A man decided to book a first class “Big Front Seat” with Spirit Airlines for his trip from Tampa, Fla., to Austin, Texas. He shared his experience with the upgraded seat on the budget airline with a surprising twist to the second leg of his trip.
In a video with over 314,000 views, TikToker Chard (@the_chard) says he decided to book a first-class ticket because he “thought it would be funny.” He boards the first flight for his connection between Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale.
“What’s great about this is it comes with a seatbelt when usually I just stand on these flights,” he says sarcastically. He orders a double whiskey and coke before “in-flight entertainment,” which he says was watching “three fights” during the boarding process.
While he was happy with the first flight, he says Spirit canceled his final flight between Ft. Lauderdale and Austin.
“I’m stuck here in Ft. Lauderdale, which is fantastic,” he says. “So even if you book a first-class ticket on Spirit Airlines, you will still end up in Ft. Lauderdale and won’t be able to get home.”
Is First Class On Spirit Airlines Worth It?
Spirit Airlines doesn’t have a traditional first-class seating section. However, their highest-tier seating option offers two-seat rows with more legroom. It also has free snacks and drinks and a carry-on, which isn’t available in the standard seating section.
Travelers on the r/spiritair subreddit shared their own mixed opinions of the upgraded “Go Big” seats.
“I tried it for the first time in October, was a third of the price of Delta. Loved it!” one said.
Another wrote, “I used this last week and it was absolutely awful. Service was terrible, seats were equally as awful. What’s up with the really big thick thing on the left side of the seatbelt only? The tray table was tiny as hell, and the FAs were borderline contemptuous.”
“Love Go Big. Only ever fly with it. It’s a great price for what you get,” a third added.
In an email to BroBible, Chard says that the cancellation was only the beginning of his trouble with Spirit Airlines.
“Well Spirit did refund me, a 1/10th of the ticket costs… I originally had a $300 flight credit that I used to buy a one way flight back from Tampa to Austin,” he writes. “I went to the customer service desk and the line was insane. I decided to deal with it over the phone/email and Uber’d to Miami, got a hotel and bought a morning flight the next day back to Austin on American Airlines.”
He notes that he submitted his hotel receipt to Spirit for reimbursement but the airline has not made a decision on whether to cover his expenses.
What Do Viewers Think About The Cancellation?
In the comments section, viewers suspected that the TikToker’s canceled flight is a warning that the budget airline may be experiencing financial issues.
“Spirit airlines is about to file bankruptcy so thy are cancelling flights left and right,” one suggested.
A second wrote, “Jokes on you, that ticket is now keeping away the bankruptcy for another week.”
Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy twice since 2024, according to NPR. The report also noted that 27% of Ft. Lauderdale flights are covered by Spirit Airlines, so closing the business would shake up travel to the area.
However, other commenters say they’ll still consider trying Spirit’s upgraded seats after watching Chard’s video.
“Honestly, this changes everything. I’ve just never wanted to fly Spirit because I didn’t want to have to pay for every bag,” one viewer wrote.
“Honestly didn’t know spirit had a first class,” another remarked.
“First class on spirit makes so much sense &$ wise,” a third commenter added.
@the_chard Standing in bathroom on a United flight > first class on Spirit
BroBible reached out to Chard via email and TikTok direct message and to Spirit Airlines via email for further comment. We will update the story when they reply.