Airlines Reviews

Spirit Airlines Big Front Seat Review

a group of people sitting in an airplane

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In April/May of 2023 Spirit Airlines offered up an incredible status match for $99. I took the plunge and matched to Spirit Airlines Gold Status primarily because it eliminates nearly all of the annoying fees and surcharges Spirit adds to the base fare. With my new found status, my wife and I began taking Spirit more often, and on one occasion we chose to give Spirit Airlines Big Front Seat a go when it was pricing cheaper than a Delta economy ticket on the same route.

What did we think? I’d do it over and over again. The biggest downside is the lack of seat recline, but on any flight under 2.5 to 3 hours, I don’t really mind it, and seeing as though the seat is roughly the same width as other carriers first class recliners for a fraction of the cost, it’s a winning ticket to me.

Many will argue that Spirit just “plane” sucks since it and Frontier often delay, cancel, nickle and dime you, and feel very, bargain basement. And I can’t really argue with with the timeliness factors ( both Spirit and Frontier are at the bottom, funny enough JetBlue is as well), but I just don’t care about the comfort aspects especially if you’re on a sub 2 hour flight, and with status all of the nickle and diming doesn’t matter since it’s included in the ticket price.

As someone who hasn’t flown long haul in economy since 2014, not a flex but to give you an idea of perspective, I’m more than happy to fly Spirit in the future if the price is right ( and let’s be honest… $24 fares are hard to pass up.)

Anyway…you’re here for the Big Front Seat review, so let’s get into it.

My Short Form review:

@zacharyburrabel When I needed last minute flights to promote my book 📕 n KTLA… Spirit had the big front seat for under $300 when Delta, AA, Southwest, and United were a fortune in economy. I’d never flown the Big Front Seat and wanted to give it a go… Here’s what I’d say. If you have a bad back… no recline is annoying. But, on flights under 2 hours, and Gold status waiving most of those crappy fees + no pet fee, I will undoubtedly be shopping Spirit. Often I’ll see sub $50 tickets on Spirit to NYC, Miami, Chicago, etc. That is ridics. Anyways… you won’t be the comfiest and there is very little leg room, but to save a few hundred?! I’ll do it. I also rarely pay points or cash to fly premium products in the states… the one exception is occasionally on the LA/SFO to NYC or MIA routes. But those have lie flat. #travel #travelhacks #spiritairlines ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey

What is the Spirit Airlines Big Front Seat?

The first two rows on “SOME” of Spirit Airlines planes offer up the Big Front Seat. There is a charge to sit up here in addition to all of the other fees.

How much is this charge? It’s completely dependent on the route, load, etc and the change the darn fee all the time.

a screenshot of a check in

Spirit Big Front Seat Details

We paid, in total with taxes and fees, $590 for both tickets.

  • When: May 2023
  • Route: ATL to LAX
  • Aircraft: A319
  • Seat: 2A
  • Flight Time: 4:55
  • Status: Gold

What do Gold Members Get:

a yellow and white card with text and wings

And this is what it looks like when you’re selecting a seat with Gold Status

a screenshot of a computer

Check In

In order to avoid the check in at the airport fees ( there is one charge to print your boarding pass at the kiosk, and even more if you check-in with a person ) so I always just have a mobile boarding pass.

a close up of a ticket

A normal Spirit Airlines Seat

This is from a much newer plane ( A320neo), but as you can see the space is EXTREMELY limited.

  • Pitch: 28-29″
  • Width17″

a table with a bottle of water on it in an airplane

The Spirit Airlines Big Front Seat

First off, this is about as old as it gets with Spirit Airlines. In contrast, most of Spirit’s fleet is quite new as shown above. My seat was dirty, and if you watched the video, you’ll also see that everything was VERY VERY OLD. Did it matter to me? Nah…I was pretty comfy tbh.

  • Pitch: 37″
  • Width: 22″

Food/Beverage

Just because you’re flying up front doesn’t mean that you get free food. I received a ginger ale and some chips as a part of Gold status, but if you’re flying nude ( status free ) these are the prices you’ll pay for a snack.

Service

I’m not sure there is a big difference in service aside from the fact that you’ll get any food a bit quicker.

a group of water bottles and a bag of chips

Airline On Time Report – an FYI

Yes… Spirit delays or cancels frequently, but oddly they get a MUCH, MUCH worse reputation than JetBlue and do better! I’d never have thought that…so there you go.

You can see more info here

a screenshot of a computer

Overall

Is the Big Front Seat worth it? It’s something I would heavily consider on flights over 3 hours, and since this flight was over 4 hours, having the extra space, for less than economy on Delta/United/AA for the same route…was definitely worth it. Spirit’s economy seats in general are tiny, so if you’re a bigger person, it could always be worth it, but for me, I’d only opt for the Big Front Seat when it’s economically practical, or when it’s a longer flight, and the upgrade price doesn’t break the bank.

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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2 Comments

  • Rusty May 1, 2024

    MM,

    Unrelated to this post but is your Lifelock/Rakuten points still pending from the deal you mentioned a ~1 month ago? My purchase tracked fine and shows pending but only the referral is showing as confirmed (used your referral btw). I thought I read somewhere that it will pend for 2 months (until you can’t get a refund from Lifelock) then confirm but not exactly sure. Any insight would be great! Thanks

  • NedsKid April 28, 2024

    I just flew CLT-LAS-LAX in Spirit Big Front Seat (as a Gold) and the base airfare was about $100, plus the Big Front Seat was $175. Completely worth it. You were on one of the A319s (which will be gone within the year). On the A320/321 the wifi is among some of the best… on my flights I streamed videos with no interruption. Honestly, it beat my last 4 hour flight in American Airlines domestic First.

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