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Free Spirit Travel Mastercard – Full Review

Name: Free Spirit Travel Mastercard – Full Review
Item: Free Spirit Travel Mastercard
Rating: 3.5
Author: Jarrod West

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"Great for Spirit flyers without an annual fee!"

The Free Spirit card is a solid choice for Spirit frequent flyers who want a no-annual-fee card.

Jarrod West

- Updated: May 20, 2023, 1:45am CDT

The information regarding the Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Spirit flyers are used to receiving little to no benefits on their flights. After all, the carrier requires you to pay for carry-on baggage, seat selection, beverages, and just about everything else.

While this is the price you pay for low-cost fares, the experience can be frustrating at times. Fortunately, having the Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard® can help elevate your Spirit flight experience thanks to the numerous benefits that the card offers.

Pros

2x points per $1 on Spirit purchases
1x point per $1 on all other purchases
Get a 25% rebate on all inflight food and beverage purchases
Automatic Zone 2 Shortcut boarding on all flights
Access to Points Pooling
Receive 5,000 bonus points each anniversary after making at least $10,000 in purchases within the prior anniversary year
Points don’t expire
No foreign transaction fees
No annual fee

Cons

No bonus categories outside of Spirit purchases
Does not earn transferable rewards

Free Spirit Card - Snapshot

Welcome Bonus & Info (Partner Content)
- Online Offer: Earn 10,000 Bonus Points after spending at least $500 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening
- Earn 2X points on eligible Spirit purchases and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
- Receive 5,000 Bonus Points each anniversary after making at least $10,000 in purchases within the prior anniversary year
- Access to Points Pooling to combine your points with up to 8 friends and family members
- Get a 25% rebate on all inflight food and beverage purchases when you pay with your card
Card Categories:
Customer Service Number
855-728-3555
Login Link
https://www.spirit.com/free-spirit
Related Articles

Great Card If

You fly with Spirit often and want to receive more benefits on these flights
You want a card with no annual fee

Don't Get If

You want a card that earns transferable rewards
You hardly ever fly with Spirit

Free Spirit Card - Fees

Foreign Transaction Fees
$0
Interest Rates
- 15.99% to 23.99% variable
Late fees
- Up to $40
- Penalty APR: 29.99% variable
Balance Transfers
- 15.99% to 23.99% variable
- Fee: Either $10 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Cash Advance APR
- 18.99% to 26.99% variable

The Ideal Cardholder

The Free Spirit card is tailored towards those who fly with Spirit often enough to take advantage of the benefits the card provides, and those who want to earn more Free Spirit points on their flights and everyday spending, but don’t want to pay a credit card annual fee.

Priority Boarding

Cardholders automatically receive Zone 2 priority boarding on all Spirit flights. This will allow you to get to your seat sooner and settle in, as opposed to other travelers who are 3 groups behind in general boarding.

Points Pooling

One of the most convenient benefits of the card is the ability to combine your points with up to 8 friends and family members. This allows you to earn free flights faster and is a great option for traveling families that always have multiple passengers on the same booking.

Without the credit card, you would need to qualify for Free Spirit Silver or Gold status in order to access Points Pooling, but Free Spirit cardmembers get it as a benefit of card membership.

Anniversary Bonus Points

When you spend at least $10,000 in purchases within the prior cardmember year, you’ll earn 5,000 bonus points, on top of the points you’ll have earned from the spend. Since we value Free Spirit points at 1.1 cents per point, these 5,000 points are like receiving $55 towards a Spirit flight.

While you probably shouldn’t go out of your way to spend that much on the Free Spirit card just to earn the 5,000 point bonus, it is a nice perk for those who can meet that level of spend.

Inflight Discount

When paying with your card, you’ll get a 25% rebate on all inflight food and beverage purchases. You might be used to skipping beverage and snack service on Spirit flights in order to save some cash, but now you can treat yourself on your flights and get a discount!

Points Never Expire

One common complaint about the Free Spirit program is that points expire every 12 months. But you don’t need to worry about that with the Free Spirit card, because as long as you hold the card, your Free Spirit points will never expire!

How To Earn More Free Spirit Points

Spirit Flights

The obvious way to earn as many Free Spirit points as possible is to use your Free Spirit card to purchase all of your flights with Spirit to earn 2x points per $1.

Without the card, you’d usually earn 6x points per $1 with Spirit. But paying with your card boosts your point earnings by 33% up to 8x points per $1.

All Other Purchases

The Free Spirit card doesn’t offer any other bonus categories. But you’ll still earn 1x point per $1 on all other purchases outside of Spirit flights.

However, you might want to consider opting for another no annual fee card that offers a better return on these purchases, like the Citi® Double Cash Card.

Free Spirit Shopping Portal

The Free Spirit Online Mall is Spirit’s shopping portal that allows you to earn additional Free Spirit points just for clicking through the portal before doing your online shopping. Spirit’s portal offers hundred of different merchants to shop through, allowing you to really rack up the extra points.

Free Spirit Dining Program

Through the Free Spirit Dining program, you can earn extra Free Spirit points every time you dine at a participating restaurant.

First, you need to enroll in the program and link your credit card. Then, each time you dining at a restaurant that participates in the program, and pay with your linked card, you’ll earn Free Spirit points!

Basic members will earn 1x point per $2 spent, Select members earn 3x points per $1 spent (this tier only requires opting into email communications to qualify), and top-tier VIP members will earn 5x points per $1 spent (you’ll reach this after 11 qualifying transactions in a calendar year).

Hot Tip: Have a look at some of the other best ways for you to earn Free Spirit points!

How To Use Free Spirit Points for Max Value

Spirit Award Flights

Your best option when it comes to redeeming your Free Spirit points is towards Spirit award tickets. Award tickets with Spirit start at 2,500 points and increase from there based on the cost of the ticket.

With Spirit, you’ll virtually always get somewhere between 1 and 1.1 cents per point in value on award redemption. So if the flight you are trying to purchase costs $100, you’ll need around 10,000 Free Spirit points in order to book the award ticket.

Hot Tip: Keep in mind that on flights booked within 28 days of the departure date, Spirit charges an award redemption fee of $50. So you’ll want to make sure you book well in advance, as booking last minute and paying this fee will significantly drop the overall value of your award redemption.

Spirit Points + Cash Tickets

Don’t have enough points for a Spirit award? Spirit offers a Points + Cash booking option that allows you to reduce the overall cash cost of your fare, starting with as little as 1,000 points.

While you usually won’t get quite as much value as you would by waiting to redeem for a full award ticket, this can still be a decent option at times for those who don’t early Free Spirit points very quickly but still want a discounted flight.

Alternative Cards to the Free Spirit Card

Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®

If you’re a dedicated Spirit Airlines flyer, then the Free Spirit World Elite card will be a much better fit for you. Not only does it earn 3x points per $1 on Spirit purchases, and 2x points per $1 on dining and grocery store purchases, but the card also offers way more benefits to Spirit flyers.

Benefits include no award redemptions fees, 1 SQP for each $10 in net purchases toward Free Spirit status, and a $100 Companion Flight Voucher each anniversary after making at least $5,000 in purchases. Keep in mind that the card does charge a $79 annual fee, though.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

If you’re serious about earning points and miles and fly with multiple airlines, then you need a card that earns transferable rewards — like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

With it, you’ll earn 5x points per $1 on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, 3x points per $1 on dining, online grocery store, and select streaming service purchases, plus 2x on all other travel purchases.

The card also offers perks like a DoorDash DashPass, a $50 annual hotel statement credit, travel delay insurance, baggage insurance, rental car insurance, and much more!

The information regarding the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Featured Image Credit: Bank of America

Frequently asked questions

What are the benefits of the Free Spirit card?

The Free Spirit card offers perks like priority boarding, Points Pooling, a 25% discount on inflight purchases, and no foreign transaction fees, and it keeps your Free Spirit points from expiring!

Which Spirit credit card is best?

Quite a handful of the benefits of the 2 cards overlap, but the Free Spirit World Elite card offers better rewards, no fees on award redemptions, and the ability to help spend your way towards Spirit elite status. However, the Free Spirit World Elite card charges a $79 annual fee, while the Free Spirit card charges $0 annual fee.

So, if you're someone who flys with Spirit quite often, the Free Spirit World Elite card might be more worthwhile to you. But if you're just looking for a way to earn Free Spirit points without paying an annual fee, then the Free Spirit card is the best bet.

Is the Free Spirit card a good card?

Yes, the Free Spirit card is a great option for those who fly with Spirit often enough to take advantage of the card's benefits like priority boarding, Points Pooling, and inflight food and beverage discounts.

Does the Free Spirit card charge an annual fee?

No, the Free Spirit card does not charge an annual fee.

How many points do you need for a free Spirit flight?

The minimum number of points needed to book a Spirit flight is 2,500. However, Spirit does not offer a traditional award chart and instead ties the number of points needed to the cash cost of the ticket.

With that, each Spirit point is always worth around 1 cent towards a Spirit flight. So if you want to book a weekend ticket to Miami for $300, it would cost roughly 30,000 Free Spirit points to book a free award ticket.

About Jarrod West

Jarrod has been writing about the ins and outs of credit cards and loyalty programs, along with airlines and hotels, for over 6 years. He is regularly called upon to share his expertise on the latest news within the space, and has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, RetailMeNot, and Yahoo! Finance. Jarrod has over 20 credit cards in his wallet and has tested out dozens more in order to vet the very best card options for readers. As he is constantly sampling new cards, Jarrod also earns (and redeems) over 1 million points and miles each year. This allows him to book luxury travel experiences the world over, and save tens of thousands of dollars in the process.

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