Spirit Airlines and carry on fees

I do not fly on Spirit Airlines. They don’t have regular service to the city that I live in so I have not had an opportunity to board one of their planes. I say this simply because my comments below need to be put in context.

I agree with their policy of charging for carry-on luggage.

I am sick and tired of getting to the airplane on time, quickly and efficiently getting to my seat with my one computer bag, settling in with a good magazine and my iPhone, and then watching all of the other idiots try to stuff all of their earthly possessions into the overhead compartment.

When I flew last week, at least 4 people didn’t have room overhead and had to gate check their bags. This simply slowed down the boarding and we left the gate late. In addition, the person sitting beside me had to gate check her bag because it simply didn’t fit in the overhead bin. I am not sure why she thought it would fit, it was so large and heavy that she couldn’t lift it over her head (and i swear that my overweight 6’3″ frame would have fit into the bag she was hauling).

I think the airlines are screwed up.  Make checking bags more efficient and friendly but shrink the size of the bag that is allowed on the plane to be briefcase size. Get their passengers onto the plane without the process feeling like I am being crammed into an old VW van. Then when we land, it won’t take me 20 minutes to get off the plane while the fat woman in front of me tries to pull her massive flowered bag out of the compartment and wheel it down the aisle.

Flying was never fun but now it is becoming painful.