Spirit Airlines offers low-cost airfare without extra frills. It cuts out many standard parts of the flying experience, like free checked bags and inflight snacks, to get you and a personal item from point A to B for cheap.
As a result, Spirit receives some of the most complaints in the airline industry. People tend to purchase a seat on Spirit expecting the same experience as they would have on a major carrier. In reality, you pay a lower price because you give up much of what is standard on carriers such as Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
With a low-cost airline like Spirit, you may wonder if it’s worth your time to earn points. Spirit is a great option for people who fly frequently and simply and there are quite a few ways to earn Free Spirit points.
With the help of a few of the strategies offered, you’ll have plenty of Free Spirit points to spend.
Sign up for a Free Spirit Account
Join the Free Spirit loyalty program for free by signing up online. Image Credit: SpiritSpirit’s points-earning program is called Free Spirit. Membership to start earning Free Spirit points begins immediately upon registration and you do not need a Spirit Airlines credit card to start earning. You can sign up for an account for free on Spirit’s website.
Remember to keep your email address and account number handy since you’ll enter these numbers frequently to earn points when you fly with Spirit or when you make purchases with a Spirit Arline’s partner.
Spirit will send you deal alerts via email, but check its Deals page often to see additional special offers.
Using Spirit Airlines Credit Cards
1. Spirit Credit Cards
Bank of America is the only bank offering co-branded cards with Spirit Airlines — the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® and Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard®.
2. Big Spend Bonus
You can earn a $100 Companion Flight Voucher each anniversary for spending at least $5,000 on purchases made with the Free Spirit World Elite card within the prior year.
Free Spirit Shopping and Dining Bonuses
If you’re shopping or dining out anyway, you might as well earn some extra points for your effort.
3. Free Spirit Online Mall
Online shopping portals are an excellent way to earn extra points on everyday purchases you make online.
With Spirit, you simply log into its Free Spirit Online Mall and start shopping using the links to its participating retailers.
There are over 450 participating retailers within the Free Spirit Online Mall. Each participating retailers offer points for each purchase.
Examples of the shopping partners available in the Free Spirit Online Mall shopping portal include Lowe’s and Staples. Some partners earn as much as 10 points per dollar! Image Credit: SpiritThe portal is very easy to use. To utilize these offers:
- Go to the Free Spirit Online Mall site.
- Sign in to your Free Spirit account.
- Search for a product or store.
- Click on the store’s bonus points offer (e.g. 4 points = $1).
- Select Shop Now and a pop-up will notify you that you’ll be taken to the retailer’s page. Pay attention to the details in the pop-up window on limitations to rewards earnings on certain purchases.
Earn extra points with the Free Spirit Online Mall. Image Credit: Spirit- After you select Continue, you’ll be able to shop directly from the retailer’s website.
- Before you purchase through the store, go back to the Free Spirit Online Mall site to ensure you are still signed in and that you receive your mileage bonus.
Points earned through the Free Spirit Online Mall can take up to 60 days to post, sometimes even longer. Plan accordingly if you are trying to meet a points goal.
Look at the Bonus Offers page to find companies offering more bonus points than usual for a limited time.
Past offers have included 1,800 points earned from purchasing specific Verizon Wireless plans, as well as 45 points per dollar with certain retail partners — sort the list by amount to see the top-earning opportunities
4. Sign up for the Spirit Dining Program
Did you know that whenever you eat out at a restaurant, bar, or club, you could be earning Free Spirit points?
You can earn as many as 5 points per dollar if the establishment participates in the Free Spirit Dining program.
Sign up is free to start earning immediately:
- Go to Free Spirit Dining.
- Register/login with your Spirit Account number.
- Add a credit card to your account.
- Search for participating restaurants near you.
- Use the registered credit card when you visit to earn points.
Search the Spirit Airlines Dining Program website to learn where you can earn points for simply eating at restaurants around town! Image Credit: SpiritOnce you’ve used your registered card at a participating location, you will be earning points.
Hot Tip: Have a group outing coming up? Offer to pay for the restaurant bill on your registered credit card and accept repayment in cash or via Venmo or PayPal.
5. Other Purchases
You can earn points just by shopping for wine! Image Credit: Vinesse WinesEarn even more points with retail partners and online spending options:
| Company | Product or Service | Bonus Points |
| Vinesse Wine | Shop for wine | 1,500 points on your first shipment, then 5 points per $1 |
Earn Free Spirit Points With Travel Bonuses
Don’t forget to earn points when flying Spirit Airlines. No matter how short the flight, every little bit helps.
6. Earn Points When Flying
There’s no better way to earn points than by flying, which means you can earn the most number of points when you fly with Spirit.
Members can earn Silver or Gold status through Free Spirit Status Qualifying Points (SQPs). SQPs are earned through dollars spent with Spirit and eligible purchases made with a Free Spirit World Elite card or Free Spirit card.
| Free Spirit Elite Level | Status Qualifying Points (SQPs) Requirement | Points per Dollar Earned for Fares | Points per Dollar Earned for À La Smarte Options |
| Free Spirit member | – | 6x | 12x |
| Free Spirit Silver | 2,000 SQPs | 8x | 16x |
| Free Spirit Gold | 5,000 SQPs | 10x | 20x |
Silver status is earned with at least 2,000 SQPs or spending at least $2,000 on base fare tickets (not including taxes, fees, or optional services) and Gold requires 5,000 SQPs ($5,000 total spent).
Primary cardholders of a Free Spirit credit card can reach Silver status when purchases on the card reach $20,000 and Gold status when purchases reach $50,000 in a calendar year. Free Spirit World Elite cardholders also earn 1 SQP for each $10 in net purchases.
Based on the tier requirements, using the Free Spirit World Elite card is the easiest way to earn all of the points you fly on Spirit flights.
Only expect to buckle up on a Spirit aircraft if you want to earn Free Spirit points: it has no other airline codeshare partners and therefore is the only choice for actual flights. Image Credit: MBLifestyle via Shutterstock7. Car Rental Partners
Spirit partners with 6 rental car companies — Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, Payless, and Thrifty — and you will be able to earn extra points with each qualifying rental.
| Rental Company | Points |
| Avis | 35% discount and 500 points on rentals over 3 or more days |
| Budget | 30% discount and 500 points on rentals over 3 or more days |
| Dollar | 50 points on rentals of 4 days or less; 500 points on rentals over 5 or more days |
| Hertz | 50 points on rentals of 4 days or less; 500 points on rentals over 5 or days |
| Payless | 5% discount and 50 points per day |
| Thrifty | 50 points on rentals of 4 days or less; 500 points on rentals over 5 or days |
8. Book With Partnered Hotels
Spirit has 1 partner to earn you points when booking accommodations. You can earn 250 points for each stay at Choice Hotels in the U.S., Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, and Mexico. Choice Hotels includes many brands from budget to upscale.
9. Book a Cruise With Partners
Like most other airlines, the Spirit Airlines frequent flyer program allows you to earn points for booking cruises on the airline’s partners. Image Credit: Rawpixel via ShutterstockAnother fun way to travel is by ship!
Spirit Cruises travel all around the coasts of the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean, South America, South Pacific, and more.
The Free Spirit points you earn depend on the length of your cruise and the type of room you book. The longer your trip and the better your room, the more points you will earn.
| Trip Length | Points Earned
|
| 1 to 5 Nights | 1,500 |
| 6 to 8 Nights | 3,000 |
| 9 to 12 Nights | 5,000 |
| 13+ Nights | 10,000 |
Free Spirit points earnings are not as much of a bonus as other airlines’ partnerships. By comparison, United Airlines offers between 25,000 and 45,000 points on 1 cruise package.
But bonus points are bonus points, especially if you’re an avid Spirit flyer and looking to plan a cruise vacation.
Hot Tip: If you’ve chosen to earn your points aboard a cruise ship, don’t miss this ultimate cruise packing list (it’s printable!) and our guide with tons of tips and advice.
Earn Free Spirit Points With Special Bonuses
Spirit has partnered with a few companies to help you earn points in other ways. Some make more sense than others, but there are more ways to earn points depending on what suits you best.
10. Complete Surveys for Points
The data collection company Points for Thoughts has teamed up with Spirit to give you points for your opinion. This is a great way to earn points slowly with little investment.
Other Methods
11. Buy Free Spirit Points
If you really need to boost your points balance (and fast), then there’s always the option of buying Free Spirit points. This is not our recommended method, but if you need some additional points for a specific redemption (and especially if there’s a bonus being run on purchasing points) then it might be worth doing.
Final Thoughts
Spirit is definitely an unusual airline compared to others in the industry. It offers low-cost airfare by cutting things you take for granted on other flights. It also offers some very creative ways for you to earn and maintain points on top of some of the usual ways.
Now that you’ve padded your account, check out the best ways to redeem your Free Spirit points!
The information regarding the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® and Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard® was independently collected and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
