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This Hack Makes Flying Spirit Better Than JetBlue Or Southwest

It’s possible to make the no-frills, low-cost carrier as nice as flying much more expensive airlines (for less money).

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4 months ago

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It may seem impossible that the low-cost, no-frills air carrier could be an improvement over Southwest Airlines or its would-be merger partner JetBlue, but it’s possible.

Before the covid pandemic, I flew Southwest Airlines fairly religiously in order to maintain my A-List status. You need 25 one-way flights each year (or 35,000 miles) to keep that status and I flew just enough to keep eking out my renewal each year.

A-List has some meaningful perks for Southwest Airlines  (LUV) - Get Free Report passengers. You get same-day standby for free, which was very convenient when I was flying for work and a meeting got canceled allowing me to leave earlier. In addition, A-List members can change their flights with no fees or penalties, and most importantly, they get priority boarding status.

Southwest boards based on its A, B, and C boarding groups with 60 slots in each group. A-List members got checked in early and were guaranteed that if they don’t get an “A” spot, they could check in between the A and B groups. They can also do that if they fly standby and missed the check-in window altogether.

Every year, I tried really hard to keep those perks, but in 2022, it simply was not possible. I didn’t travel anywhere close to the amount I did before covid and had to let my A-List status expire as the year ended.

I was not super happy about it, but as my travel ramped up, I was being forced to fly like a regular person with no status. That changed, however, when Spirit Airlines ran a quick promotion where people with top-tier status at a number of major airlines and hotels could buy Spirit’s top-tier Gold loyalty status for $100.

It’s the best $100 I have ever spent because it elevates the experience on the no-frills airline.

Spirit is a low-cost carrier.

Image source: Shutterstock

Why Spirit Airlines Gold Status Is So Valuable

A low-cost carrier, Spirit charges for everything. Your basic fare gives you the right to get on the plane with a personal item (think a purse or a small backpack). Fares are very low because you pay for everything from checked bags to a full-size carry-on to getting an actual seat assignment. Spirit passengers even pay for water and soda, and they can opt to pay for snacks and perks like being able to get through airport security faster.

As a Gold member, I pay the basic fare price and then get bags and a premium seat assignment for free. On the three Spirit flights I have booked, I was able to get an exit row seat, with much more legroom for no extra charge. I also got access to a priority security line at the airport and got to board in the first group.

In addition, I also got one flight change (for each leg of my trip) free (which I did not need to use on this trip).

What It’s Like Flying As a Spirit Gold Member

Spirit tends to fly out of the least convenient terminal at every airport (at least that has been my experience). That was true of my Fort Lauderdale flight where the airline flies from Terminal 4, which has a small parking lot that never seems to have any spaces. That forces you to park in a garage that’s farther away, but it’s well marked and walkable or there’s a tram if you are willing to wait.

My flight was a 9:30 p.m. non-stop to Las Vegas on a Saturday night. There were very few people in the security line and while I had access to a priority Spirit line, I’m also a Clear member and opted to go with that experience instead.

Once I cleared security, I made my way to my gate passing a few shops and some restaurants. I stopped to buy some snacks, as my first boss drilled the idea of never getting onto a plane without an emergency snack into my head before my first business trip 30 years ago (I was 19).

The gate had plenty of seats and we were scheduled to board at 8:45. When boarding was called, at roughly 8:47, the woman at the desk called for people needing extra assistance, families flying with kids under two, and active military members. There were none of those, so she then called for Group 1 and since I was standing near the gate, I was literally the first person on the plane.

In my multiple years of being Southwest A-List, I had never had fewer than 20 people board before me. I found my seat and while the actual seat was hard and not all that comfortable (Spirit skimps on the padding to save on fuel) the exit row legroom was impressive. In fact, the distance between my seat and the seat in front of me was so great that I actually had to lean forward to type on my laptop given the very narrow fold-down tray.

My flight was not without problems. It did not have WiFi, which the airline did not announce until we were in the air (so I could not text my wife to let her know I would be out of touch for five hours). Aside from that, however, my Gold status also got me a free soda, water, coffee, or juice, as well as a choice of snacks.

So, for my very lucky $100 purchase of Gold status, I had a roomier seat than I have ever had on Southwest. I was also paying a price that was less than half what I would have paid on Southwest or JetBlue, neither of which offered a comparable direct flight.

Spirit may be no-frills for infrequent flyers, but for its elite passengers, the airline offers value and meaningful perks. It also offers 10X points for Gold members, so even with the cheap fares I’m paying, the first two Spirit flights I have booked will earn enough points to allow me to keep my status for another year.

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One-third of all CFTC crypto enforcement actions took place this year — Chairman Behnam

CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam told an audience at the Financial Industry Association Expo about the agency’s activity in the crypto space and its need…

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October 2, 2023

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CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam told an audience at the Financial Industry Association Expo about the agency’s activity in the crypto space and its need for modern legislation.

United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam highlighted his agency’s activity in the cryptosphere and the need for up-to-date legislation at the Financial Industry Association Expo 2023 event in Chicago. He described the CFTC Enforcement Division’s efforts as a “nonstop drumbeat.”

In the text version of his keynote address to the industry group, Behnam recounted the $6 billion his agency collected in penalties in fiscal year 2023. He added:

“45 of those [enforcement] actions this fiscal year involved digital asset-related misconduct, representing over 34% of the 131 such actions brought by the commission since 2015.”

Behnam singled out the “precedent-setting litigation” his agency won against Ooki DAO, which resulted in the closure of the decentralized autonomous organization and netted a $643,542 penalty. In its default judgment against Ooki DAO, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found that the DAO was a “person” under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) of 1936.

Behnam returned to the CEA when he discussed the agency’s future direction. “The cornerstone of our latest era is disintermediation brought about by groundbreaking technology: DeFi, AI and standard WiFi,” he said, but:

“The limits in the CEA established in essentially another era create real barriers to engaging in rulemakings and policy that is necessary to our mission, but just beyond our scope.”

Furthermore, those limits force the agency “to engage in increasingly resource-intensive quests for assurances that we are acting within the bounds of our intended remit.”

Vertical integration — an “outgrowth of electronification and the promise of DeFi” — is occurring throughout financial markets and leading to regulatory concerns, and “customer protections mean something different now,” according to Behnam.

Related: CFTC commissioner calls for crypto regulatory pilot program

Behnam’s statements contrasted sharply with Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler’s position that existing financial legislation “has been quite a benefit to investors and economic growth over the last 90 years” and should not be tampered with.

Behnam also indirectly addressed limitations on the CFTC’s enforcement authority. “To suggest that […] we must wait until victims suffer and cry out for help to be proactive […] undermines our mission and purpose,” he said. “I have continued to advocate for additional authority in the crypto space,” he later added.

Magazine: Cleaning up crypto: How much enforcement is too much?

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Volatility Shares cancels ETH futures ETF launch, ‘didn’t see the opportunity at this point in time’

The company’s co-founder and president, Justin Young, told Cointelegraph in an email that plans to launch at a later date were “TBD.”
…

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October 2, 2023

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The company’s co-founder and president, Justin Young, told Cointelegraph in an email that plans to launch at a later date were “TBD.”

Volatility Shares, a financial firm offering a range of exchange-traded fund (ETF) products, canceled its plans to launch an Ether (ETH) futures ETF on Oct. 2, citing changes in the market. 

In an email with Cointelegraph, the company’s co-founder and president, Justin Young, confirmed the cancellation:

“You are correct — we did not launch today. We didn’t see the opportunity at this point in time.”

However, when asked if the company still planned to launch an ETH futures ETF at a later date, Young responded, “Of course,” adding that “plans are TBD.”

Ether futures ETFs track the prices of ETH futures contracts — agreements to trade the asset at a specific time and price in the future. Essentially, they allow investors to be involved in ETH trading without having to actually hold any of the cryptocurrency.

Related: SEC continues to delay decisions on crypto ETFs: Law Decoded

Volatility Shares was previously positioned to be the first firm to offer an ETH futures ETF. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission was expected to approve the first such product on Oct. 12, but concerns over the previously impending Oct. 1 U.S. government shutdown reportedly prompted the SEC to move the timeline for approval up.

As of Oct. 2, several firms have begun trading ETH futures ETFs, including Valkyrie, VanEck, ProShares and Bitwise.

As Cointelegraph’s Turner Wright recently wrote, “Bills for the good or ill of digital assets would be halted amid a shutdown, and financial regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, would be running on a skeleton crew.”

In a twist, the U.S. government managed to avoid the shutdown by passing a stopgap measure to keep services funded through Nov. 17, with the Senate voting 88-9 to pass the measure. U.S. President Joe Biden signed it into law immediately.

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Class-action suit filed against Binance for alleged harm to FTX before its collapse

A California resident is suing Binance and its CEO for tweets last November that, according to allegations, led to the collapse of the rival exchange….

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October 2, 2023

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A California resident is suing Binance and its CEO for tweets last November that, according to allegations, led to the collapse of the rival exchange.

A class-action suit was filed against Binance.US and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao on Oct. 2 in the District Court of Northern California alleging various violations of federal and California law on unfair competition for attempting to monopolize the cryptocurrency market by harming its competitor FTX. The suit was brought by Nir Lahav, who is identified only as a California resident. 

At issue are posts made by Zhao on Twitter (now X) in early November on the eve of FTX’s collapse. The posts were made in conjunction with the decision by the defendants to liquidate their holdings in the FTX utility token FTT on Nov. 6. The plaintiffs estimated that Binance owned up to 5% of all FTT tokens.

Suit filed against Binance and Changpeng Zhao. Source: CourtListener

The following day, Zhao stated in a Twitter post that Binance had signed a letter of intent to acquire FTX, but it backed out of that deal one day later. According to the suit:

“Zhao publicly disseminated this information [on the withdrawal of the acquisition offer] on twitter and other social media platforms to hurt FTX Entities that ultimately lead to a rushed and unprecedented collapse of FTX Entities.”

After began its argumentation with a defense of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) policies on crypto and invocation of the Supreme Court’s Howey and Reves decisions, among others.

It went on to claim that Zhao’s Nov. 6 tweet, “Due to recent revelations that have came [sic] to light, we have decided to liquidate any remaining FTT on our books,” was false and misleading, since Binance has already sold its FTT holdings, and the post was “intended to cause the price of FTT in the market to decline.”

Related: New FTX documentary to spotlight SBF-CZ relationship

The plaintiffs found evidence for their claim in the same post by Zhao, where he wrote, “We are not against anyone. […] But we won’t support people who lobby against other industry players behind their backs.” The plaintiffs took the latter sentence to indicate that Binance opposed FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s “regulatory efforts.”

The suit alleges that Zhao’s proposal to acquire FTX was not made in good faith and the episode would “ultimately lead” to the collapse of FTX:

“Zhao’s tweet resulted in FTT price declining from US 23.1510 to US 3.1468. This significant drop plummeted FTX Entities into bankruptcy without giving an opportunity or chance to FTX Entities’ executives and board of directors a chance [sic] to salvage the situation and put in safe guards to protect its clients and end-users.”

The suit demanded monetary damages, court costs and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains based on seven counts. “Plaintiff believes that there are thousands of members of the proposed class,” the suit stated.

As the suit noted, both Binance and FTX are currently subject to SEC actions. The criminal case against Bankman-Fried will begin Oct. 4 in New York. Zhao addressed potential accusations of unfair competition in the same tweet that is cited in the suit. “Regarding any speculation as to whether this is a move against a competitor, it is not,” he wrote.

His statement did not stop speculation to that effect within the crypto community, however. The CEOs of the crypto exchanges traded jibes on then-Twitter for weeks afterward.

Magazine: FTX bankruptcy filing details, Binance’s crypto industry fund and a U.S. CBDC pilot: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 13-19

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