After eliminating change fees on all tickets less than a year ago, Spirit Airlines has quietly added those fees back for its cheapest fares (thanks to @TravelFake for flagging this).
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Spirit Airlines “Go” fares once again have change fees
In May 2024, Spirit Airlines eliminated change fees on all fares, in a desperate bid to be more competitive and increase revenue. As the airline marketed it “cancellation fees are cancelled for everyone,” and “change fees are gone for all.”
While we’ve of course seen most carriers in the United States eliminate change fees, the exception is for the cheapest basic economy fares, where most airlines continue to charge those fees. Spirit tried to one-up other carriers, by eliminating fees on those fares as well.
However, unsurprisingly, that didn’t actually last. As of February 5, 2025, Spirit has quietly added back change fees on those fares. When you look at a comparison of fares, you’ll now see that detail reflected.
So, what’s the new policy for changing the carrier’s lowest fares? It depends on how far in advance you’re making the change:
- 0-6 days before departure, the fee is $99
- 7-30 days before departure, the fee is $79
- 31-59 days before departure, the fee is $59
- More than 60 days before departure, there is no fee
In fairness, the new fees are slightly lower than before they were eliminated, as previously they were in the range of $69-119, rather than the $59-99 that we’re seeing now.
Of course the previous policy wasn’t going to last
I’m not surprised to see Spirit Airlines reversing its previous policy, because, well, it made no sense. Spirit has obviously been in a rough financial spot since the start of the pandemic, due to a combination of increased labor costs, increased competition from the legacy carriers, and the failed takeover attempt by JetBlue.
Around the middle of last year, Spirit became especially desperate, as it was clear that the airline was headed for bankruptcy. So the airline went from charging fees for just about everything, to suddenly becoming premium, or something.
Spirit seemed to think that eliminating change fees even on basic economy would give the carrier an edge over the legacy airlines. But that ignores two problems. First of all, it’s hard to change consumer behavior and perception overnight, given the carrier’s reputation. Second of all, while eliminating all kinds of fees may increase the number of passengers, it’s also much harder to actually make money off of them.
Personally I think Spirit’s extreme pivot has been a huge mistake. For example, in the third quarter of 2024, Spirit’s yields dropped from 11.23 cents to 10.66 cents per mile, and Spirit’s average revenue per passenger per segment dropped from $116 to $105. Charging fewer fees just hasn’t worked for Spirit.
At this point, I’m not really sure what’s left for the carrier. Spirit is now preparing to emerge from bankruptcy, but it’s only a matter of time until the airline is either back in bankruptcy, or is sold off in parts. While a massive amount of debt is ultimately what drove Spirit into bankruptcy, the simple reality is that the company’s revenue performance continues to be abysmal. Given the rate at which Spirit is burning through money, I’d be surprised if the airline is still operating independently at the end of the year.
Bottom line
Spirit Airlines has quietly imposed change fees on its cheapest “Go” fares. The airline eliminated these last year, in what can only be described as a very strange policy shift. Without ancillary revenue, there’s no way Spirit can make money. Then again, even with ancillary revenue, I don’t see a viable path, at this point…
What do you make of Spirit reimposing change fees on the cheapest fares?
Lucky, do you have folders and folders of screenshots of airlines' website policies and photos and material that you just save whenever you visit them (and whenever you look at fares), such that you're able to dig through history to find what changed when someone tells you a new development?
The fees are odd in one respect - how often is a Spirit Go fare more than the change fee 60 days out?
My guess is not very often. Many of the Go fares are $50 or less. Why pay the change fee? Just scrub the ticket.
Spirit’s other challenge is the Big Front Seat. It’s way, way too cheap (I’m arguing against my own finances here). BFS sells out way in advance on every...
The fees are odd in one respect - how often is a Spirit Go fare more than the change fee 60 days out?
My guess is not very often. Many of the Go fares are $50 or less. Why pay the change fee? Just scrub the ticket.
Spirit’s other challenge is the Big Front Seat. It’s way, way too cheap (I’m arguing against my own finances here). BFS sells out way in advance on every flight I take, indicating that Spirit is leaving money on the table. Time to raise those BFS prices and see who really just wants space (Go Comfy) rather than the big seat. Or, pull an American and add more Go Big seats.
I think there's a strong economic logic in having the fees escalate as the date approaches. Much like fares do and for the same reason.
It is less of a surprise that change fees were going to return for NK but a whole lot of people are going to find that other carriers are going to follow.
UA touted the end of change fees during the covid era but it was really a competitive attempt to gain an advantage relative to WN - and it worked.
but not having change fees costs airlines money, Elliott knows it, and there is...
It is less of a surprise that change fees were going to return for NK but a whole lot of people are going to find that other carriers are going to follow.
UA touted the end of change fees during the covid era but it was really a competitive attempt to gain an advantage relative to WN - and it worked.
but not having change fees costs airlines money, Elliott knows it, and there is little competitive loss if everyone reimposes change fees on tickets.
We will see more than NK w/ change fees on at least some fares before the end of this year.
Sadly, you're probably right. The market was stable for a long time with Southwest as an outlier with no change fees. I'm surprised the current situation has outlasted the pandemic for as long as it has.