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Spirit Airlines Free Spirit Loyalty Program Review [In-Depth]

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Michael McHugh
Updated: 
Edited by: Keri Stooksbury
Spirit Airlines Free Spirit Loyalty Program Review [In-Depth]
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U.S.

Free Spirit and the Spirit Saver$ Club (formerly known as the $9 Fare Club)

Atlantic City (ACY), Chicago (ORD), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Detroit (DTW), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Las Vegas (LAS), Orlando (MCO)

Redemptions start at 2,500 points and are dynamically priced. When searching for your flight on spirit.com, select Points as your payment type to see the total points required.

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Spirit Airlines Overview

Spirit Airlines falls squarely into the budget airline category, joining the ranks of airlines like Frontier and Allegiant. What makes Spirit unique is just how many Latin American and Caribbean destinations the airline serves.

The Spirit Airlines loyalty program, Free Spirit, is free to join, and the points that you earn can be redeemed for an award flight or with select partner products and services.

Elite status is earned by:

  • Earning a certain number of Free Spirit points over a designated time period
  • Spending a certain amount of money on base fares over a designated time period

The best way to earn Free Spirit points is to fly on Spirit, spending on its Bank of America co-branded credit cards, or participate with its partner programs.

When Spirit Airline points are earned, those points can then be used to book an award flight on Spirit’s website.

Joining Free Spirit

The loyalty program is free to join by filling out this application.

After you join the Free Spirit program, you’ll have the ability to earn and redeem points for an award flight, in addition to working your way toward elite status.

How To Sign in to Your Free Spirit Account

Head to the Spirit Airlines login page where you’ll enter your email address or Free Spirit number and password to access your account. You’ll also need to be logged in to search for and book an award flight.

Free Spirit Log In
Spirit Airlines login page. Image Credit: Spirit Airlines

Viewing Your Account Activity

Free Spirit mileage activity can be accessed by logging into your account, clicking your name at the top of the page, and clicking My Account, then Activity.

On the statements page, you’ll see a detailed ledger of your posted transactions.

This process to review your activity is simple and only requires a few clicks after logging into your account.

Points Expiration

Free Spirit points expire every 12 months, but there are ways to extend the mileage expiration timeline.

As long as you earn points within the previous 12 months, your points won’t expire. If you don’t earn points in that time frame, any points older than 12 months will expire.

In addition to flying, another way to keep points from expiring is to make at least 1 transaction per month on your Free Spirit World Elite card or Free Spirit card.

The last 2 ways to keep your points are using one of the Spirit Airline partners or buying points to restart the clock on your points balance.

Bottom Line: Spirit offers several ways to make sure that your points don’t expire in that 12-month window!

Spirit Airlines Mileage Program

Free Spirit Elite Status

Free Spirit Get Rewarded
The refreshed Free Spirit program launched in January 2021. Image Credit: Spirit Airlines

As a Free Spirit member, you have access to 2 elite tiers: Silver and Gold.

Separately, Spirit has a program called the Spirit Saver$ Club (formerly known as the $9 Fare Club). This club offers benefits like discounted fares, baggage fees, seats, Flight Flex, Shortcut Security, and Shortcut Boarding for a fee of $69.95 for 12 months, $99.90 for 18 months, or $129.90 for 24 months.

Member

The base membership tier offers the following benefits:

  • Earn points at a rate of 6x for fares and 12x for À La Smarte Options (like bags and seats)
  • Access to exclusive members-only offers and promotions

Silver

Spirit’s lowest tier status comes with these perks:

  • Earn points at a rate of 8x for fares and 16x for À La Smarte Options
  • Free Shortcut Security and Boarding
  • Same-day standby
  • Seat selection at check-in
  • Dedicated Guest Care line
  • Ability to create a Points Pool
  • Never paying redemption fees

Gold

The highest elite tier in the program has the following benefits:

  • Earn points at a rate of 10x for fares and 20x for À La Smarte Options
  • All Silver benefits
  • Free Flight Flex
  • First checked and carry-on bag
  • Seat selection at booking (including exit rows)
  • Free inflight beverage and snacks

If you’re interested in learning more, check out Spirit’s website for the full list of benefits.

Value of Free Spirit Elite Status

Spirit revamped its Free Spirit program in 2021, replacing the lack of benefits that you’d find with a non-budget airline with tangible perks like accelerated points earning, seat and baggage benefits, the ability to pool points with family and friends, and a longer expiration date for points. The airline also plans to introduce Free Spirit Points + Cash redemption options in March 2021.

Bottom Line: We once said there wasn’t much in value in holding Spirit elite status, but that isn’t the case anymore!

Earning Free Spirit Elite Status

SCROLL FOR MORE

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

Free Spirit Elite status can be obtained through Free Spirit Status Qualifying Points (SQPs) earned by dollars spent with Spirit, as well as eligible purchases made with your Free Spirit World Elite card or Free Spirit card.

Spirit’s 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). Gold requires 5,000 SQPs or an incremental $3,000 spend from Silver ($5,000 total).

Another way to earn Elite status is by signing up for a Free Spirit credit card. Primary cardholders can attain 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.

Your Silver or Gold status will be effective for the remainder of the year in which you earn it and the entire following year. For example, if you become Silver in October 2021, you will hold that status through December 31, 2022. 

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How To Earn Spirit Airline Points

Spirit doesn’t provide a ton of ways to earn Free Spirit points, but it’s still important to know your options.

Earning Points Through Flying

The main way to earn Free Spirit points is to hold elite status. Spirit Airlines has 2 tiers of elite status. Here’s a breakdown of what each tier level earns from flying:

  • Member — 6x points for fares and 12x for À La Smarte Options (like bags and seats)
  • Silver – 8x points for fares and 16x for À La Smarte Options
  • Gold – 10x points for fares and 20x for À La Smarte Options

Earn Points With Credit Cards

Spirit Airlines partners with Bank of America, which offers 2 co-branded airline credit cards.

In addition to flying Spirit Airlines, spending on the Free Spirit World Elite card or Free Spirit card is the best way to earn Free Spirit points.

Bottom Line: Combining revenue flights and credit card spending will ensure you are earning points that can be redeemed for an award flight.

Earning Bonus Points in Other Ways

The Free Spirit program has other ways for its member to earn points as well.

Spirit Airlines has car rental partners like Hertz and hotel partners like Choice Hotels that allow you to earn points when you spend with them.

You can also earn points through purchases at the Free Spirit online mall, via Free Spirit Dining, with Spirit Cruises, and partners like Vinesse Wine Club.

Hot Tip: If you add your airline loyalty program to other services, you won’t also earn status points with these brands (unless it’s a preferred car rental agency that has specifically partnered with the airline; this partnership acts as a sort of alliance between airline and rental agency).

Branded and Partnered Credit Cards

Spirit Airlines offers 2 credit card for the U.S. market and does not partner with any of the flexible point programs (American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, or Marriott Bonvoy).

However, the revenue and award flight costs for Spirit flights are typically low, so it shouldn’t take much cash or points to get you to your destination.

Spirit Airlines Credit Cards

Spirit Airlines partners with Bank of America, which is the issuer of its co-branded credit cards. You will earn Spirit Airlines points directly with the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® and Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard®.

How To Redeem Spirit Airlines Free Spirit Points

Award redemptions start at 2,500 points and are dynamically priced. When redeeming points for a Spirit flight, you’ll still need to pay taxes (starting at $5.60).

When searching for your flight on spirit.com, select Points as your payment type to see the total points required.

Spirit homepage points toggle
Image Credit: Spirit Airlines

Spirit also has a Points Deal Finder where you can search for one-way routes from 15,000 to 45,000 points in 10,000-point increments.

Free Spirit Points + Cash

Starting in March 2021, Free Spirit members will be able to combine as few as 1,000 points with cash.

Points Pooling

You can earn reward flights faster by Points Pooling with up to 8 friends and family members.

Points Pooling accounts are managed by “Pool Pilots” — a Free Spirit member with Silver or Gold status or a Free Spirit credit cardholder.

Booking Online

Spirit is not in an alliance, so the only flights you’ll see on its search engine will be Spirit Airlines. This is similar to what you’ll find with Southwest Airlines and JetBlue.

If you book an award flight more than 28 days prior to departure, there is no redemption fee. For those looking to travel with less than 28 days’ notice, the redemption fee is $50 per guest. Primary cardholders of the Free Spirit World Elite card do not pay redemption fees.

We recommend redeeming your points online instead of calling in to book, where you’ll be required to pay an additional $25 booking fee.

When booking online, you’ll also be liable for a Passenger Usage Charge, which ranges between $8.99 and $27.99 per segment. You can avoid this fee by booking your ticket at the airport counter.

Hot Tip: Even though you’re likely to see cheap flights offered by Spirit Airlines, sometimes it can make sense to redeem Free Spirit points when the revenue cost of a Spirit Airlines flight is higher. 

Featured Image Credit: Spirit

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Spirit Airlines Free Spirit program? Is it worth it? What are the benefits?

The free frequent flyer program of Spirit Airlines is called Free Spirit and by signing up, you’ll have the ability to earn points from flying and redeem points for an award flight.

After you earn enough Spirit Airlines points, those points can be used to book an award flight within the U.S., or to Mexico, the Caribbean, or South America.

In Free Spirit, who are the partners? Can I transfer points to them?

Spirit Airlines isn’t part of an airline alliance, and also doesn’t have any airline partners.

In short, you will be unable to use Free Spirit points on any flight other than ones flown by Spirit Airlines.

What is the Spirit Airlines Free Spirit login?

You can sign in to Free Spirit here.

Where can I sign up for Free Spirit?

Sign up for the Free Spirit program by visiting the Free Spirit page and clicking Start Earning Today.

What is my Free Spirit number?

You can find your Free Spirit number by signing in to your account, looking at your membership card, or through a variety of marketing emails that you are sent.

Alternatively, try contacting customer service to find your number.

When do points post in Free Spirit?

It can take up to several days after your flight for points to post, but it’s possible it may take longer.

If you forget to provide your membership number at the time of booking, you may request mileage credit be added to your account for previous flights flown up to 30 calendar days after your reservation.

When do Free Spirit points expire?

Free Spirit points expire after 12 months of account inactivity. Simply making a qualifying purchase with your Free Spirit credit card, flying on a Spirit Airlines flight, or earning points with a Spirit Airlines partner will prevent mileage expiration.

When does Free Spirit status expire?

Elite status with Spirit expires every 6 months so you’ll want to make sure you meet the qualifications within that time period to retain your status.

Is there a Spirit Airlines credit card?

Yes! Bank of America offers 2 co-branded Spirit Airlines cards: the Free Spirit World Elite card and the Free Spirit card.

What is the Spirit Saver$ Club?

Separate from the Free Spirit program, Spirit has a program called the Spirit Saver$ Club (formerly known as the $9 Fare Club). This club offers benefits like discounted fares, baggage fees, seats, Flight Flex, Shortcut Security, and Shortcut Boarding for a fee of $69.95 for 12 months, $99.90 for 18 months, or $129.90 for 24 months.

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About Michael McHugh

Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Michael took his first international trip in 2013 with friends to the Bahamas. Although he didn’t travel much in his younger years, on that trip, he caught the travel bug and has been hooked ever since.

Michael first caught wind of the points and miles game in 2014 while at a bar in Washington, DC where the conversation amongst friends was quickly derailed because of an alert on a friend’s phone about a mistake fare.  That’s where the love affair with points and miles began.

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