Back to school is just around the corner and Spirit Airlines is making that transition a bit easier by helping students, parents, and teachers alike plan for their first school year vacation with a $40 flight sale.
27.07.2023 - 18:34 / smartertravel.com / Tim Winship / Barry Biffle
Flying ultra-low-cost airlines like Spirit and Frontier means a bare-bones experience in many ways, not all of them expected. While most customers know they’ll be shoehorned into no-legroom seats in exchange for rock-bottom ticket prices, they are often surprised to discover a less-publicized tradeoff: Neither Spirit nor Frontier participates in the TSA’s PreCheck program for trusted travelers.
That’s an especially glaring drawback today, in light of the TSA’s recent inability to efficiently manage security at the nation’s airports, and the resulting long lines at screening checkpoints. Enrolling in PreCheck is the only reliable way to minimize the wait times, although it’s hardly the definitive solution to the problem.
Related:Is the TSA’s PreCheck Overpriced and Overcomplicated?Today, travelers flying Spirit and Frontier, even if they’re enrolled in PreCheck, cannot take advantage of the expedited-processing lanes, because the software used by the two carriers isn’t linked to the TSA’s software. By July 31, that missing link will be established, allowing both carriers to participate in the program.
Frontier CEO Barry Biffle this week pledged to join PreCheck immediately; Spirit, on the other hand, will defer its participation until some time this fall.
So, Frontier flyers can look forward to a bit of relief during the latter half of the summer travel crush. Spirit flyers will have to wait.
Reader Reality Check
Are you enrolled in PreCheck?
More from SmarterTravel: Hey, Millennials, What’s with You and Travel Agents? American Sets Start Date for Spend-Based Mile Earning United Chases Big Spenders with New Business ClassAfter 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.
We hand-pick everything we recommend and select items through testing and reviews. Some products are sent to us free of charge with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions and do not accept compensation to review products. All items are in stock and prices are accurate at the time of publication. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.
Back to school is just around the corner and Spirit Airlines is making that transition a bit easier by helping students, parents, and teachers alike plan for their first school year vacation with a $40 flight sale.
WOW Air, the Iceland-based no-frills carrier that raised eyebrows with its $99 fares from Boston and Baltimore to Iceland a year ago, now has something in common with Spirit Airlines, the U.S. carrier notorious for its nickel-and-diming and generally customer-unfriendly ways.
With no sign of relief in sight, the TSA’s inability to effectively and efficiently manage airport security screening promises to remain this summer’s biggest bad-news travel story.
Is the state of air travel improving? Not according to the DOT, which just released its Air Travel Consumer Report for 2015.
For $85 and a little bit of legwork, TSA PreCheck lets you skip the airport security line on domestic flights. It’s a nice service for frequent travelers wanting to save time, and a privilege, you’d think, worth paying for.
Beginning on June 1, Spirit will become the third airline to pull out of the Cuba market altogether, joining Frontier and Silver Airways. Two other airlines, American and JetBlue, have cut capacity on their Cuba flights, either by reducing frequency or downgrading to smaller planes.
Following is our regular summary of the latest travel news and best frequent traveler promotions reviewed during the past week.
In a first for a U.S. airline loyalty program, Alaska Airlines is offering members of its Mileage Plan program the option to redeem miles to pay for TSA PreCheck service.
Could Spirit, the airline everybody loves to hate, become a bit less hateful? If the company’s new CEO has his way, it will do just that.
Supersonic speed – mainstream fares
Although Uber has relationships with several airline and hotel loyalty programs, it has so far stopped short of launching its own program. That changes this week, with the announcement of a simple buy-nine-get-one-free offer in conjunction with Capital One.
The long lines, missed flights, and traveler outrage have been front-page news for months. And there’s little prospect that the bottleneck at the TSA’s airport security checkpoints can be ameliorated in time to for the summer travel crush.