Are Spirit flights assigned seating?

Yes, Spirit Airlines uses assigned seating for all of its flights. If you want to choose your seat, you can pay a fee ahead of time to pick the one you want. Fees vary depending on where on the plane the seat is, with exit rows and other premium seat locations costing more. Passengers who do not to pay to choose their seat will have a seat randomly assigned to them at check-in.

How many boarding zones are there on Spirit?

Spirit Airlines uses 5 boarding groups for loading its flights. In addition to those 5 numbered zones, Spirit offers preboarding to passengers in need of extra assistance and family boarding to families traveling with children 3 and under.

Who is in Zone 1 on Spirit?

Boarding Group 1 on Spirit Airlines includes all Spirit First and Free Spirit Gold Members. These passengers are allowed to board in the first zone so that all overhead bags are stowed before the remainder of the plane boards, thus speeding up the overall process.

Who is in Zone 2 on Spirit?

Boarding Group 2 on Spirit Airlines includes passengers who purchased premium economy tickets, Shortcut Boarding, passengers who have Silver status with Spirit, and cardholders of the Free Spirit World Elite card or Free Spirit card.

Who is in Zone 3 on Spirit?

Boarding Group 3 on Spirit Airlines includes all passengers with the Value fare who purchase a carry-on bag.

Who is in zones 4 and 5 on Spirit?

Boarding groups 4 and 5 on Spirit Airlines are the second and last of its general boarding zones and include all passengers who purchased a Value fare without purchase of a carry-on bag.

Who is allowed to preboard on Spirit?

On Spirit Airlines, passengers with disabilities and passengers who need special assistance are eligible for preboarding. If you would like to take advantage of preboarding, you should see a gate agent before the boarding process begins.

Spirit Airlines Boarding Zones and Process: Everything You Need To Know

Updated: July 16, 2025, 10:14am CDT

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Table of Contents

Key Takeaways
Spirit Airlines Boarding Zones
How To Build Your Free Spirit Points Balance
Final Thoughts

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Key Takeaways

Spirit Airlines’ boarding process is divided into groups, starting with passengers with disabilities and who need special assistance.
Group 1 is for passengers who have purchased a carry-on bag, and Group 2 is for those with Shortcut Boarding, elite status, or an eligible credit card.
Groups 3, 4, and 5 comprise general boarding (Value-ticketed passengers).

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 Spirit Airlines 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: 5 numbered groups, along with preboarding 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 often many of their passengers will be newer to air travel. They may not be as experienced with any type of aircraft boarding, and you 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 — and that includes you! 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 groups:

Preboarding

Passengers with disabilities
Passengers who need special assistance

Group 1

Passengers who purchased Spirit First
Passengers who have Gold status with Free Spirit

Group 2

Passengers who purchased Premium Economy
Passengers who have Silver with Free Spirit
Cardholders of the Free Spirit^® Travel More World Elite Mastercard^® and the Free Spirit^® Travel Mastercard^®
Guests who purchase Shortcut Boarding

Group 3

Value fares with purchase of carry-on bag

Groups 4 and 5

General boarding
Value fares (without purchase of carry-on bag)

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 groups, 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 can print a boarding pass. Spirit no longer charges for boarding pass printing.

Hot Tip: You can always use the free Spirit app (iOS, Android) to get an electronic boarding pass on your smartphone.

How To Build 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 $1 spent with Spirit, has a few useful benefits, and has a $0 introductory fee for the first year, then $79 thereafter. By putting a good chunk of your spending on the Free Spirit World Elite card, you could 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. Don’t miss our post on the best ways to redeem Free Spirit points for maximum value.

Bottom Line:

The key thing to remember about the Free Spirit program is that your points 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 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 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!