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You may be one of those that dislike flying since you will have to stay offline for a while. No emails, no social media, and no videos to watch can be very boring. However, with the advent of the in-flight internet, things may change, and you can finally go online on a plane. However, not all airlines have a Wi-Fi connection. What about Spirit? Does Spirit Airlines have Wi-Fi?
Starting July 22, 2022, customers can now purchase and use Wi-Fi on most Spirit Airlines flights, domestic or international. You can purchase your Wi-Fi together with your flight tickets or before takeoff. Prices start at $2.99 for lower browsing speed, with streaming speed for international flights topping at $16.
In this post, we review if Spirit Airlines has Wi-Fi and find out why they offer such a service. We also look into the technology behind in-flight Wi-Fi and how you can purchase your Wi-Fi access for your Spirit flights.
How Does In-Flight Wi-Fi Work?
In-flight Wi-Fi links the plane to a series of antennas and satellites. When flying on the ground, the antenna under the plane’s body connects with the signal towers. When flying on open seas, the plane connects with satellites in orbit. The plane turns into a hot spot, allowing devices to connect to it and access the internet.
In essence, In-light Wi-Fi works by first connecting the plane to a series of antennae and satellites. These antennas are ground-based, while the satellites are in orbit. The plane connects to these antennas and satellites through a receiver underneath its body.
Depending on the plane’s location, it may connect to the antennas or the satellites.
The plane’s underbody receiver will connect with the ground antenna when flying on the ground. These antennas are different from the common cellular signal towers. They point upwards to the sky for the plans instead of downwards. As the plane travels, it drops connection with one tower and connects with the other.
This system works until the plane flies on open seas without signal towers. This is when the satellites take over. The plane will now connect with the satellites in orbit to keep up with the internet connection.
When connected, the plan will turn into its own internet hotspot, allowing your devices to connect to it and access the internet connection.
Does Spirit Airlines Have Wi-Fi?
Spirit Airlines started offering Wi-Fi service for most of their domestic and international flights, beginning July 22, 2022. The service allows light browsing and streaming videos through your favorite content services such as Netflix or Hulu. Services start at $2.99, with streaming on international flights topping at $16.
Spirit Airlines took some time to make their Wi-Fi services work, but they finally opened it for their customers on July 22, 2022.
Spirit announced that they will embark on offering Wi-Fi connectivity for their flights in mid-2018, with the objective of launching the service in summer 2019. Spirit started installing internet receivers on their planes in fall 2018 before several hiccups happened.
Spirit essentially discovered that the installed signal receivers do not work to their satisfaction, and they have to replace them. This caused delays, and Spirit announced that the rollout would be in summer 2020 instead. They also tone down on the initial objective, aiming to have most of their flights offering Wi-Fi instead of all.
Spirit also engaged Thales, a French telecom and defense company, to build satellites and provide connectivity to Spirit’s planes while flying international routes or over bodies of water. This allows Spirit to finally offer Wi-Fi to their domestic and international routes.
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Why Do Spirit Airlines Offer Wi-Fi?
Spirit decided to offer Wi-Fi connectivity to provide better customer service and help it stand out from its other low-cost flying competitors. Offering additional services can also be a way to generate additional revenue and profit.
Airlines as a business can be a cut-throat affair. Competition is intense, and customers are demanding better and better service at lower prices.
As such, most low-cost airlines try to make more revenue by offering more services and products on board. Meals, snacks, and seat upgrades are available before and during the flight. The goal is to entice customers to spend more than just buying flight tickets. This increases revenue per customer and eventually the potential profits.
One of the ways to do this is to offer Wi-Fi. Customers are becoming increasingly connected and want internet connections to access their email, social media, or websites. Some customers also prefer to be able to watch and stream their own entertainment shows than to only watch what’s available from the in-flight entertainment system.
Aside from that, offering Wi-Fi is a way Spirit differentiates itself from its competitor since not all low-cost carriers in the US offer Wi-Fi services. With the option for Wi-Fi, customers may be more likely to choose Spirit when choosing between another airline’s ticket at a similar price.
How Fast Are The Wi-Fi Connections?
The Wi-Fi connections onboard Spirit Airlines are fast enough to stream your favorite entertainment shows from platforms such as Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon Prime. You can choose between purchasing a slower connection or full speed connection, which are dubbed as ‘surfing’ and ‘streaming’ plans with Spirit.
Spirit Airlines’ Wi-Fi connection can be fast for an in-flight internet connection. Some tests were done with the connection speed, which hovers around 10mbps download speed. Spirit Airlines’ in-flight Wi-Fi is probably the fastest in the United States right now.
At that speed, streaming tv shows from your favorite platforms such as Netflix or Hulu should not be a problem. Streaming in high definition should also be ok. However, if you want a more secure viewing experience free from buffering, you may consider lowering the resolution slightly.
The good thing with Spirit’s Wi-Fi plan is that you can choose how fast the internet you want. If you just intend to keep up with email and social media and make a few tweets here and there, you may do fine with the Surfing plan. It offers a lower connection speed but at a lower price too. Prices start at $2.99.
You may want to purchase the Streaming plan if you intend to use more internet connections, such as to stream videos on HD. It comes with a higher connection speed for better streaming of video experience. Prices for streaming plans may start at around $5.
Prices may differ between domestic and international flights, as international flights may involve using satellites. If you fly international, Wi-Fi Plan prices top out at $16 for the Streaming plan.
How Can You Purchase Access To The Wi-Fi Connection?
You can purchase a Wi-Fi connection for your Spirit Airlines flights at all points of the flying process. You can purchase it during checkout, before you board the plane, and during the flight. Prices may change depending on the stage you purchased your Wi-Fi plan at.
Spirit Airlines’ Wi-Fi service is one good thing: you can purchase it at all stages of your flight. You can purchase it as a bundled offer during checkout and purchase it before boarding the plane. You can also purchase Wi-Fi access after the plan has taken off inside the cabin.
This allows customers the opportunity to access the Wi-Fi service at any time they need. For example, assuming that in the beginning, a customer purchased a flight ticket expecting to not need to use the internet.
However, a sudden emergency happened at work, which meant he needed to be online via his laptop to help work on the issue. He could purchase a ticket and get internet access with the Wi-Fi service.
However, prices may be different depending on the stages when you make the purchase. Chances are, the later you buy, the more expensive the Wi-Fi ticket may be. This means if you want to, consider purchasing the Wi-Fi ticket access as a bundle during checkout.
Once you purchased your ticket, you may connect to the Wi-Fi by:
- First, turn on your device, and the Wi-Fi
- Search for the provider “Spirit_WiFi.”
- Once connected, go to your web browser and visit SpiritWiFi.com
- Choose the plan, and enter your payment of voucher code information to confirm.
- Enjoy your in-flight Wi-Fi!
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Do All Spirit Airlines Planes Have Wi-Fi?
Spirit does not mention that all their planes have Wi-Fi connectivity now. Still, over 80% of Spirit Airlines’ planes have Wi-Fi connectivity. Most of Spirit Airlines’ newer planes, such as the A320 and A320 neo, have Wi-Fi. Some older A319 planes may not have a Wi-Fi connection.
Spirit Airlines is still working on ensuring all its plans are capable of offering Wi-Fi services. They are close to achieving that, although some planes remain without it.
In general, if the route flies Spirit’s newer planes, such as the A320 or A320neo, you are likely to be able to purchase Wi-Fi plans. This is because these planes are all given Wi-Fi connectivity.
The older A319 planes are the ones you want to watch out for, as not all of them come with internet capabilities. This means you may not be able to purchase internet plans when you fly with these planes.
Another way to confirm if you are going to be able to purchase Wi-Fi service on your flight is during checkout.
During the checkout process, see if you can purchase an internet plan. Observe for a Wi-Fi logo during checkout, and if it is clickable, you should see the option to purchase an internet plan. If you can, then the flight does come with Wi-Fi connectivity.
