On a recent trip down to Louisiana, I decided to forgo American Airlines, and their DFW Flagship Lounge, and try out the new Go Big offering on Spirit Airlines’ Airbus A321 (the things I do for this blog). I’ve been trying to try as many new airlines as possible and Spirit was the first ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) that I’ve ever had the chance to try.
Booking
I knew that I needed to be down in Baton Rouge but my meeting happened to coincide with LSI’s Homecoming Weekend. Because of this, flight prices into BTR were insane so I turned to Google Flights for some other options.
Tickets into New Orleans were reasonable-ish and I was pleasantly surprised to find a Spirit flight that worked with my schedule. Spirit had just announced a rebrand and new fare buckets in the weeks leading up to booking so I was excited to check it out.
I ended up booking my ticket directly through the Spirit website for an absurdly cheap $119. My base fare was $23, there were $16 in taxes and fees, and finally an $80 upgrade to Go Big.
Pre Flight
Spirit uses Terminal E at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and I arrived curbside just before 5:45p for a 7:04p departure.
With no bags to check, I headed straight for security. TSA PreCheck wasn’t available at the checkpoint closest to my departure gate but, my Go Big bundle gave me access to Priority security. Thanks to that, I was able to skip the short security line and I was airside 90 seconds after entering the terminal.
I had some time to kill before my flight so I headed to the Plaza Premium Lounge which was conveniently located next to my departure gate. Unfortunately, the location was one of the only positives for the lounge which was crowded and small with lackluster food and beverage options.
Boarding
My flight to New Orleans was departing from Gate E31. After a short visit to the Plaza Premium Lounge I arrived at the gate more than ten minutes before boarding. Surprisingly, there were no gate lice to be seen, just a deadheading Spirit crew.
My Go Big bundle entitled me to Group 1 boarding so I just hopped in the line instead of trying to find a seat in the crowded gate area. Spirit splits their boarding groups based on whether or not carry-on luggage is included with the ticket. Groups 1-3 have a carry-on included while groups 4-5 don’t.
There were quite a few pre-board passengers which slightly delayed the boarding process. Once the jet bridge was clear, Group 1 was invited to board and I headed down to board my first ever ULCC flight.
Spirit Airlines
NK 3719
DFW-MSY (Dallas Fort Worth International – Louis Armstrong New Orleans International)
Seat: 1A (First)
A321-200 (N683NK)
Scheduled: 7:04p-8:38p
Actual: 7:49p-9:22p
Spirit Airlines Airbus A321 Go Big Seat
The Go Big (formerly Big Front Seat) section on Spirit’s Airbus A321 aircraft isn’t a separate cabin but rather the first two rows of the aircraft. Go Big seats are arranged in a 2-2 layout with eight seats available on each flight.
Spirit used to brand these seats as “Big Front Seats” and that branding was reflected on the headrests. I flew this route shortly after the new fare bundles were announced and the interior didn’t appear to have been retrofitted recently. Instead of the airline’s signature black and yellow seats, these were covered in a dark navy leather.
I assigned myself Seat 1A, the bulkhead window seat on the left side of the aircraft. The legroom wasn’t anything amazing, unlike my Aegean A321 flight, but it did have a window to the galley area which made it feel more spacious. Unsurprisingly, Spirit doesn’t have any IFE screens on board.
Between the seats is a small tray that could hold a couple of beverages as well as a large shared armrest.
Depending on whether you’re seated in the window or aisle, the tray table is located in either the left or right armrest. SInce I was in a window seat, my tray table was stored in the left side armrest closest to the window.
Unlike some of the tiny tray tables you’ll find on some ULCCs, Spirit uses a full size tray table in its Go Big seats. The tray table could be folded over in half or extended fully, covering the entire seat.
I’m assuming it has something to do with the storage compartment but, when opened, there’s an odd triangle shaped cutout in the tray table.
When fully extended, the tray table rests on a small platform on the center armrest. This made it very sturdy to use and I had no issue working during the flight. The tray table has no lip whatsoever so I had to be careful not to accidentally slide anything off during the trip.
Spirit Airlines doesn’t have power outlets onboard its aircraft so, make sure your devices are charged up before boarding your flight.
While onboard power isn’t offered, Spirit does offer reserved overhead bins for Go Big passengers. This was strictly enforced on my flight. When I boarded, the bins over the first two rows were closed and I assumed the crew had their bags up there. When the flight attendant saw me looking for space she opened the front bin, which was empty, and allowed me to place my bag there. She promptly closed it behind me to save space for other Go Big passengers.
My seatmate was one of the last passengers to board and there was still space waiting for him in the first bin.
Departure
Boarding for this flight was relatively quick, even with an almost full load on this high density Airbus A321, Spirit staffs its A321s with five flight attendants as it has 228 seats onboard. During boarding the flight attendant working the Go Big cabin came around taking drink orders.
Though boarding was completed well before our scheduled departure time, we ended up taking a 45 minute delay as we were waiting on a pilot that was coming in from another flight. During this time there was no service from the crew and, instead, they just hung out in the galley. While Spirit may be selling these seats to compete with First Class offerings on other airlines, don’t expect a full First Class service.
We ended up getting not one, but two pilots to operate our flight. Since only one of them was going to get paid, they did “rock, paper, scissors” in the galley with the loser getting off. From there, we had to wait a couple minutes on paperwork and pushed back just as the sun set.
We had a short taxi out to Runway 35L and took off to the north out of DFW before turning southeast to head towards New Orleans.
In-Flight
As we climbed out of DFW, the crew had already dimmed the cabin lights so the plane was mostly dark. There was one extremely bright LED light in the galley that was shining in my face. It was a minor inconvenience but could be a problem if you’re trying to sleep on longer or later flights as there was no bulkhead curtain.
Once we reached cruising altitude the beverage service began. Orders had been taken prior to take off and the flight attendant proactively offered everyone doubles. While snacks and beverages are free for Go Big and Go Comfy (non-alcoholic beverages only in Go Comfy), everything else is buy on board. The menu read as follows and includes some quirky items such as Buzzbox cocktails and sweet chili flavored Cup Noodles.
I ordered a vodka soda which was proactively served as a double. The airline uses plastic cups in Go Big but, otherwise I was impressed with the presentation.
After the beverage service, the flight attendant working our section came around with a snack basket. I assumed that we would be ordering off the menu and asked for some M&M’s but the snack basket had additional options. She was nice enough to head back and get me some M&M’s off the cart in addition to the snack basket offerings.
Our A321 was equipped with Wi-Fi and I was able to access it for free via my Go Big ticket. A passcode is required and I had to dig through my email to find it. It’s fairly fine print in a large email so you’ll have to look closely.
Once I had the code, connecting to the Wi-Fi was easy and it was fast throughout the flight.
Prior to landing, I headed to check out the forward lavatory. I wasn’t expecting much and I didn’t find much in the way of amenities other than some hand sanitizer/soap by the sink.
Arrival
As we descended into New Orleans, the crew came around picking up trash but let us hang onto our drinks for as long as possible. Shortly after, we touched down on Runway 11 and had a quick taxi to our arrival gate, C16, where we blocked in 44 minutes behind schedule.
Because of our delay, there were more than 30 passengers at risk of missing their connection to Atlanta. The flight attendants asked that those who weren’t heading to Atlanta remain seated and, surprisingly, everyone complied.
It took a few minutes for all of the Atlanta passengers to deplane but I was off the aircraft not long after arrival. From there I headed off towards baggage claim and ground transportation to find my ride.
Summary
All told, my Spirit Airlines flight in Go Big was better than I expected. The airline is clearly still a ULCC at its core and there are a few quirks about its service offerings (I never thought I’d see so many people eating Cup Noodles on a plane) and hard product ( these planes operate some long flights and desperately need power outlets.
While the airline still has some room for improvement with its Go Big product, especially with more competitors entering the market, I’d still fly it again if the price and timing fit my needs.
