Spirit Airlines adds its 7th city in California: San Jose
Spirit Airlines' yellow Airbus jets will soon land in Silicon Valley.
The Miramar, Florida-based carrier announced Thursday that it's adding a brand-new route map pin in San Jose, California, starting June 7.
At the outset, Spirit will fly three routes from Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) to Las Vegas, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Diego.
Service to Vegas will operate twice daily, while the other two routes will fly once a day.
San Jose will become Spirit's seventh airport served in California, joining the six existing destinations listed below:
- Burbank.
- Los Angeles.
- Oakland.
- Orange County.
- Sacramento.
- San Diego.
Spirit's entrance in San Jose is exciting because it reflects a broader shift in the return of leisure travel to an aviation market that was hit hard by the pandemic.
The airport lost much of its international service at the outset of the pandemic, and Spirit's biggest no-frills competitor, Frontier Airlines, even pulled out of the city in September 2021.
Additionally, Delta Air Lines decided during the pandemic that it would drop San Jose as a focus city, which included cutting its key transcontinental flight to New York.
Now, Spirit's entrance will make it the only ultra-low-cost carrier serving San Jose, which should bring lower fares to the routes that the airline will serve.
“Today’s announcement is a step forward for our Airport, our City, and for air travel in our region,” John Aitken, director of aviation for SJC, said in a statement. “This new partnership reflects a return to leisure travel and demonstrates how aviation markets are shifting to expand toward new opportunities and approaches. We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome the Spirit Airlines team to San Jose and to offer their unique and innovative brand at SJC," he added.
Notably, Spirit isn't adding any new "lines" to SJC's route map. Spirit will go up against Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines on its new intra-California route. Southwest also flies from San Jose to Las Vegas, while American Airlines has historically enjoyed a monopoly on the route between San Jose and Dallas-Fort Worth.
That said, the carrier is coming in with some attractive introductory fares, starting at $39 to Las Vegas, $59 to San Diego and $89 to Dallas-Fort Worth. It will be interesting to see how Spirit's competitors respond.
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Build your loyalty to Delta by applying for the carrier's mid-tier card option, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card. The annual fee is quickly recouped by the card's travel perks, such as an application credit to Global Entry or TSA Precheck, annual companion certificate and so much more. Plus you can fast-track to elite status simply through card spend.Pros
- Earn bonus Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) and an Medallion Qualifying Dollar (MQD) waiver when you hit specific spending thresholds with your card within a calendar year
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year
- Statement credit for TSA PreCheck/Global Entry fee (up to $100)
- First checked bag free
Cons
- Doesn't make sense if you don't fly Delta
- SkyMiles aren't the most valuable airline currency
- Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months.
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. Payment of the government imposed taxes and fees of no more than $80 for roundtrip domestic flights (for itineraries with up to four flight segments) is required. Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. See terms and conditions for details.
- Enjoy your first checked bag free on Delta flights. Plus enjoy Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding and settle into your seat sooner.
- New: Card Members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels.
- Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide including takeout and delivery in the U.S., and at U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases.
- Enjoy a per-visit rate of $50 per person for Card Members and up to two guests to enter the Delta Sky Club when traveling on a Delta flight.
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® after you apply through any Authorized Enrollment Provider. If approved for Global Entry, at no additional charge, you will receive access to TSA PreCheck.
- Earn up to 20,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) with Status Boost® per year. After you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, you can earn 10,000 MQMs up to two times per year, getting you closer to Medallion® Status. MQMs are used to determine Medallion® Status and are different than miles you earn toward flights.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- $250 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
- See Rates & Fees