Spirit Seat Bids: Winning!

[kittylady1972]

We are frequent Spirit flyers (converted a few years ago after being mostly SWA people for FL...NEVER say NEVER) and one of the things they do is allow you to BID on a BIG Front seat or Exit Row seat a few days before the flight if they are available. When I have only paid $46 for 2 one-way flights to FL, sometimes it's fun to see if I can get us an upgrade at a discount. The BIG front seats are super nice...but for a 2+ hour flight, I'm fine with the regular seats as well.

I usually bid the very minimum, or maybe $1 or $2 more than the minimum bid allowed. They have a gauge that shows you your chances...and it always shows the lowest chance, but again not a big deal if I don't get it.

For our upcoming flight, to buy the BIG front seat outright is $55 each. I bid $27 this time (minimum I think was $25). Found out this morning the bid was accepted and it's like winning a major award...that I have to pay for of course. Brings my flight cost to $99 for 2 one-way tickets...still not horrible. My return flight is on SWA booked with points, but honestly I really HATE HATE HATE the cattle call and stress of trying to find a seat and save one for people who have different boarding groups.

I've done the Spirit bidding thing many times with varied results. I've won the exit row seats more often than the Big seats, but we have won the Big seats a few times too. I'm always excited to get the emails that I won and if I don't get them...not a big deal either.

So for anybody who has ever considered it, just letting you know that you can win even with the low, low bids. If I don't win, no big deal...I just wait as long as possible to check in so that I can get a decent assigned seat near the front of the plane.

 

[CoachBeard]

Congrats! I've flown Spirit only once and it was ok. I paid for a carry-on due to my backpack size and no one even checked! So they got like $60 for free from me... I like the bidding idea but my local airport is LAX and it is rare to fly anywhere out of there on a less than full flight so I doubt they'd even have the big seats available.

 

[kittylady1972]

Congrats! I've flown Spirit only once and it was ok. I paid for a carry-on due to my backpack size and no one even checked! So they got like $60 for free from me... I like the bidding idea but my local airport is LAX and it is rare to fly anywhere out of there on a less than full flight so I doubt they'd even have the big seats available.

Well if you paid for a carry-on then your boarding pass would have indicated that so they would not have questioned you walking on with a bag that they knew had been paid. I usually take a Spirit "free" bag of some kind (I have a backpack and two rollers that qualify) and only once have I been stopped to have it "checked" and while it will fit (if I don't overstuff it) I had to rearrange some stuff in it to get it to fit better. It sucked but now way was I going to pay for it when I know it is "legal".

We have 2 or 3 direct flights to MCO from our local airport a day, and some indirects, so there are usually several options and usually pretty cheap. When I can pay as little as $50 for a RT ticket for a quick trip to FL, why not? Especially when I have an annual pass and DVC points to use to make the trip extra cheap.

It's definitely not for everybody, I get that, but we have been pretty satisfied with them more often than not over our SWA flights over the last few years of using them.

 

[CoachBeard]

I'm definitely not opposed to flying with them again. They were the only direct flight to Cleveland at a reasonable time last time I went.

 

[georgina]

We are frequent Spirit flyers (converted a few years ago after being mostly SWA people for FL...NEVER say NEVER) and one of the things they do is allow you to BID on a BIG Front seat or Exit Row seat a few days before the flight if they are available. When I have only paid $46 for 2 one-way flights to FL, sometimes it's fun to see if I can get us an upgrade at a discount. The BIG front seats are super nice...but for a 2+ hour flight, I'm fine with the regular seats as well.

I usually bid the very minimum, or maybe $1 or $2 more than the minimum bid allowed. They have a gauge that shows you your chances...and it always shows the lowest chance, but again not a big deal if I don't get it.

For our upcoming flight, to buy the BIG front seat outright is $55 each. I bid $27 this time (minimum I think was $25). Found out this morning the bid was accepted and it's like winning a major award...that I have to pay for of course. Brings my flight cost to $99 for 2 one-way tickets...still not horrible. My return flight is on SWA booked with points, but honestly I really HATE HATE HATE the cattle call and stress of trying to find a seat and save one for people who have different boarding groups.

I've done the Spirit bidding thing many times with varied results. I've won the exit row seats more often than the Big seats, but we have won the Big seats a few times too. I'm always excited to get the emails that I won and if I don't get them...not a big deal either.

So for anybody who has ever considered it, just letting you know that you can win even with the low, low bids. If I don't win, no big deal...I just wait as long as possible to check in so that I can get a decent assigned seat near the front of the plane.

Congrats. I can say with confidence I will never fly Spirit. If it works for you, that's great. My recent trip with SW was $105 RT ( carryon and personal item included).

 

[mikehn]

I fly spirit every now and then. But I dont upgrade for anything. Im a complete cheapskate as much as possible when it comes to transportation. Airlines hate me.