kiosks.

Look up “optional” in the dictionary and you get “having a choice; noncompulsory.” Sure the fee is voluntary since you have the option to print the boarding pass prior to arriving at the airport. But is it customer-friendly? No. Then again, no one’s ever accused Spirit of being so.

As I reported last week, Spirit has also increased its passenger usage fee up to $16.99 each way. But, hey, this is another one of Spirit’s “optional” fees because you can keep your $34 by driving to the airport and buying your ticket at the counter. Just don’t allow the airport agent to print your pass because beginning January 24, you’ll be charged $5 for that “optional” service.

Is Spirit piling on the fees to cover the $50,000 bill it was issued earlier in the week? Kevin Gale at the South Florida Business Journal reported that the DOT fined the carrier for not disclosing the taxes and fees in several pieces of advertisement.

Spirit passengers: Are you OK with the extra $2 if the flight fare is reasonable; or on principle alone will you arrive at the airport with your boarding pass in hand?