Considering Leaving Delta for Spirit? You should.
And here’s how you can make the switch more enjoyable, while you’re at it.
The Daily Mail (source) just ran an article titled “Delta's wealthiest passengers vow to switch to Spirit Airlines after carrier cracks down on perks”. While more of a string of loosely sewn-together anecdotes than a comprehensive study, the article did highlight through the Delta-defector interviews some of the points I’ve made rather passionately over the past few years. Mainly, that Delta is off their rocker.
It seems like every day that I log into Reddit, I see a new “WTF is Delta thinking with these prices?” post. Case in point:
source
Though just one example, Delta is consistently higher on every route that I check, without fail. The cheapest Delta purchases happen through their partners. For example, booking an EOE with VS or KLM vs booking direct, or booking domestic DL awards through VS.
Slowly but surely, the tune of the public is changing from “Spirit is a disgusting redacted Greyhound in the sky” to “I am all in on Spirit”.
Anecdotally, as a frequent Spirit flyer, I saw a major change in the service and manner of speed of the crew from 2020 -> 2022, and another big boost in 2023. They are professional, fast, and no nonsense. On the Delta end - again, anecdotally of course - I saw a big public PR boost from 2020 - 2022 that led to a surge of pride from the staff (who feel oh so proud to work for a “luxury airline”) but have had more incidents with careless and crass staff from Delta in the past 4 years than I’ve ever had with Spirit or any other airline for that matter (save for AA, who has at time rivaled Delta in the “not giving an f” department of service).
Seeing is believing, but the price differentials are big enough for most to give Spirit a try. Flyers have regularly seen Delta flights at 4x the price of Spirit flights in 2024 and beyond - and I truly think the gap is widening as Ed drinks more and more of his own Kool-aid on the path to $10B in revenue with Amex / $60B in total annual revenue (source: 2023 investor’s day presentation).
Are those 2023 change to the Delta Loyalty Program (switch to MQD only, “thinning of the herd” by increasing MQD requirements) clicking yet?
“I have an idea - Let’s increase annual revenue by positioning ourselves as luxury in our marketing materials and doubling prices over the course of a year while not actually providing any additional value to 99% of flyers” - Ed, probably
What’s that LBJ quote about distracting people from their wallets by giving them a false sense of superiority? Delta seems to have mastered that strategy.
But enough about Delta, let’s move on to Spirit and how we can make your switch just as pleasant at a fraction of the cost.
get used to yellow
How to Make Your Move to Spirit Enjoyable
Your move to Spirit doesn’t have to be miserable, but it will take a reframing of how you approach flying. Let’s start with the basics:
Status Match - Right now
Through January 31st, 2025 Spirit is once again offering it’s status match (link). Once matched up with the equivalent status - and please, don’t go for less than Gold - you will have 90 days to complete the challenge and keep your status through end of year (and in my experience, end of the NEXT year as well). Why? I don’t know why, but their system seems to have a glitch that extends your status a year longer than promised.
Here’s how the statuses match up and the benefits you’ll receive:
It’s not hard to receive Spirit gold status through this match, but keeping it is a different story.
Gold Status is valued at approximately $300 per round trip that you take with Spirit - make that $500 if you are bringing a pet (pet fee waived!). This is considering a checked bag, carry on, seat selection (Exit row) and free snack/drink (which can be alcoholic now!) per way.
If you’re flying Spirit even a few times a year, these are huge benefits because the price you see IS the price you pay. The “oh but it’s more expensive with the add ons” logic no longer applies. Just keep in mind that the benefits are for the status holder only and do not extend to the rest of the party (like on Frontier). On the bright side, you can carry on your bag and check P2s, and I have a free seat selection strategy coming up later in this article.
Silver Status is valued at approximately $50 per round trip due to the seat selection. Without the free carry on or checked bag, the status is effectively worthless. There are some other minor perks, but you wouldn’t use them unless you’re a very frequent flyer or positioned in a hub.
The good news is that Gold status is easily achievable with another airline’s status. Keeping it will require some planning:
Not as easy as it looks..
What does this even mean? Well:
$1 spent on flying or ancillaries = 1 SQP. (not including taxes)
$10 on the Spirit card = 1 SQP
1250 SQP are required during the 90 day period to keep Spirit Gold. This means you need to plan to spend $12,500 on the card within the first 90 days (so apply for the card first before applying for the match), or $1250 in flying and ancillaries - which will be exceptionally hard with Gold Status, because your ancillaries are all free.
If you’re a Delta status holder via spend, this may be easy peasy for you, but you need the BoA Spirit Card first (link). Technically signing up for the card in flight is better, as you’ll get 60,000 pts + 1,000 for applying on board, but the discrepancy (max 11,000 pts) is valued at $66 - $110, so perhaps it’s better to time it right than maximize points.
2. Save on the Flights (and Seats?) by Booking at the Counter
Spirit and Frontier both charge a CIC - customer interface charge - for customers to book online. The maximum allowable charge for this is $22.99/leg, meaning nearly $46 on a RT flight or $92 on an indirect RT flight.
If you buy your tickets at the counter, they cannot legally charge you this fee. Now the amount of CIC charged can be UP to this amount but can also be less. Check the fare online (all the way through to the checkout page, to see breakdown of fare, fees, taxes) to see what CIC is being charged.
If you’re heading to the airport anytime soon, check the Spirit counter hours, by looking at the flight schedule on FlightConnections.com. If you can line up your flight with their counter hours, buy in person. Additionally, when you buy in person - unlike on the site - they MUST assign a seat to you at the time of booking. Be extra nice and give them a little wink. Maybe they’ll give you the aisle or window. You don’t have to pay for your seat, so don’t let them make you pay.
The flight cost in person may be different than what’s online, and it’s not always what you see online minus the CIC fee. It’s quite fuzzy math, and the receipt stub they give you won’t extrapolate further. Take it or don’t, but you can usually save a bundle on already cheap flights this way.
3. Strategize Your Ancillary Spend
As mentioned above, you may be able to snag a free seat at booking, but even if you don’t have status, you can still strategize your ancillary spend to keep costs low.
Time your check in, based on your party size and the seat map. The seats fill from the back of the plane to the front, going left to right. Wait until you see the seat you want to fully check in on the app and viola - free seat selection. Just keep in mind they will skip the exit rows.
Want an exit row? Go to the gate and right when the gate agent opens the gate, ask if they have any last minute seats. Big Upfront Seats are usually $20/hr of flying and exit rows around $4/hr of flying at the gate. This is the last opportunity to buy these.
As more people switch to Spirit or on popular days/routes, the Big Upfront seats (which are domestic first seats with unlimited snacks and drinks/alcohol) may be sold out, so you’re playing roulette, but it’s worth it for the savings.
Also consider taking ONLY a carry on OR a checked bag, as the checked bag tends to be a few dollars cheaper per leg than the carry on, OR get a personal item bag for trips under 4 days and make it work ;) There’s no weight limit on the carry on or personal item so as long as you can make it work for you, it’s worth it.
In general, if you need all the frills, go for a bundle with the Big Upfront Seats - which is effectively Delta’s Domestic First Class on a big yellow on time plane - for about $120 per way.
4. Book Third Party with Rebooking Insurance
Using Venture X’s portal, choose “rebooking insurance” when you fly any ULCC. The cost is about 15% of your total flight cost, but if:
The flight is delayed 3+ hours, or
The flight is canceled
You can:
Stay on the flight and be refunded in full the cost of the flight; travel insurance rules from the card used apply thereafter
Switch to any flight
Before using this insurance, I will check the route to ensure there’s another flight leaving at the same / near time that will get me to my destination in a timely manner, but you can effectively buy Spirit, fly Delta (or other) if they’re late. This is a win-win all around.
However, in my 6 times using this strategy, Spirit has not even delayed once! Sounds like the odds are better in Vegas. Speaking of..
5. Book with the Best Travel Insurance Card
Especially if your flight contains a layover - and Vegas is my favorite Spirit layover - use a card with good travel insurance, like a Visa Infinite Card (e.g. Ritz Carlton Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve). Then, if your flight is canceled or delayed by 6+ hours, the world is your oyster.
You’ll have $500 for incidental coverage due to not having your bags, and $500 for a hotel. Stay overnight and enjoy.
Now you see why I like to layover in Vegas?
What Other Spirit Tips Do You Have?
I love flying Spirit and they’ve only ever done me dirty once (canceled my flight the day before, departing from IND, my airport so travel insurance didn’t apply). This is why I book with rebooking insurance or book a back up points flight to get me where I need to go.
That was in 2022, when travel was still low, right around Christmas time, so I get it. Demand was low, and they canceled. That’s the risk.
So keep yourself safe from the absolute worst that can happen, because Spirit’s carriage of contract is quite loose, but otherwise enjoy the savings. Save or spend it on something that’s actually calculable - unlike your perceived image due to only flying X airline.
If you have any good Spirit tips that I missed, please share below! I’m always open to new ideas, and love the gamification of ULCCs.
