Spirit Airlines is offering 8,000 free air miles to anyone who completes its first-ever 鈥溾 survey. The questionnaire allows passengers to rant about the profusion of things that annoy them about air travel, but really it鈥檚 a forum for the no-frills airline to justify its policies and take a dig at its competitors. The questions regard air travel in general, but since respondents are most likely Spirit Airlines passengers or those familiar with the carrier, it鈥檚 not a stretch to infer that most of the complaints apply to Spirit itself.
The first 28,205 responses principally bashed the airline鈥檚 seats. Spirit addresses the issue on its website: 鈥淲e think about seats differently. We put a few more on each plane to lower fares for everyone.鈥 Fees were the second-most frequent grievance. Spirit鈥檚 take: 鈥淭o us they鈥檙e not fees. We think of them as options.鈥 The main objective, apparently, is to instruct respondents on why their complaints are misinformed.
Another goal: disperse blame across fellow airlines. In the survey, Spirit asks, 鈥淲ho blames who for what?鈥 (their grammatical error, not ours) and goes on to attribute specific complaints to the competition. 鈥淭his seems to be a very clever way to heap negativity on competitors, under the guise of something 鈥榝air,鈥欌 writes Neal Roese, professor of marketing at Northwestern. 鈥淚n fact, the word 鈥榟ate鈥 seems to be associated much more with other airlines over the course of the web ad than with Spirit.鈥
Spirit employed its hate-dispersion tactic most blatantly in the third infographic: 鈥淎lthough Spirit hosted the giveaway鈥60% of the total hate went to other airlines! Huzzah!鈥 The implication, though, is that 40 percent of the hate was directed at Spirit, more than three times the amount aimed at the runner-up (Delta).
Professor Lars Perner of the University of Southern California found the report troubling. 鈥淭here is a fair amount of humor involved. I worry that it might suggest that the concerns are minor and that there is not a serious problem that needs to be addressed.鈥 This attitude is best illustrated by a recent interview with . 鈥淚f you want the truth鈥ou watch what people do, you don鈥檛 listen to what they say,鈥 Baldanza observed. 鈥淎nd what people do is fill our planes every day.鈥
The 鈥淪tate of the Hate鈥 campaign isn鈥檛 a symptom of economic desperation. Over the last two quarters, Spirit Airlines鈥 net income has from $37.8 million to $73.9 million. Their business model, which cuts airfare to the bare minimum and charges for all additional services, is evidently successful.
Why? Well, if you鈥檙e flying with Spirit, you鈥檙e probably boarding much quicker than on other airlines. The fee for carry-on luggage is higher than checked luggage, which means less fussing in the aisle during boarding time, a bonus reflected in the survey results. (Boarding is listed among the least common reasons for anti-Spirit vitriol.)
If you can bear the Spirit experience, this is your chance to rack up 8,000 free air miles by . It鈥檚 also a prime opportunity to add to the report鈥檚 tally on the word 鈥渇uck,鈥 which currently stands at a meager 75.
And finally, always research your airline鈥檚 travel fees before buying鈥攅specially with Spirit, which will charge you for everything besides a cramped seat.