Review: Spirit Airlines A321 Economy Class

I had the chance to fly Spirit Airlines for the first time since the pandemic on a morning A321 service from Chicago to Newark and it showed me why I value Spirit so much as a check on pricing in the USA.

Spirit Airlines A321 Economy Class Review (ORD-EWR)

I was flying from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) to Newark Liberty (EWR), two United Airlines hubs. I also have Premier 1K status with United Airlines and am chasing 2 million lifetime miles. So why not use United? On a transactional basis, I could not justify it.

This was a last-minute trip and a one-way ticket on United was $348 (same price on American Airlines). Meanwhile, Spirit was $118.

Sorry, I’m not going to spend an extra $230 on a 719-mile flight just to earn a few measly United miles.

Plus, I was traveling with only my duffel bag, meaning I would not even have to cough up an extra $50 for a checked bag on Spirit.

I spent the night at the Hyatt Regency Chicago O’Hare and showed up at 7:00 am for my 8:00 am flihgt, having chehked in online.

The gate area was quite a gaggle, but operations were running smoothly and we boarded on time 45 minutes before schedueld departure.

I briefly wrote about my carry-on observations here. Some people seemed to game the system by having four items even though they were only entitled to one personal item, paying up at the gate to check one of them, but then being allowed onboard with the two extra items at no cost.

> Read More: Four Carry-On Bags…The Logic Of A Spirit Airlines Customer

I chose not to pay for a seat, but was assigned an aisle seat at the gate and handed a printed boarding pass.

Spirit Airlines 328
Chicago (ORD) – Newark (EWR)
Tuesday, October 8
Depart: 08:00 AM
Arrive: 11:23 AM
Duration: 2 hr, 23 min
Distance: 719 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A321
Seat: 8A (Economy Class)

There was no drama onboard…everyone found their seats and we pushed back on time.

Speaking of seats, the seating onboard the Spirit Airlines A321ceo includes eight “Big Front” seats and 220 seats in economy class. The economy class seats have a width of 17 inches and a pitch of 28.5 inches. Yes, legroom is very tight and the tray table is very small, making any work onboard tough.

At least there were air vents…

Since the seats don’t recline, I was less concerned about opening my laptop and positioning it gainst the seat in front, using that little tray table to try and steady my 15-inch laptop. While I got some work done, I must admit it was not very productive.

Service began right after takeoff, with flight attendants selling beverages and snacks. While Frontier offers free water, Spirit does not. I did not eat or drink anything during the flight.

I checked out one of the rear lavatories (there two in the rear and one in the front) and it was very small.

And less than 90 minutes, we touched down on time in Newark…it was a smooth, easy flight and I was very happy that I saved $230 over flying United.

Can you imagine how much United or American might have charged if Spirit did not provide some competition on this route?

Thank you Spirit for allowing me to save some money…