Spirit’s Big Front Seat Is The Best Upgrade Available From Any US Airline

by joeheg

There are plenty of things to say about Spirit Airlines; until now, most of the things we’ve written about the airline have been negative.

That’s because we had never flown on Spirit and many comments about the airline were about their excessive fees and problems when a flight is delayed or canceled.

We’ve also heard comments from readers who’ve had positive experiences when flying Spirit. In fact, Spirit has done a decent job of getting passengers to their destinations on time, even better than some legacy airlines. They’ve even been on the Fortune 300 Most Admired Company list.

So while I haven’t convinced Sharon to fly on Spirit yet, that didn’t mean I couldn’t book a solo flight from NY LaGuardia to Orlando on the airline. By far, it was the cheapest flight so I didn’t feel bad about splurging and paying $60 extra for the Big Front Seat.

If you’re not familiar with Spirit’s planes, the first two rows on most of their aircraft have seats larger than the rest of the plane. They’re similar to the first-class seats you’ll find on Delta, American or United and are called the “Big Front Seat.”

While the rest of the narrow-body plane is in a 3-3 configuration, only 2 Big Front Seats are on each side.

a row of black seats on an airplane

Since you’ll have to pay for a decent seat assignment on a Spirit flight, getting a Big Front Seat was only a bit more expensive.

Remember, that the Big Front Seat is only a seat assignment and doesn’t give any additional benefits, like a carry-on bag.

For my flight from LGA to MCO, the fare was $67.59.

a white rectangle with blue text

I paid an additional $43 for a carry-on bag.

a black and white picture of a luggage

If I wasn’t looking to book the Big Front Seat, I could have paid for one of the packages, including checked bags and carry-on bags.

a screenshot of a flight ticket

When booking with Spirit, it’s less expensive to pay for your upgrades when you purchase a ticket.

I was one of the first people to board the plane and settled into my seat. I immediately found that the Big Front Seat delivers on the promise of additional space.

a person's legs and feet in a seat with a safety information in the pocket

Because this trip had been only an overnight visit to New York, I could fit everything into my Bento Bag. It easily fit into the space under the seat, meaning I didn’t need to pay for an additional carry-on bag.

a seat with a bag and a bottle of water in it

I bought a bottle of water at the airport for in-flight hydration and had my Bose headphones for entertainment.

I was ready for my flight. Sorry I didn’t shave since I didn’t bring a razor or shaving cream for an overnight trip. I also was on approximately 10 hours of sleep for the past 2 days.

a man sitting in a chair smiling

Not long after takeoff, I dozed off for about 1 hour. I told you the seats were comfortable.

Was paying $60 for the Big Front Seat worth it? Of course, it was. Even more so because we paid $79 for Comfort+ seats with Delta on the flight to New York. More on what we thought about that in another post.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

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