Information on Spirit Airlines Flights

With its iconic yellow branding, Spirit is known as an ultra-low-cost airline. With many seasonal routes and a timetable for certain cities, Spirit prides itself on adding new routes frequently. I particularly appreciate that they offer a quick hop to Las Vegas from Burbank, when the traffic is too bad to reach Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

In this guide, I’ll cover everything you need to know about flying with Spirit, from fare classes and seats to the extra bundles you can purchase. I’ll also explain the check-in and boarding process. Read on to learn how to navigate Spirit flights with ease.

Fare classes and seats

The airline offers two options – standard economy and “Big Front Seats”. Standard seats are exactly that and include one free personal item that fits under the seat. You don’t get to choose your seat with this fare class; they’re randomly assigned by the airline. Each one comes with a small tray table, but it’s worth noting they’re too small for working on a laptop.

“Big Front Seats” – purchased during online checkout or added after – are located in the front of the plane and offer wider seats with an additional 11 inches of legroom. They also have tray tables big enough for a laptop, which is why I select this option every time. I should flag that none of Spirit’s seats recline, meaning they’re best for shorter daytime flights.

Membership

Spirit runs the Spirit Saver$ Club, which comes without an expensive yearly cost. As I fly with this airline regularly, this is the best way to score the lowest fares possible, as the club offers rotating deals. The program also has discounts on luggage, seats and shortcuts for security lines and boarding. I just wish that this was available on all flights.

Bundles

Due to their low-ticket prices, Spirit uses an a la carte method where you can select exactly what you want to add on. But bear in mind that with extra fees for all of these, the price you initially see can quickly add up. However, I find that bundling can help me drive that cost down, especially when I add all the extras.

With Spirit’s base fare, you need to purchase bags and seats individually. Or you can choose to bundle and save with their Economy Bundle or Economy Plus Bundle. With Economy, you can choose either a carry-on or check-in bag, get to pick your seat and board earlier. With Economy Plus, you get the same benefits as Economy but you can also bring both a carry-on and a check-in bag.

Baggage

Spirit has a rather strict and comprehensive baggage policy. My advice is to add (or bundle) your bags during your ticket purchase for the best prices.

Every ticket includes one piece of small hand luggage for free (say a small backpack or handbag). In my experience, they sometimes measure these, so make sure you’ve capped your bag at 18 x 14 x 8 inches. Carry-on bags must be within 22 x 18 x 10 inches, while check-in bags must weigh a maximum of 50 lbs.

Costs per bag vary depending on the route. I recommend using the handy Spirit Bag-O-Tron online tool, which will show you the price difference between a Spirit.com booking, adding a bag before check-in or during check-in, and at the airport vs. at the gate. A very handy tool that has saved me time and money.

At the airport

Spirit is constantly adding more self-service bag drop-off points, but many of its airports already offer this time-saving option. Simply follow the signs at the airport to the kiosk, check-in and self-tag your bag. Then drop your bag at the fast bag drop area. Make sure you print your boarding pass ahead of time or have it on your phone (in the Spirit app), as there’s a charge if the agent at the check-in counter has to print it for you.

As a frequent traveler, I try to avoid flying with check-in luggage. With Spirit, I often use them for short same day turnaround trips, when I’ll happily fly with just a messenger bag.

Boarding

Spirit follows a very simple boarding process. With pre-boarding they allow anyone with a disability or those who need extra time or assistance to go first.

This is followed by Zone 1 boarding for passengers with one personal item and one paid carry-on bag (this also includes Gold members) and Zone 2 for Silver members, passengers with paid shortcut boarding (the added fee won’t kill your budget), and Spirit credit card holders. Zone 3 and 4 are for anyone traveling with just one personal item.

Entertainment and amenities

There’s a charge for all drinks and snacks onboard Spirit. I like the fact they offer many vacation-themed combo deals, like a whisky and soda served with a little bag of nuts. They also have all the usual soda drinks, water, tea and coffee, plus plenty of alcoholic options. In terms of food, there are both savory and sweet snacks, as well as snack boxes (think olives, nuts, crackers and more) and fun little cheese trays.

As a frequent flyer, I’ve learned to bring my own snacks, especially as healthy snacks are often hard to come by onboard. I’m always prepared with Organic Pharmer bars or some nuts.

Wi-Fi on board

Wi-Fi is available at a cost on most Spirit aircrafts. Just scan the QR code (either located in the seat back or handed out by the flight attendant), go to the site and easily choose a plan and connect.

The plans are simple, starting at a small amount for browsing plans and increasing if you’re looking to stream your entertainment (the cost increases with the flight duration). I always like to stream while onboard, so for me it’s worth booking a plan ahead of time during my ticket purchase.

Loyalty program

Named FreeSpirit, Spirit’s free-to-join program has two tiers: Silver and Gold. With Silver, you get dedicated customer support, redemption fee and overweight waiver, access to Exit row seats, same-day standby and shortcuts to boarding and security.

With Gold you get all the benefits of Silver, plus free checked and carry-on bags, a free drink and snack onboard, priority boarding, a pet fee waiver, pooling points and priority seat selection when buying your ticket.

Free Spirit credit card

Spirit offers various options on their credit cards. Currently, that includes two Mastercards and, for customers in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Ecuador, two Grupo Promerica cards.

The main card benefits include points that can be used for flights (or with their travel partners), rebates on in-flight food and beverages, Zone 2 boarding shortcuts, select flight vouchers and zero fees on foreign transactions. But unless you fly this airline almost exclusively – thereby racking up lots of points – these credit cards don’t offer much benefit.

Flight changes and cancellations

As with many US airlines these days, Spirit now has no fee when it comes to modifying a ticket or even canceling it. If you make changes resulting in a fare difference, that will be the only additional cost.

Pet policy

The airline allows small domesticated pets carried in a pet container at an extra fee. This includes: dogs and cats, household birds and rabbits (though the latter two cannot travel to or from Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.)

This is also only offered on domestic flights (which include Puerto Rico, St.Thomas and the US Virgin Islands) and inside the cabin. As someone who flies regularly with my dog, it’s important to add your pet to the reservation as soon as possible, as they only allow six animals per flight – so you don’t want to turn up at the airport without knowing they’ll definitely be allowed onboard.