For years I’ve been calling Spirit Airlines’ Big Front Seat one of the best values in domestic travel. I think it might be time to reconsider that claim.
What is Spirit Airlines’ Big Front Seat?
Spirit Airlines is a popular ultra low cost carrier. As you’d expect, the company’s business model involves generally having low base fares, and then charging extra for everything, ranging from seating, to carry-ons, to drinks and snacks.
Spirit Airlines is my favorite ultra low cost carrier in the United States, and I far prefer the airline to Frontier Airlines. That comes down to two major factors. In addition to the airline having high-speed Wi-Fi, Spirit also offers the Big Front Seat.
Think of Spirit Airlines’ Big Front Seat as being a first class seat without the service. Essentially Spirit Airlines has a couple of rows of first class-style seating at the front of the cabin — seats feature at least 36″ of pitch, and are in a 2-2 configuration, rather than a 3-3 configuration.
But you’re really only paying for the extra space. Those in the Big Front Seat still have to pay for carry-ons, food, drinks, etc.
This is a pricing model I quite appreciate, as those who value extra space can pay for it. For that matter, a Big Front Seat with high-speed Wi-Fi is a pretty pleasant way to fly.
Spirit Airlines’ Big Front Seat pricing has hugely increased
For years I called Spirit Airlines’ Big Front Seat one of the best values in domestic travel, because, well… it was. The premium for assigning a Big Front Seat was incredibly reasonable, and in many cases you could book a Big Front Seat for a price that’s comparable to what you’d pay in economy on another US airline.
However, something has changed, and it’s something multiple readers have now pointed out. Big Front Seat pricing has progressively been creeping up, and in particular, it seems like pricing has increased the most in recent weeks.
Spirit used to claim that the Big Front Seat would cost anywhere from $12 to $250, while now the airline claims it can cost anywhere from $12 to $500. Admittedly that’s just a range, and you’ll almost never find a Big Front Seat for $12 or $500.
Just to give an example of Big Front Seat pricing, take a $97 flight from Tampa to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. Selecting a Big Front Seat will now cost you $261. Yes, that’s the fee just to assign a seat.
That doesn’t even include a carry-on, so you’d have to pay an extra $60 if you wanted a carry-on.
At this point the one-way flight in a Big Front Seat with a carry-on will cost you $418 — that’s hardly low cost anymore!
Admittedly Spirit Airlines has dynamic pricing for the Big Front Seat, and it varies based on several factors, including length of flight, day of week, time of day, how full a flight is, historical demand patterns, etc. So I can’t really do many side-by-side examples here.
What I can say with certainty (and what I’m sure will be supported by others) is that the Spirit Airlines Big Front Seat has slowly been creeping up in price, and it seems that there has been a particularly big increase recently.
I can’t blame Spirit Airlines for this…
I want to be very clear — I don’t for a second blame Spirit Airlines for increasing Big Front Seat pricing. This isn’t like a loyalty program being devalued without notice. It’s only natural that when something is a very good deal and it becomes increasingly popular, pricing changes. That’s the right thing for Spirit Airlines to do.
Furthermore, flying with Spirit Airlines in general has become more appealing for the frequent flyer, between Spirit Airlines’ nicely evolved loyalty program, plus the carrier having high-speed Wi-Fi.
That being said, I can no longer in good conscience just call the Big Front Seat one of the best values in domestic travel, because that’s not consistently the case. I used to think that for anyone who values space, the Big Front Seat was an unbeatable value. But with how pricing has evolved, it’s not the no-brainer it once was.
And let me also emphasize that there are still plenty of Big Front Seat bargains. For example, I see a Fort Lauderdale to Lima flight (which is longer than the Tampa to Las Vegas flight) where the Big Front Seat is “just” an extra $150. I’d say that’s a good deal by comparison.
Bottom line
Spirit Airlines’ Big Front Seat is an innovative concept, as it essentially offers a first class-style seat on an ultra low cost carrier. Unfortunately pricing has slowly creeped up over time, and is no longer the consistent bargain that it once was.
That’s not to say that there isn’t value to be had, but even those of us who value space can no longer justify some of the prices being charged. So it’s just something to be aware of as you think about the overall value proposition of the Big Front Seat.
What has your experience been with Sprit Big Front Seat pricing?
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