The_Karma_Bandit’s hack/loophole/exploitation was written in 2016. Seven years is a long time in the airline industry and change could undoubtedly have been made. That being said, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Overseas call center

The_Karma_Bandit said: “Spirit’s customer service is overseas, and they plainly don’t care at all about customer service (because they don’t actually work for Spirit etc etc), “…these folks don’t really recognize nonsense names” and “…no one ever notices that the “correct” names during the intermediate steps were nonsense.”

Spirit Airlines, like so many other companies, utilizes offshore call centers for their customer support. Many of these overseas call centers are in the Philippines, India, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, etc. If you’re trying to change the last name from JOSEPH SMITH to MARTHA JONES, the people answering the call may not notice that some of the “names” in the name change would be nonsense in U.S. English. Take a look at a potential 3-letter name change over the course of 4 changes:

• SAMUEL SMITH
• MARUEL SMITH (Maruel?)
• MARTHA SMITH
• MARTHA JOETH (Joeth?)
• MARTHA JONES

Spirit’s rules haven’t changed

This is what Spirit’s website currently says about changing names on a ticket:

Based on what The_Karma_Bandit said they did, vs. what’s on Spirit’s website in terms of how to make changes for slight misspellings, I suppose it MAAAAAY still be possible?

Our take on it

I scoured the internet and couldn’t find anyone else who admitted to making a name change on Spirit by making multiple minor spelling changes since The_Karma_Bandit’s original post in 2016. Whether it was because Spirit closed the loophole, no one else has had the cahones to try this, or they’re just smart enough to not admit to it, no one knows.

Would we recommend trying this loophole? No.

I mean, if you have nothing better to do with a ticket that’s potentially going to be wasted, and don’t mind the threat of being caught and all that could potentially entail, sure knock your socks off. But we still wouldn’t recommend it.

Two other things

I wonder how The_Karma_Bandit dealt with changing names that almost HAD to be different lengths. I mean if you were going from SAMUEL SMITH to CAROLINE HERNANDEZ, how did they account for names that had different numbers of letters in them?

Spirit actually does allow name changes if the reservation is made as part of the airline’s Group Travel program, which is available for groups of 10 or more. Benefits include:

• Confirmed seats of 10 or more without full payment for travel 60 days out
• Name changes can be made free of charge up to 30 days before schedule departure (Note: name changes within 30 days of departure can still be made, but with a $50 fee per person)
  
• Ticketless travel
• Dedicated Group Travel Specialist to assist with travel questions or concerns

The_Karma_Bandit’s group was comprised of 9 people so they wouldn’t have been eligible. But for larger groups, it IS an option.

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