Some airlines are best known for their opulent products offering seats that convert into a bed. Some airlines offer products geared towards the price sensitive traveler. Spirit Airlines is no exception in offering a bare bones product for dirt cheap. Spirit Airlines economy product will be reviewed aboard a brand new American made Airbus A320neo from Boston (BOS) to Charlotte (CLT).
Booking Experience
Booking was done right on Spirit Airlines website. There are two base fare types, “standard Price” and “Savers Club.” Savers club is free to join and provides “discounts” on airfare and other fees. After imputing passenger information Spirit offers bundle pricing for items such as priority security and boarding. Additional fees are incurred for bags and carry on items. Unlike most mainline full service airlines, Spirit has a checked baggage weight limit of only 40 pounds. As this trip was a simple overnight in Charlotte, no carryon or checked bags were purchased. A small backpack was the only item brought onboard which incurred no extra fees.
Ground Experience
Spirit Airlines operates out of terminal B at Boston Logan International Airport. As no bags needed to be checked, only a boarding pass had to be printed at the kiosk. The interface is easy to use and printed the boarding pass without difficulty free of charge. Boarding was delayed due to VIP activity on the airport delaying inbound and outbound flights. Ground staff communicated with passengers about the delay. The spirit app also sent notifications on the new boarding time. The Boarding process was fairly simple. Pre boarding and Military boarded first followed by groups 1-2. After group 2 all passengers were invited to board.
First Impressions
Stepping aboard the brand new aircraft, crew is cheerfully greeting each passenger during the boarding process. The aircraft sports black leather seats with splashes of yellow around the stitching and overhead bin seat number placards. Given the young age of the aircraft the cabin was spotless with minimal signs of wear and tear. Every single seat is taken on this flight to charlotte.
Inflight Experience
There are 174 economy eats on Spirit Airlines Airbus A320neos. Seat pitch is approximately 28 Inches with a seat width of 17.75 Inches. The seats do not recline nor have in seat power. In the seatback is a safety card, airsickness bag and inflight menu. Upon passing through 10,000 feet the buy on board service began. Items can be purchased ala carte or in bundles. For todays flight a soda and snack box was purchased. Payment is by card only. Crew swiped the credit card right at the seat and handed the snack over. The café snack box consists of crackers, cheese spread, olives, brownie brittles, pistachios and a sanitizing wipe. The ala carte price for the box is $9.00. For the remainder of the flight the crew did some fun inflight stretching with the passengers and then came around for another buy on board and the dreaded credit card sales pitch. As there is no inflight entertainment the remainder of the flight consisted of catching up on some books and watching the scenery pass by below.
Final Approach
Before long the aircraft reached top of descent into Charlotte. Overall the flight was not bad by any means. There are some shortcomings to Spirit Airlines however. Seats had decent padding on the bottom cushion but lacked any padding on the back portion of the seat. At 5’8 legroom is barely adequate however, larger passengers may find the lack of legroom to be an issue. Spirit does offer a Big Front Seat product for those looking for some more space. Another drawback with the seat is the position of the drink holder in the tray table. Unlike other tray tables, the holder is located towards the edge of the table near the passenger. In turbulent weather or accidently bumping into the table the drink has the chance of spilling. Otherwise the seat was adequate enough for this short flight but can be uncomfortable on longer routes.
The crew working this flight were highly energetic with a sense of humor. Throughout the flight they were constantly in the isles collecting trash and chatting with passengers. The extra point giveaways and inflight stretches done by the crew over the PA made for a fun atmosphere. Overall, Spirit Airlines onboard economy product is adequate given the rock bottom pricing. While the seat lacks amenities found on a full service airline, it gets the job done for a short flight. Spirit Airlines overall does not have a bad product, It just lags behind products found on full service airlines such as Delta or JetBlue.