Free Wi-Fi? Free checked baggage? Free snacks? At Spirit?
The Florida-based airline, virtually synonymous with low-cost flights in the U.S., said Tuesday it will begin offering packages for its most expensive tickets that include perks it used to charge for individual tickets, as the airline looks to boost revenue as it grapples with the fallout from a U.S.-blocked takeover by JetBlue, engine recalls, an oversupplied domestic market and larger rivals that equally capitalize on premium and budget travelers.
Starting at the end of next month, Spirit will offer four service categories:
“Go Big” tickets include a seat in one of the airline’s Big Front Seats, the spacious seats at the front of Airbus planes. Rather than just selling travelers the seat, the assignment includes free Wi-Fi, one checked bag, one carry-on bag and, as CEO Ted Christie told CNBC, “unlimited” snacks and drinks, including alcoholic beverages.
Under this package is “Go Comfy,” which offers travelers a seat with standard legroom but a blocked middle seat for more space. This offer also includes early boarding, a snack, a soft drink, and checked and carry-on baggage.
Go Savvy fares include either one checked bag or one carry-on bag.
Then there’s Go, essentially Spirit’s original product, with just one seat and fees for checked baggage, carry-on baggage, seat selection, Wi-Fi and snacks.
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The options can be booked from August 16th and all four are available on flights departing August 27th.
Spirit competes with larger airline rivals like United, which target conscious travelers with their own basic products but still offer higher-priced options like more legroom and first class.
“We realized that we were kind of ceding other markets to other airlines,” Christie said in an interview. “Now we’re saying, no, we can still do what we did before, but we’re also going to compete for people who are willing or want a slightly higher-end feel and would pay for it. They just couldn’t give us that.”
Spirit warned earlier this month of a larger-than-expected loss after non-ticket revenue – i.e. fees – was lower than previously forecast. The airline also warned pilots of possible forced furloughs in the coming months.
Spirit is not the only airline looking to expand its luxury seating offerings to attract more customers. Southwest Airlines, which is also under pressure to increase revenue, announced last week that it would abandon open seat selection and instead offer “premium” seats with more legroom. This would be the biggest restructuring in the airline’s more than 50-year history. Frontier Airlines announced in March that it would begin offering blocked middle seats in the front of the plane for an additional charge.
