Trying out Spirit Airlines Gold status: Some successes, but certain free perks felt a bit 'costly' to use.

I’m pleased to say that I appreciate Spirit Airlines for what it offers — a budget-friendly way to travel from Point A to Point B. When Spirit Airlines launched a new elite status program with genuine tiers and benefits earlier this year, I was excited. I enjoy luxury seats and all the comforts my travel rewards can buy, but often, I just need an affordable, straightforward two-to-three-hour domestic flight.

A recent short journey back home with my kids from Orlando to Houston after our trip to Disney World seemed like the ideal opportunity to try out the Spirit Airlines Gold status I received from the airline to sample their new program. (You can also opt for a status match challenge with Spirit now.) The appeal of an inexpensive Spirit fare paired with Gold status perks like a complimentary carry-on, a free checked bag, a seat assignment, snacks onboard, and more felt almost too good to believe.

While several aspects of Spirit's elite status performed just as promised and helped me save some money, in some instances, what was free turned out to be too costly after all.

Allow me to elaborate.

Overview of Spirit Gold status

To qualify for Free Spirit Gold status, you typically need to accumulate 5,000 status-qualifying points annually. This translates to spending around $5,000 on Spirit's base fares and additional services like seat selections and baggage fees throughout the calendar year. You can also advance your status by using an eligible Spirit credit card for purchases.

After achieving Gold status, you'll earn redeemable points at a faster rate than non-elite members—10 times on ticket fares and 20 times on extras such as baggage fees.

More importantly, Gold members enjoy several benefits:

• Complimentary seat selection at the time of booking (excluding Big Front Seats)
• One free full-sized carry-on bag
• One free checked bag
• A complimentary snack and beverage during the flight
• The option to pool points with other members
• Waived redemption fees for award bookings
• Priority boarding
• A dedicated phone line for elite customer service
• "Flight Flex" allows one itinerary modification online for free, up to 24 hours before your flight.

This list is quite extensive, especially when compared to the previous version, which I wouldn't even classify as 'elite.' Therefore, I was excited to put this status to the test.

The advantages of Spirit Gold status

On paper, the Free Spirit program offers some appealing features that are definitely worth considering, particularly if you often fly with a budget airline.

We managed to get our tickets for just $42 each for flights from Orlando to Houston. Thanks to the generously provided Gold status, I secured a complimentary seat assignment in row 5 (normally $21), brought a free carry-on bag (which would typically cost about $36), and enjoyed a snack and drink during the flight (normally around $7). I also had the option to check a bag (which would be $40), but we'll revisit that shortly.

If you’re traveling alone and hold your Gold status, you can snag incredibly low fares starting at about $20 each way using cash or a few thousand Spirit points. This also includes a complimentary drink, snack, carry-on bag, and seat assignment (even in the exit row)—a fantastic deal!

For me, the complimentary advance seat selection for one person, a free carry-on, and early boarding all worked perfectly. Honestly, the legroom in row 5 exceeded my expectations.

The downsides of Spirit Gold status

This next aspect wasn’t unexpected, but experiencing it firsthand felt more daunting than merely reading about it on a screen.

Along with my newly acquired Spirit Gold status, I also hold elite status with United and Spirit's budget rival, Frontier.

In most frequent flyer programs, including Frontier, many elite benefits extend to at least one other person on the reservation. This is typically the case for complimentary upgrades and checked baggage on full-service airlines. Even Frontier offers free advance seating for up to eight people in the group—starting at its mid-tier status, which is similar to Spirit Gold.

However, Spirit's specific perks are limited to the individual with status. No one else on the reservation receives a free or discounted bag or seat assignment. When I travel with family, as I often do, this means I have to pay for my kids to sit with me in order to use my free seat assignment. In this instance, that cost amounted to an extra $21 each, totaling $42.

While getting one free seat is certainly better than nothing, aligning with the standard practice of allowing at least one other person on the reservation to benefit would have felt more rewarding for those who worked hard to earn their status.

The drawbacks of Spirit Gold status

This is where my Free Spirit benefits started to feel too 'costly' to utilize.

During the previously mentioned trip home from Orlando with my two daughters, we had two carry-on roller bags to share among us. With my status, I could take one for free, and since we chose to fly Spirit to keep costs down (and to test out the perks), we opted to check the other bag. This way, I could fully leverage my Gold benefits while avoiding the fee for one of my (non-status) kids to carry the second bag on board.

Having visited Orlando and flown Spirit several times before, I was well aware to expect a long line for checking bags.

I was hoping that the introduction of the new elite status program a few months back would lead to shorter wait times for Spirit elites when checking bags. Perhaps there might even be a self-service, bag tag-and-drop option available—like what we see at some other Spirit locations.

Spoiler alert: As mentioned yesterday, there was a very long line with no alternative if you needed to check a bag.

I have no idea how long the wait was to check a bag with Spirit because I quickly calculated that the free-checked-bag perk wasn't worth the hassle. While I can't say for certain how long it would take to process the 75 to 100 people in line, it was definitely longer than my mental threshold of 10 to 20 minutes.

It also exceeded my personal limit for waiting. We had just returned from a Disney trip, so we're not afraid of queues, but at Disney, the lines are spaced out and separated by plexiglass. Here, it felt like a throwback to 2019, except for the masks.

Although you can't check a bag yourself with Spirit in Orlando, there are kiosks available with no wait time. An agent is present to help out. I confirmed with him that there was no dedicated Gold status line or other alternatives besides enduring the long wait or paying a last-minute fee to carry on a second bag.

With Spirit, the fees for checking or carrying on a bag increase as your departure time approaches, and the cost for a carry-on was now $55—about $20 more than if we had secured the price when booking.

The Spirit employee I spoke with at the kiosk seemed to find the humor in the situation and pointed out that, as a Gold member, I'd earn 20x Free Spirit points per dollar on the $55 I was about to pay, rather than having a sensible way to use my complimentary Gold checked bag benefit. Um, thanks?!

Almost there, but not quite!

There were additional quirks to having Spirit status besides just the long wait.

Once I was onboard and $55 lighter due to the bag fee, I thought it would be smooth sailing from that point. As the flight attendants began their rounds with drinks and snacks for sale, I hoped their system would recognize my seat as belonging to a Gold member, prompting them to offer me the complimentary items.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

When they reached my row, I had to inquire about the snacks that should come with Gold status. After a moment of confusion, they informed me they needed to check my boarding pass, which was sadly crumpled underneath my sleeping five-year-old.

Fortunately, I had my mobile boarding passes saved in my inbox on my phone. However, when I showed them, I was told it was the wrong color and that I needed a Gold pass to claim the complimentary items.

I pointed out where it indicated 'Gold' on the black-and-white mobile pass, but they were skeptical. Ultimately, I was allowed to choose a drink and snack worth up to $7. Not knowing what was available—since the menu isn't printed and there's no onboard WiFi to check—I pointed to two items I could see in the cart: a bottle of water and a Cheez-It mix.

As the snacks were handed to me, the flight attendant mentioned that next time I needed to ensure my boarding pass was gold in color to receive the free snacks. When I asked how to rectify that, she informed me that it wasn't possible. Who knows what actually went wrong or how to correct it. (For the record, when I later found it, the printed boarding pass wasn't gold either.)

Another interesting thing I noticed was when I decided to create Spirit accounts for my daughters. Since Spirit miles used to expire after just 90 days without any activity, I had never signed them up before. However, now miles don’t expire for at least a year and can be extended with account activity. With my Gold status, I can pool all our points together—making it worthwhile to get them registered.

I registered my daughters for new Free Spirit accounts online while waiting at the gate, but I couldn't get the system to link our upcoming flight with their new frequent flyer numbers. I approached the gate agents to ask if they could add my daughters' Free Spirit numbers to the reservation—something I’ve done with other airlines multiple times—but was informed that could only be done over the phone.

Recalling my special Gold elite phone number, I figured this would be a good opportunity to utilize that benefit. However, after searching high and low on the website and in my inbox, I couldn’t find the number. I also tried the text number provided, but received no response there either.

After 15 minutes of trying to reach the regular customer service line, I decided to give up.

The bottom line

In many ways, I genuinely enjoy flying with Spirit Airlines. Yes, it's true. I will definitely choose this airline again.

I genuinely want Spirit to thrive, and I feel happy whenever I hear of someone who has tried the airline and had a positive experience. The ability to travel across the country (and beyond) for an incredibly low price makes travel accessible to more people and lets families squeeze in an extra trip. Aside from a minor flight delay, our journey was perfectly fine—no better or worse than it would have been with any other airline.

I was eager to embrace Spirit's new program during this first test flight, but unfortunately, there are still some issues that prevent it from being as rewarding as it could be. I did save some money thanks to my Gold status (which was generously gifted to me by Spirit), and I'm thankful for that. However, if I were to assess the airline's status from the perspective of someone who had truly worked hard to earn it, the program still has a way to go in its development.