Hart and I just got back from a trip to Universal Studios Orlando where we achieved my life-long dream of going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Firstly, can I just say wow?? I was blown away. It was so cool to see something so important from my childhood come to life and to see younger generations be equally excited by the magic of Harry Potter. We flew Spirit Airlines from Chicago to Orlando and it made the trip much more affordable for us. Our flights were around $100 each roundtrip. As we were on our way there, it made me think about how more people should be flying Spirit Airlines.
There has been this misconception that Spirit is the worst airline, but honestly; it’s really not that far off and it can be so worth it sometimes. I wasn’t always a fan of flying Spirit, but I’ve grown to realize the benefits of choosing them. Below I will outline all of the reasons why you should be flying Spirit. At the bottom of the post, I’ll include tips and tricks that I find useful when flying Spirit as well.
Reasons to Consider Spirit Airlines
1. Affordability
The most obvious reason for using Spirit is for affordability. It’s no secret that Spirit Airlines is a low-cost bare-bones type of airline. You get what you pay for, but you’re paying next to nothing compared to larger airlines; especially if you’re able to fly in and out on a weekday. Hart is from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and visiting his hometown with Spirit is a no-brainer for us. For a Friday – Tuesday trip on Google Flights, the nonstop Spirit flight is $98 compared to $328 for United. It’s so much cheaper to fly with Spirit.
Given that the flights are so cheap, it may make sense to upgrade your seats or add bags. For this same flight, you can upgrade to an exit row seat for $51 or to one of the Big Front Seats for $73. The Big Front Seats are comparable to the first class seats on larger airlines, minus the catered-to services. They give you up to 11 inches of additional leg room and are two seats to a row compared to three. The exit row gives you an additional 10 inches. We’ve sat in both the front row and the exit seat before and I can confirm you get a decent amount of leg space. If you’re tall, it’s definitely worth the upgrade, but we’re not so we don’t typically opt to do that.
Adding a carry-on is $36 while a checked bag is only $30. We typically just bring a bookbag when we travel with Spirit, but in this case, paying for the bags would still be cheaper than the United flight. If anything, the baggage fee encourages me to pack more efficiently for each trip.
2. Snacks & Drinks
Having complimentary snacks and drinks is nice to have in-flight, but larger airlines aren’t giving substantial sustenance anyway. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the Biscoff cookies on Delta flights, but I’m not flying Delta for the cookies. They’re not a filling snack. If I’m hungry, I typically bring my own meal or grab something at the airport anyway. Growing up, I had to fly between California and South Carolina frequently. My parents always gave me snacks and/or a sandwich for the flight and this is something I’ve continued to do as an adult as well. It’s a great way to save money when traveling because airport prices are outrageous.
It’s nice to have an option for drinks, but again – not necessary. I typically bring my own water bottle on flights and I tend to see a lot of others do that as well. You may not be able to bring liquid over 3.4 oz on a flight, but you can bring in an empty water bottle to fill up once you’re past security. Bringing your own snacks and drinks is a great way to not only save money but also stay content on Spirit’s flights.
3. Non-Stop Spirit Airlines Flight Paths
According to their website, Spirit Airlines serves 60 domestic destinations and several other destinations outside of the USA including routes throughout North, Central, and South America, along with the Caribbean. I’ve found they’re extremely useful for flights throughout the southeast, especially in Florida. They’re also great for nonstop flights to smaller markets where most other airlines would require a layover. This has been a major deciding factor for us when choosing a flight. No one loves layovers and if they tell you they do, they’re lying!! Ha. All jokes aside, I certainly do not enjoy layovers so if Spirit is the nonstop option and under 3 hours, I’m going to take it.
4. Download Capabilities on Streaming Platform
Spirit flights do not have TVs, in-flight movies and not all of the flights have Wi-Fi for purchase. However, by now most streaming services (HBO, Hulu, Netflix, etc) all have download options for their films and shows. You can download a movie or show while you have Wi-Fi in the airport and watch your tablet or phone throughout the flight. Using the download method will help preserve your battery as well. You can purchase Wi-Fi on select flights (and expanding) for a small fee. It’s not worth paying for Wi-Fi for me. I’d rather just download something pre-flight or read a book. I actually love that Spirit flights give me an opportunity to read disruption-free.
5. Spirit Airlines Loyalty Benefits
Spirit used to be known to have a terrible loyalty program, but they’ve worked to revamp it over the years by introducing tiers and a better point system. You get points for every dollar spent and you can redeem them on any seat option.
Spirit also has a “surprise & delight” Lucky Seat treat. Passengers in the middle seat may end up with a voucher in their tray table for points towards a future Spirit flight. I’ve never been in that seat, but I still think that’s a pretty cool concept.
The Not-so-Good for Spirit Airlines
I’d be remised to pretend that Spirit is without flaws. There are definitely times where I splurge for a larger airline with a higher cost.
1. Smaller Seats & Tray Tables
It’s no secret that the seats are much smaller for Spirit flights compared to other airlines. The tray tables are fairly small and wouldn’t fit a laptop in one of the standard seats. Each seat has the bare minimum and you really pay for what you get here. However, as I mentioned above, you do have options to sit in the front or exit rows for an additional 10 – 11 inches. This would make your leg room comparable to other flights.
2. Flight Time Availability
Spirit Airlines has been expanding their routes and adding more flights into their schedules, but the quantity lacks compared to larger airlines. There often aren’t as many times so by flying Spirit, you may end up having only a couple of flight time options. There are only a couple of flights from Chicago to Myrtle Beach each day as I showed in my example above.
One thing to note is that Spirit has continued to add to their routes and schedules each year and will likely continue to do so; especially given the merger with Frontier that is currently in the works. This would make them the 5th largest airline in the US.
3. Lack of Power on Flight
Most airlines have USB ports for you to plug in and charge your phone or tablet while in-flight. This is great as most planes no longer have in-flight TVs and rely on you to use your own devices to watch movies and shows. With Spirit, you’d need to come in fully charged or use a portable charger to keep your juice up. I hope this is something Spirit looks to improve over time. For a short flight, it’s not going to make a big difference but for longer flights, it’s good to know your device can stay charged.
The Bottom Line
Overall, Spirit is a great option for travel if it saves you money and isn’t too long of a flight. I likely wouldn’t choose to fly Spirit for flights over 3 hours, but I can sit in a smaller seat without Wi-Fi for short periods of time. Opening my mind to Spirit has afforded me the opportunity to travel more frequently than I’d typically be able to afford. It’s been great to use Spirt Airlines for short flights to warmer destinations from Chicago and we’ll continue to use it. If you’re thinking about dabbling with Spirit flights, I recommend you take the plunge. We haven’t had any issues using the airline.
Tips & Tricks for Navigating Spirit
- If you have extra items that won’t fit into a bookbag, leave them out and put them into a bag from one of the airport shops. This won’t count as an additional carry-on luggage.
- Store your bookbag overhead rather than underneath the seat in front of you to give yourself extra leg space
- You can also purchase the upgrade to the front or exit rows for additional leg space.
- As I mentioned before, download shows and movies to your device before boarding. You can also bring a portable charger pack to keep it charged up while you use it.
- Bring your own food or drinks onboard so you don’t need to purchase anything during the flight.
I fly spirit often. Yes, sometimes the lack of comfort gets to me but then i remember how much I’m saving and I’m a happy camper again. My big pet peeve is no reclining seats as i often fly at night and airport nazi stewards. In Orlando we were waiting for a flight and there was a steward patrolling the waiting area. She told my daughter ” that wont fit as a personal item”. Geesh it sure did!
I haven’t had any issues like that so fingers crossed it stays that way! The carry-on size can be such a bummer. I think it’s better than the Euro version – RyanAir though. We’re flying that this summer and our Away luggage is too big for carry-on!