Here’s How Much Spirit Airlines’ New “Business” Ticket Costs

Two days ahead of schedule, Spirit Airlines has made sweeping changes to its booking channels. It is offering four clean and tidy fare options, including a “business” fare that includes access to the airline’s Big Front Seat.

Head over to Spirit’s website today to discover four new ticket options for flights departing in the coming weeks: Go, Go Savvy, Go Comfy and Go Big.

As TPG reported last month, the new configuration is much more reminiscent of how larger airlines market their flights. It offers a basic economy-style ticket at the low end of the fare spectrum and more spacious accommodations, along with “extras” like baggage and seat selection, at the high end of the fare spectrum.

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To be clear, Spirit isn’t making any major changes to its big yellow planes—the airline is simply overhauling how it presents and sells fares and ancillary items. The latter have historically been a big part of its business model.

We looked at Spirit’s booking channels on the first day of the new fare buckets. Here’s what we found and what you should know before you book.

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4 new pricing options

As promised, Spirit’s new configuration offers four concrete fare options, which you’ll see up front as soon as you start booking a flight.

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As you can see, the four levels are clearly visible at the top of the carrier’s booking page.

The options are:

Go

Think basic economy, or think about what Spirit has historically offered. The cheapest ticket, this is a bare-bones, no-frills option. That means you pay extra for everything from seat selection to checked baggage. This type of ticket completely prohibits a standard-sized carry-on.

Become an expert

Think of it as the Spirit version of a full-fare main cabin ticket. You can select a standard seat for free when booking and choose to bring either a checked bag or a full-size carry-on bag, but not both. Snacks and beverages are not included.

Take it easy

This ticket lets you select one of Spirit’s “Comfy” seats, which feature an empty middle seat for a little extra space. You’ll also receive both a checked and a full-size carry-on bag, plus snacks, beverages and priority boarding.

Go big

This ticket type offers access to Spirit’s Big Front Seat, free Wi-Fi and priority airport security checks where available.

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It’s worth noting that some changes to certain ticket types (such as snacks, drinks, and priority boarding) won’t go into effect until August 27th.

How much do the new Spirit fares cost?

Like virtually all airline pricing, Spirit’s new fares are set dynamically. However, we’ve found relative consistency in price differences across ticket types.

Despite numerous exceptions, we found the following trends for one-way flights:

• Go Savvy often costs about $50 more than Go.
• Go Comfy typically costs about $50 or $60 more than Go Savvy.
• The Go Big typically costs about $70 or $80 more than the Go Comfy (which is about $200 more than the Go, in many cases).

Take this one-way Labor Day weekend flight from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Orlando International Airport (MCO), for example. The price increases follow incremental increases of $50, $60, and $80 for Go Savvy, Go Comfy, and Go Big, respectively.

Here are the prices for a one-way flight in September from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) to Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL). The increases are in increments of $50, $60, and $70 as you go up the fare scale.

Again, this is just a general rule of thumb; prices and tier price increases fluctuate from flight to flight. You’ll often pay more on itineraries that include a connection, like this Chicago-to-Austin trip that includes a stopover in Fort Lauderdale.

Book a Go Big Ticket on Spirit Airlines

One of the most notable changes Spirit made as part of this ticketing overhaul was the introduction of a pseudo “business” fare that takes advantage of the Big Front Seat.

To book, you’ll select the most expensive option: $313 for this one-way flight in September from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Cancun International Airport (CUN) in Mexico. That’s exactly $200 more than the Go, or base, deal.

By choosing the Go Big fare, you will have the opportunity to choose which of its Big Front Seats you prefer, at no additional cost.

Next, the baggage page will show you what is included, which is both checked baggage and carry-on baggage (along with one personal item, as with any ticket).

The page also informs you of the extras you’ll receive with this all-inclusive ticket, including access to free Wi-Fi and a dedicated security lane (though if you’re a TSA PreCheck member, that’s probably still preferable).

Spirit’s Go Big Against National First Class

For comparison, $313 is well over $100 less than a domestic first class seat on American Airlines or United Airlines that day on the same route; I verified this on Google Flights.

However, Spirit’s $242 Go Big fare for a one-way flight in October from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) actually costs more than a domestic first class ticket on Delta Air Lines.

Book a Go Comfy Ticket on Spirit Airlines

Let’s say you’re booking the same flight from Chicago to Cancun but prefer Go Comfy.

When choosing your seat, you will notice the middle seat blocked; this allows you to choose between a window or an aisle seat in the few rows where these accommodations are available.

As with the upgraded fare, I will still have access to both a checked and a standard-sized carry-on bag.

Book a Go Savvy Ticket on Spirit Airlines

You might say this is the most “normal” ticket Spirit offers.

Seat selection is included, so when you get to that page, you’ll see all the available standard seats listed at $0.

When you go to the baggage page, you will find that you are entitled to a standard-sized carry-on bag and that you can pay $50 for a checked bag.

If you prefer to check in a bag, remember that the Go Savvy fare offers you one or the other for free.

To make this change, simply go back and select the applicable option on the main booking page.

This change will be visible when you return to the baggage page: one free checked bag and the option to add a large carry-on bag for $50.

Book a Go Ticket on Spirit Airlines

Booking Spirit’s lower-tier fare is very similar to how you historically booked a Spirit flight.

Let’s say you’re flying from Seattle to Las Vegas in October and want to go for a no-frills trip.

Just as you’ve discovered in the past on Spirit, seat selection will cost you more (in this case starting at $18). If you don’t pay to select a seat, you’ll be assigned a random seat at check-in.

Meanwhile, the baggage page shows that a checked bag costs $50 and that large carry-on bags are prohibited.

In conclusion

Spirit Airlines’ new fare structure is certainly different from what customers have seen in the past. It offers four solid packages right out of the box instead of offering one low fare and additional fees for all the “extras” as in the past.

However, customers who prefer the à la carte approach can select the Go ticket and then choose what they want to include in the ticket.

It’s worth noting that Frontier Airlines recently made similar changes to its fare structure and added rows with empty middle seats known as UpFront Plus; these have attracted strong customer interest, the airline said last week. However, Frontier doesn’t have a roomy seat comparable to Spirit’s Big Front Seat product.

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