Tips for Flying Spirit Airlines with Just a Personal Bag

Two weeks ago, I did something I swore I’d never do – fly with Spirit Airlines. My grandmother passed away unexpectedly, which meant I needed to secure plane tickets for me and my daughter at the last minute, which meant every flight was ridiculously expensive – except for Spirit Airlines.

I realized quickly why Spirit’s tickets are so cheap. It’s because they charge for literally everything else. That includes carry-on bags. Our carry-on bags would have cost almost $100.00 each, both ways and I just couldn’t fathom paying $400 for bags I had to carry onto the plane myself. That left us with only one option: fit three days’ worth of clothing and necessities into one personal bag each.

I am by no means a light packer (I always have to check a bag), but to save some money I was up for the challenge. These are the tips that helped me fit everything for our weekend trip into our personal bags.

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1 | Pack light

I know this seems obvious, but as a self-proclaimed over-packer, packing light has never been my strong suit. I genuinely in my heart and soul believed that I needed at least 6 outfits, 2 pairs of pajamas, extra shoes, and 10 pair of underwear for a weekend trip. Since that obviously wouldn’t fit, I had to grit my teeth and bring only what I would need. That included for me: 3 outfits, a pair of heels (for the funeral), a pair of sandals, one set of pajamas, 4 panties, a bra, a small makeup bag (with the bare necessities portioned into tiny travel containers), skincare products, my prayer journal, a book for the plane, chargers for our phones, and a few items needed for my hair. For my daughter, I brought: 4 outfits, one pair of sandals, one set of pajamas, 5 panties (in case of accidents), a cardigan, a neck pillow, hair bows for the funeral, her toothbrush, a snack container, a small book, and a drawing tablet for the plane.

I know this seems like a lot still, but it was way less than what I originally wanted to bring. We also wore our bulkiest items – sneakers and maxi cardigans – onto the plane so we wouldn’t have to pack them.

2| Use compression packing cubes

These compression packing cubes were a game-changer for fitting everything into our Spirit personal bag restrictions. I was able to fit all of my clothing into the large one and all of Toni’s clothing into the medium one with room to spare. These saved us so much space and were the only reason I was able to fit everything into both bags.

3 | Pick the right bag.

I knew that whatever bag I used, I was going to fill it. So I searched for bags that were within the Spirit personal bag dimensions (18 x 14 x 8 inches). For my daughter, I kept it cost-effective and used her school backpack. It fit into Spirit’s personal item guidelines easily. Her packing cube with all of her clothing, our toiletry bag, her book and tablet, and her snack container all fit easily.

For my bag, I had to search online. I found this $10.00 bag on Amazon that was advertised as a perfect fit for Spirit Airline’s personal bag dimensions. I was surprised by just how much fit in there. My packing cube with all my clothing for the weekend, Toni’s neck pillow, all of our shoes, a book, my prayer journal, my makeup bag, our hair accessories, my purse, and all of our electronics fit perfectly.

Now the bag was filled to the brim, but I got it to close. Most importantly, it actually did fit into Spirit’s personal item sizer at the airport. It was $10.00 well spent!

If you’ve never been on a Spirit Airlines flight, don’t be afraid to try it out. We had a great and smooth experience! Now, charges can rack up pretty quickly, but with a little strategic packing, you can save a lot of money. To see all the items we used to make this trip a success, check out my Amazon travel essentials here.

Godspeed and many blessings on your next trip!