Spirit Airlines – the ultimate purchase guide

Welcome to Savings Beagle’s Spirit Airlines purchase guide. I do love getting a great bargain on flying. I love getting a great bargain on anything, but this topic is flying cheap with Spirit Airlines.  I fly from Cleveland to Dallas a few times a year and found that I can usually do the trip for about $100 or so. My last round trip fare was $86. Just for fun I looked at the major carriers for the same flight. The best price for the major airlines was around $180, but wait a minute, that was for 1 or 2 stops. With Spirit, I fly non-stop for the $100. A non-stop price from a major carrier balloons to over $300-$400 on a good day. Spirit doesn’t fly everywhere, they offer you little more than a smile for free and you need to pack light and just say “no” to all the up-charges and you too can get a great deal. You just need to know how to play the game.

Forgo the carry-on, maximize your personal item

I have become a much smarter traveler. Money usually makes me do that. My situation isn’t a completely normal one, but I don’t need to take a lot with me on my trips especially if I am going somewhere warm. Some of you will need to pay a fee for a carry on or even a full size piece of luggage. If so, plan ahead on that too. Size up the bag you will be taking. If you have some choices chose a bag that optimizes what you can take. A big carry on may be enough. Do a test packing to see what you can get away with. Once you know your bag situation, pay your fee while you purchase your ticket or at least before you leave for the airport. Spirit will charge you about 25% more for bag fees at the airport. Just so you know, you can get a decent amount into a personal item. Spirit lists these items as handbags or laptops, but the official size for a personal item is 16 x 14 x 12 inches (40 x 35 x 30 cm). If you travel often, purchase luggage that will give you the biggest bang for your buck. There are several options out there so shop wisely.

List of personal item luggage options for Spirit Airlines

Print your boarding pass at a Kiosk

Spirit Airlines will allow you to print your boarding pass at home for free (how nice of them). However, they like to say they will charge you to print the boarding pass at the airport. That is true if you have an agent do it for you at check-in, but most airports I have visited using Spirit have self check-in kiosks that allow you to print for free. That can come in hand later – read the section on getting your seat. I haven’t found a reliable source for airports with a Spirit kiosk, but if you are in doubt, call their customer service number and ask. I did that once and the customer service rep was able to confirm the airport I was flying out of had a kiosk.

Don’t select your seat on-line, wait.

Spirit will offer you a seat selection when you purchase your ticket. The larger seat upgrade cost ranges from $12 to $199 in advance, but $25 to $75 while onboard (if available). You can pick your regular seat in advance and pay an extra $1 to $50, but usually $10 to $25. All this talk about upgrades and this is an article on rock bottom flying. I was tempted not to mention them at all. However, it would still be a great value compared to comfy seats on the big carriers.

The good news is, unless you need a larger seat you probably won’t have to pay to avoid the middle seat. I have yet to actually sit in a middle seat. I wait until I get to the airport and am ready to go through security. My reasoning is that Spirit will “randomly” assign you seats as soon as you are ready to print your boarding pass. Traditionally I print my pass early and make sure I put it in the car so I will have it. Yes, I am a nervous traveler, always thinking I will forget something. Lately though, I have been playing a game. Spirit is less likely to assign you a more expensive seat than a middle seat, so the earlier in the 24 hour window you print your boarding pass, the more likely you will get a middle seat.

If you want to find out how many people have purchased the upgrade and what seats they have chosen, just log in and act like you are going to upgrade and pick your seat. The seat map will let you know what is available to give you an idea of how many good seats are already taken – normally it isn’t many. I will sometimes take a peak just before I head to the airport. Usually it is a pretty graphic with a solid line of middle seats “randomly” assigned to the suckers who checked in early. The last two flights I did have to sit next to someone and one of them actually had me in the middle seat. These flights were not full at all and it was more about evening the plan out for take-off, at least that is what they said. I eventually got a row to myself on each flight.

Shop mid week, fly mid week

Flying mid week is the norm for lower prices in the air travel game, but worth noting Spirit Airlines will cut their already low prices if you buy mid week. For example, a one way ticket from Cleveland to Boston on Tuesday (flying on a Wednesday) cost $23 (with the $9 fare club), but jumped on Friday to $43. That is only $40 RT, not much savings on a $500 trip, but almost half of the regular low price on Spirit.

Don’t wait until the last second

Some carriers will offer big last minute discounts, sometimes through travel sites like Priceline and Hotwire and without revealing their name. Airlines do this to sell off unsold inventory without upsetting the advertised price. Spirit prices fluctuate quite a bit, but they don’t usually offer their best price at the eleventh hour. You should make your Spirit airfare purchase at least 5 days in advance. Spirit will hike the prices in the last few days even if that flight is half-full.

Purchase your ticket at the airport

Save $35 round trip if you can swing by the airport to buy your ticket. In some kind of weird sales gimmick Spirit Airlines actually charges a purchase fee if you buy on-line. It makes no sense economically, to purchase using a person will cost them more, but they know almost everyone will buy on-line anyway. However, if you live close enough and can take advantage of many airports free short term parking (30-45 minutes), you can really bring down that ticket price.

$9 fare club

Spirit Airline’s $9 Fare Club feature costs $59 annually. If you travel a lot this could save you, but for just a few flights per year you can probably get by without the club purchase. For example, a fare may have two choices, with and without the $9 fare. The price can be $10, $20 or $30 different or more. At $20 two round trip vacations will pay for the club price. However, many flights do not have a discounted club price and even if they do, the price difference might be under $10. I have been flying Spirit to Dallas for a couple of years now and I have yet to find it worth-while to purchase the club plan.

Shop wise, save big

Spirit Airlines won’t try to woo you with service or extras. The company offers low prices and corny promotions and hopes you will purchase any upgrades you are looking for rather than shopping around for an airline that includes them. For those frugal shoppers like you who also enjoy playing the game, Spirit may be the best way for you to fly and save some real money.