Which Are The Best Seats Onboard?

Much like its counterparts in the United States, such as Frontier Airlines and Allegiant Air, Spirit Airlines offers low fares with a significant amount of ancillary options. An ultra-low-cost carrier, Spirit exclusively operates Airbus A320 family aircraft, primarily the Airbus A320, plus some A319s and A321s.

A single aircraft configuration for the A320s means they all have an identical layout. But, as with any plane, the Airbus A320 features some seats that are better than others. The standard seat has just 28 inches of legroom. That being said, not all of the seats are the same. Let’s take a look at which are the best seats onboard Spirit Airlines’ A320s.

Big Front Seats

Spirit Airlines differentiates itself from the competition by offering the aptly named “Big Front Seats.” On the carrier’s Airbus A320s, rows 1 and 2 of the plane feature these more comfortable seats. They offer extra legroom with a seat pitch of 36 inches rather than the standard 28 and are wider at 20 inches rather than 17.5 (per SeatGuru).

Photo: Spirit Airlines 

Where other ULCCs may offer some seating with better legroom, they usually keep the width the same, making Spirit’s product somewhat of a rarity. As an addition, these eight seats have a larger armrest between them and better padding.

That said, like all other seats, they are “pre-reclined,” meaning they do not recline. As a benefit of the location at the front of the aircraft, passengers sitting in these seats will be able to deplane first and are fortunately just steps away from a lavatory. Sometimes found in premium cabins, Big Front Seats are equipped with inflatable seat belts rather than a standard lap belt.

Photo: Carlos Yudica/Shutterstock

The cabin configuration looks like a domestic first-class cabin onboard narrowbodies at full-service legacy carriers. However, Spirit Airlines passengers will not be privy to any premium catering you’ll find with such operators.

Exit row

While, of course, the Big Front Seats have plenty of legroom and width, they do come at a comparably high cost. If you are still happy to pay a bit more for seat allocation and not get randomly assigned something, there are options in the main cabin you should consider, and not all are as expensive as you may think.

One such option would be the seats above the wings with extra legroom. Rows 12 and 13, in the exit row, have 35 inches of legroom compared to the regular 28 inches. These seats are slightly bigger to ensure a swift evacuation in an emergency.

Photo: Spirit Airlines 

In these two rows, the best seats are the two aisles in the second exit row, which are 13C and 13D, as they have easy access to the lavatory and extra legroom. The window seats in both rows have a protruding door that some passengers may find discomforting.

Window photos

For aviation geeks like myself, if you want the perfect seat for an Instagram-worthy window picture, 29A or 29F may be the go-to. While both of these are narrow, they offer a great view of the A320’s wingtip and a mostly unobstructed view of the world passing by 30,000 feet below.

Which seats are your favorite onboard Spirit’s A320? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!