No, I didn’t leave off any zeros. Spirit Airlines announced new non-stop service to Cartagena, Colombia, (on the Colombian Carribean Coast) today. To bolster sales, they’re offering some AMAZING deals. You can fly Ft. Lauderdale-Cartagena for an unheard of $18 each way. That’s cheaper than six gallons of gas. This flight to South America is cheaper than the gas for a trip from Auburn to Destin (225mi/25-mpg vehicle=9.04 gallons). Dates for the $18 deal are limited, but they coincide well with Auburn University’s break between Spring and summer semesters. Even if you’d prefer to fly ATL-Colombia fares are just $88 each way and the travel dates are much more flexible. You can’t even get to Denver or NYC that cheaply, even on AirTran. And even though the American dollar hit an all-time low this week, it still kick’s the Colombian peso’s ass.

If you’re one of the lucky few accustomed to 1st class travel, understand that Spirit planes are glorified greyhound buses with wings. Of course Spirit approaches this from a slightly different angle in their promotional material, calling themselves, “ The Largest Ultra Low Cost Carrier (ULCC) serving the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.” That really says: no in-flight meals, no free snacks and (worst of all) no free drinks, alcoholic or dry. But it’s not all that bad if you’re prepared. I flew Spirit to and from Lima, Peru, over the holidays and while it did indeed suck, the check-in lines weren’t nearly as bad as those that plagued European airports last summer.

You might be a little apprehensive about Colombia because of the current border standoff going on between them and Venezuela. They’ve got a few months to work it out before the travel dates. And as I see it, there are two types of tourists who are interested in visiting Colombia in the first place. Type 1, which I deem “the informed traveler”, understands the complexities of Colombia’s political and social conflicts well enough to travel smartly and safely. The second type I dub “sitting ducks” because they’re either convinced of their own invincibility, looking to put themselves in dangerous situations, or are blissfully ignorant to world politics.

Bottom line: If you want to get travel Colombia’s Caribbean Coast for cheap, these special fares must be booked by 10:59 p.m. CST tomorrow! Check the sale out at http://www.spiritair.com/welcome.aspx?pg=salesinformation&number=522 .