Spirit Airlines Big Front Seats: The Best Consistent Aviation Deal
When anyone says something about Spirit Airlines, it is usually about their experience with them in economy, being cramped in tiny seats and being nickel and dimed for everything last thing. Don’t get me wrong, Spirit Airlines has its faults, but so does every airline. In addition to your base ticket, you get charged for food, drinks, luggage, carry-on bags, seat selection, and the air you breathe on board the airplane (not really). However, Spirit Airlines also has something that can transform your tight squeeze in economy into an amazing one. The Big Front Seat. Let me explain.
What is the Spirit Airlines Big Front Seat?
Besides economy, Spirit has one other class of service – the Big Front Seat. It features the same service and fees as in economy, except the seat is big, and at the front of the cabin, as the name suggests. Same fees, same prices for a bottle of water, same price for a carry-on bag. The seats are about the size as first class seats on narrow body jets as on United, Delta, or American. Seats are available on all aircraft on Spirit, and are in a 2-2 configuration. One thing however: the seats do not recline. But for the price, this one drawback does not make much of a difference when evaluating the Big Front Seat. I honestly love the idea of paying the extra surcharge for just the seat, as many people (like me) don’t necessarily mind the economy service, but just would like a nicer seat.
Spirit Airlines Big Front Seats (photo courtesy of Spirit Airlines)
A Great Deal
To explain why this is such a great deal, let us compare Economy to Big Front. First off, what do you get in economy. In economy, you get a chair which is less than an inch thick, a tray table which can’t fit your laptop, no recline, and a sprained back as a consequence. In Big Front, you get a comfortable seat with a standard tray table, and more legroom than in economy. For what additional price? Spirit airlines states on their website that Big Front Seats cost $12-$150. The $12 is a no brainer for the upgrade. Most upgrades are around $50 for a first class seat, so for that price, you should always take the upgrade. However, if you go into the flight with first class expectations, you will be disappointed. You need to go in comparing it not to Delta first class, but to Delta economy class, because Big Front Seat prices are similar to Delta economy prices. To give you a better explanation of how great of a deal this is, I will now give an example.
Example: Washington to Boston
Random Example: You are flying for a weekend to Boston. You consider two options: American Airlines out of DCA with the American Airlines Shuttle, or Spirit Airlines out of Baltimore. You first consider the option on American, where it costs $454 roundtrip per person.
American Airlines Pricing
You then look at spirit airlines out of BWI. In economy it costs $434, just a bit below the price of on American Airlines. This fare includes baggage and carry-ons (so does the price on American). You figure that you should take American as it has better seats than on Spirit.
Spirit Airlines Pricing
However, you have not considered the Big Front Seats on Spirit Airlines. On Spirit, the Big Front Seat costs $13 more than economy per segment for that flight!
Big Front Seat Cost
$26 roundtrip is the difference between hard as a rock economy seats and a first class seat! This is a 100% no brainer that you should upgrade to a Big Front seat, due to the small price difference and the massive seat comfort difference between economy and business. Therefore, in this scenario, you would pay $460 for a Big Front Seat on Spirit, just $6 more expensive than economy on American!
This is actually what we did last October in 2017. We went up to Boston for one night to sightsee there. We decided to take Spirit out of BWI because the times worked for us, and the prices were cheap. We upgraded to Big Front Seats because it was extremely cheap. And we actually had a great experience because it was cheap, and we had comfortable seats. That is why I personally remember Spirit Airlines as an airline which has great prices for good seats, if you book a Big Front Seat. If you had a bad experience in Spirit Airlines economy, definitely give them another chance while upgrading to a Big Front Seat. It costs less than economy class on most other airlines.
Bottom Line
Always book a Big Front Seat on Spirit Airlines unless it is some crazy expensive price to upgrade which I rarely see. If Spirit Airlines is as or almost as convenient as another airline, always consider taking it – as long as you upgrade to a Big Front Seat. Economy on Spirit will be bare-bones. However, when you book a Spirit Airlines Big Front Seat, you will get more than the most out of your money. Also, always upgrade to the Big Front Seat upon booking, as the price will only get higher the closer to the flight you get. I would qualify the Big Front Seat as the best constant deal in commercial air travel, due to the tiny price difference between Economy and Big Front.