Spirit Airlines Boarding Zones & Process – Everything You Need To Know

When most people hear Spirit Airlines, they tend to cringe. Spirit is put in the same category as Ryanair, EasyJet, and Air Asia, and rightly so: all of these airlines are known as ultra-low-cost carriers.

That means you won’t get any extras without paying for them. Fares are set as low as they can go, and passengers are charged for anything else they want.

When we say everything, we mean everything: seat selection, carry-on bags, and printing boarding passes are just a few of the extra fees you will find when booking with Spirit Airlines. You won’t even get a free drink during your flight!

The most important thing you can do to improve your experience when flying any low-cost airline is to understand the policies and fees before you book. That way, you know what to expect and don’t end up frustrated with unexpected costs and confusion.

When it comes to preparation for your flight, knowing how the Spirit Airlines boarding process works is a great place to start.

By understanding boarding, you’ll get your trip started right and have less to worry about when it’s time to fly. Let’s take a look at how Spirit Airlines boards its planes so you’ll know just what to do.

Spirit Airlines Boarding Zones

Spirit Airlines uses a boarding process that is similar to other low-cost airlines like Frontier: 4 numbered zones, along with pre-boarding and family boarding, make a process that is fairly easy to follow.

When flying with an ultra-low-cost carrier, you need to remember that many of their passengers will be newer to air travel. They may not be as experienced with any type of aircraft boarding, and you’ll need to have patience when things don’t go as smoothly as they should.

The more people who understand how the boarding process works, the quicker the airplane will be loaded! So let’s go over exactly how Spirit Airlines does things.

Here are the details of which passengers are eligible to board with each of Spirit’s boarding zones:

Pre-Boarding

• Passengers with disabilities
• Passengers who need special assistance

Zone 1

• Passengers who purchased a carry-on bag

Zone 2

• Passengers who purchased Shortcut Boarding
• Passengers who have Silver or Gold status with Free Spirit
• Cardholders of the Free Spirit^® Travel More World Elite Mastercard^® and the Free Spirit^® Travel Mastercard^®

Family Boarding

• Families with children ages 3 and under

Zone 3

• General boarding
• Usually the back half of the plane

Zone 4

• General boarding
• Usually the front half of the plane

Boarding Notes

Even if you didn’t pay to choose a seat ahead of time, you will be assigned a seat when you check in for your flight. Once the seat is assigned, you will be placed into one of the available boarding zones, which will be shown on your boarding pass.

With Spirit Airlines, it is especially important to check in for your flight and get your boarding pass before you get to the airport.

Once you arrive at the airport, Spirit actually charges you to print a boarding pass. It will cost you $2 to print your boarding pass at one of its kiosks, or a somewhat ridiculous $10 if you need to have an agent print your boarding pass for you!

Hot Tip: You can easily avoid the boarding pass printing fees by checking in and printing your boarding pass at home before your flight. Even if you forget to do that, you can always use the free Spirit app (iOS, Android) to get an electronic boarding pass on your smartphone.

How To Build Up Your Free Spirit Points Balance

Our goal at Upgraded Points is to get you in the air without using too much of your hard-earned cash. As you would expect, the best way to do that is with points and miles.

The Free Spirit loyalty program definitely isn’t known as one of the strongest loyalty programs out there, but if you regularly find yourself choosing Spirit for your paid flights, you might as well join and earn some points.

In addition to flying, there are lots of other ways to earn Free Spirit points.

If you’re looking for the easiest way to earn, the Free Spirit World Elite card is probably the way to go. It earns 3 points per dollar spent with Spirit, has a few useful benefits, and the annual fee is waived the first year.

By putting a good chunk of your spending on the Free Spirit World Elite card, you will be ready to take your first Spirit Airlines award flight in no time.

Spirit Airlines award flight redemptions actually start at a pretty low level, starting at just 2,500 points one-way. 

Also, don’t miss our post on the best ways to redeem Free Spirit points for max value.

Bottom Line: The key thing to remember about the Free Spirit program is that your points will expire in just 12 months if you don’t have any new earnings on your account (no matter how they’re earned). If you have either credit card, a simple recurring monthly bill can solve this problem — but if you don’t have either card, you really need to watch your points and use them within 12 months.

Final Thoughts

Spirit is the airline people love to hate. It charges low fares and then adds on costs for everything else you need, including printing boarding passes at the airport and beverages on board. But it’s really not much different from other ultra-low-cost carriers around the world.

Sure, flying with Spirit isn’t the same as the legacy U.S. carriers like American, United, and Delta — but choosing Spirit can really save you a lot of money. The flight experience typically isn’t that bad either, as long as you know what to expect.

By learning about its boarding procedure ahead of time, you are already a step ahead of the other passengers. You’ll be ready to go when you get to the airport, and might even be able to help some other customers understand what’s going on (and if you’ve got other questions relating to Spirit Airlines, check out our Spirit FAQ guide).

Flying on Spirit Airlines isn’t for everyone, but if you are looking for a cheap way to get from point A to point B and you don’t mind giving up some of the comforts of traditional airlines, Spirit is really a great option that you should look at.

Now that you know how to board, maybe we will see you at the gate!