The Guide to Spirit Airlines Seat Selection

Spirit Airways is understood for its low fares and plentiful flights to common trip locations. However due to the airline’s pricing mannequin, selecting your seat and most different companies past the ticket itself will value you further when flying Spirit.

Earlier than you guide your ticket, right here’s what to learn about seat choice on Spirit Airways, together with the kinds of seats obtainable and the way a lot they may value.

As an extremely low-cost provider, the rule of thumb on Spirit is that seat choice is not free, and clients can count on to pay for seats on every leg of their journey.

The one vacationers who don’t need to pay a seat choice price are Free Spirit elite standing members, who get free seat choice as one of many program’s perks.

When reserving, you possibly can pay for seat choice and baggage as a part of a bundle. Alternatively, you possibly can select your seats individually as a visit add-on throughout reserving or anytime after — even at check-in.

Vacationers hoping to fly as cheaply as attainable can skip paying for seat choice altogether. In that case, the airline will randomly assign them a seat at check-in.

Sure, which means you could possibly find yourself sitting aside out of your journey companions: The airline states it might probably’t assure vacationers will likely be assigned seats subsequent to one another, even when they booked the tickets on one reservation.

Nevertheless, the airline says gate brokers and flight attendants will attempt to present adjoining seats “when attainable” for vacationers ages 13 or youthful who’re touring with an grownup.

Notably, this assurance is just not sufficient to satisfy the U.S. Division of Transportation’s new recommendations that airways assure adjoining household seating for no extra value.

In contrast to different airways which have a variety of seat sorts and lessons of service, it’s fairly easy on Spirit — there are simply three choices to select from.

Spirit’s commonplace seats characterize the overwhelming majority of seats on the plane. You should purchase a regular seat a la carte or buy it as a part of a bundle — which we’ll focus on in a second.

When you might need to equate a regular seat to financial system class on one other airline, don’t count on a lot apart from a spot to sit down. As a funds airline, you’ll usually need to pay for the rest you need, from soda and snacks to carry-on luggage and different companies.

On Spirit, premium seats are exit row seats that include a bit of additional legroom but in addition require passengers to have the ability and prepared to help in an emergency. This implies vacationers beneath the age of 15 can’t select these seats, per federal pointers.

Whereas Spirit doesn’t have a real firstclass, it does supply wider seats with extra legroom on the entrance of the plane. The airline calls the seats on this part the Large Entrance Seats.

With eight or ten such seats obtainable on every flight — relying on the plane — Large Entrance Seat passengers stand up to 32% extra legroom when in comparison with commonplace seats. There’s additionally no center seat, as all Large Entrance Seats are both window or aisle seats.

On the net, there are just a few methods to see the Spirit seating chart. You may take a sneak peek earlier than selecting a flight by deciding on “seat map” on an itinerary you’re contemplating.

When you do this, you possibly can view seat sorts and availability on the airplane, as proven on this instance flight from Newark, New Jersey to Orlando, Florida.

When it comes time to pick a seat whereas reserving, the seat map will present the value of every seat. When you choose a seat, a pop-up field will show the value, together with a picture and extra info, like whether or not it’s an aisle or window seat.

If you happen to’re deciding on seats as a part of a bundle, you’ll select your seats utilizing the identical sort of map, however seats included within the bundle will likely be listed at $0.

On the subject of deciding on a seat on Spirit, you may have three major choices:

• Pay to pick seats a la carte whereas reserving, or anytime up till check-in.

• Pay for a bundle that features seat choice, baggage and different advantages akin to precedence boarding.

• Skip seat choice and pay nothing. This feature will outcome within the airline randomly assigning you a seat at check-in.

Seat task costs can range dramatically primarily based on the flight and the seat you select. Spirit advertises the value for the standard seat as beginning at $5 per flight and climbing as excessive as $200 beneath the costliest circumstances.

The worth of a Large Entrance Seat ranges from $12 to $750 per route, and will likely be pricier than commonplace seats for the additional house. You may also lower your expenses by paying to improve to a Large Entrance Seat on the day of your flight, however there’s at all times an opportunity there gained’t be any obtainable.

In FinanceGrabber’s evaluation of airline seat charges, Spirit Airways is the second costliest amongst main U.S. airways, at a mean of $20 per seat per flight. Spirit trails solely its funds airline counterpart, Frontier, in that rating.

With such a variety of costs, let’s see what these charges appear to be in observe. We priced out a summer time weekend journey from Baltimore/Washington Worldwide Airport in Maryland to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Worldwide Airport in Florida, with a base fare coming in at $229 round-trip. On the leg to Florida, seat choice charges begin at $17 for the standard seat towards the again of the airplane.

If we need to sit nearer to the entrance of the airplane, commonplace seats go for $18 or $27. Exit row seats are $33, whereas the bigger, extra-legroom Large Entrance Seat prices $110.

For the return journey, the most cost effective seats begin at $20.

If we aren’t paying for further baggage, and if we choose the least costly seat every manner, our $228 ticket in the end comes out to $265.

As a substitute of paying for seats individually, you possibly can pay for one among Spirit’s bundles. These embrace a checked and/or full-size carry-on bag, a regular seat and different companies for one worth.

Just like the seats themselves, the prices of the bundles range by flight. And take into account you’ll have to pay for the bundle for each the outbound and return flight.

Earlier than selecting a bundle, you’ll need to resolve what companies you want after which worth out the most suitable choice.

Right here’s what you get with Spirit’s two major bundles:

For our hypothetical journey from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale with a $229 base fare, the Only for You bundle prices $69 every manner. The Bundle It Combo tacks on $130 every manner.

So if we resolve so as to add on the Bundle It Combo, we might pay $489 — which could not be such an excellent deal.

If we solely need one a part of a bundle’s choices — for instance, a carry-on bag — and don’t want seat choice or precedence boarding, it would make sense to skip the bundle and pay for the carry-on bag individually.

Members of Spirit’s subscription-based Saver$ Membership obtain reductions on seat choice for themselves and as much as eight journey companions, together with different advantages like expedited safety entry, early boarding and ticket flexibility.

This system prices $69 for a 12-month membership, with 18-month and two-year memberships additionally obtainable.

One of the crucial helpful perks of Spirit Airways elite standing is the flexibility to pick a seat free of charge. Spirit’s seat choice advantages for elite standing members are as follows:

• Free Spirit Silver members get complimentary seat choice at check-in and could possibly transfer to an exit row seat previous to departure for free of charge.

• Free Spirit Gold members get complimentary seat choice when reserving, together with exit rows. 

If you happen to’re a frequent Spirit flyer, you possibly can work towards Free Spirit elite standing by way of flying and on a regular basis spending utilizing the Free Spirit® Journey Extra World Elite Mastercard®. Cardholders earn 1 Standing Qualifying Level (SQP) per $10 spent on eligible purchases.

For context, it takes 2,000 SQP to succeed in Free Spirit Silver and earn complimentary seat choice at check-in. Gold standing is earned when you attain 5,000 SQPs.

When flying a funds airline like Spirit Airways, you need to go in anticipating that your ticket solely will get you a spot on the airplane and a private merchandise that matches beneath the seat. The rest, together with selecting your seat, will value further.

When reserving a Spirit Airways flight, some research and technique might help you lower your expenses. Work out your biggest areas of want— whether or not it’s a full-sized bag, shortcut boarding or deciding on a seat — after which examine the value of bundling your add-on companies or paying for them individually.

And, for those who’re planning to fly Spirit frequently, supplementing your flying with an airline-branded bank card is an effective way that can assist you attain elite standing and earn free seat choice.

(High photograph courtesy of Spirit Airways)