In October 2020, Spirit Airlines revealed the basic details of its new revenue based loyalty program. Well, the program launches today, and with that Spirit Airlines has also revealed more information about the program, including details of co-branded credit cards. I’m extremely impressed by Spirit Airlines’ new loyalty program.
Spirit Airlines Free Spirit program basics
“Free Spirit” is the name of Spirit Airlines’ loyalty program, which launches as of today (January 21, 2021). Spirit Airlines isn’t an airline that people generally choose because they’re loyal to the brand, but rather because they have really cheap fares.
The concept of running a loyalty program at an airline like this can be challenging. Can there be enough rewards offered so that people might actually choose Spirit over a competitor, all else being equal? Well, I’d say the new program is about as lucrative as it could be.
As Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie describes the new program:
“Loyalty programs should work for travelers whether they fly once a year, or once a week. You should be rewarded either way. We decided to start with a clean sheet of paper and re-imagine what Free Spirit could be. Points don’t mean anything unless you can actually use them. Our new program lets everyone hold onto their points longer, which allows family vacationers, frequent travelers and people visiting loved ones to take advantage of Free Spirit’s new benefits and rewards.”
Earning Spirit Airlines Free Spirit points
The new Spirit Airlines frequent flyer program is revenue-based, and members can earn:
- 6x points per dollar spent on fares
- 12x points per dollar spent on ancillary fees, like seats, bags, and more
This is kind of brilliant — Spirit Airlines is known for its unbundled fares, so if anything the airline should be incentivizing selecting ancillaries, rather than incentivizing bookings in the first place. This structure really helps with that.
Earn bonus points for booking the Big Front Seat
Redeeming Spirit Airlines points
Spirit Airlines now has revenue based redemptions with no blackout dates. Award pricing reflects how much a ticket would cost in cash, but points won’t have a totally consistent value (in other words, one Free Spirit point doesn’t always get you the same value).
One example that’s given is that 2,500 Spirit Airlines points can be used for a $40 ticket, so that would be a bit over 1.5 cents of value per point. That’s quite good, though like I said, pricing won’t be consistent, so I wouldn’t expect redemption rates to consistently be that good.
Spirit Airlines improves points expiration
Historically Spirit Airlines points have expired after just three months of inactivity, which is one of the most aggressive policies of any airline.
With the new loyalty program, Spirit Airlines points expire after 12 months of inactivity, which is much more reasonable. Furthermore, elite members and those with a co-branded credit card won’t be subjected to this policy, so won’t even need any activity every 12 months.
Spirit Airlines reduces redemption fees
Spirit Airlines used to have extremely high redemption fees. Under the old program:
- There was a $100 fee when booking an award within six days of departure
- There was a $75 fee when booking an award within 7-20 days of departure
- There was a $15 fee when booking an award within 190 days of departure
With the new program:
- Redemption fees only apply within 28 days of departure, rather than within 180 days
- When booking 0-28 days before departure, redemption fees are $50
- Redemption fees are waived for those with status, as well as those with the Spirit credit card
Spirit Airlines is improving its mileage expiration policy
Spirit Airlines introduces points pooling
With the new loyalty program, eligible members can combine Free Spirit points with up to eight friends and family members in order to rack up rewards faster. This feature is available to elite members, as well as those with a co-branded Spirit Airlines credit card.
This is particularly useful for an ultra low-cost carrier’s program, where you may have several occasional flyers who don’t independently rack up enough points for a redemption, but do earn enough when combining points.
Spirit Airlines elite status
Spirit Airlines has introduced two new elite tiers — Silver and Gold. Status is earned based on status qualifying points (SQPs), which can be earned through spending on Spirit Airlines, or spending on a Spirit Airlines credit card. The benefits are exceptionally good, when you consider that Spirit Airlines is an ultra low cost carrier.
Spirit Airlines Silver status
Spirit Airlines Silver status requires 2,000 SQPs, which can be earned with:
- $2,000 worth of flight spending
- $20,000 worth of purchases on the Spirit Airlines Free Spirit Travel More Mastercard
Spirit Airlines Silver members receive:
- 8x points per dollar spent on fares, and 16x points per dollar spent on extras
- Free shortcut security (where available) and shortcut boarding (Zone 2)
- Free same-day standby
- Overweight checked bag fee waived
- Free general seat selection 24 hours before departure with exit row availability three hours prior to departure
- Dedicated elite phone line, known as Yellow Glove Concierge Service
- Ability to create a Points Pool
- No reward redemption fees
Spirit Airlines Gold status
Spirit Airlines Gold status requires 5,000 SQPs, which can be earned with:
- $5,000 worth of flight spending
- $50,000 worth of purchases on the Spirit Airlines Free Spirit Travel More Mastercard
Spirit Airlines Gold members receive the following, in addition to Silver benefits:
- 10x points per dollar spent on fares, and 20x points per dollar spent on extras
- Free carry-on bag
- Free first checked bag
- Priority boarding (Zone 1)
- Free standard seat selection at time of booking (including exit rows)
- Free Flight Flex, which offers a one-time change with no fee prior to 24 hours before departure
- Free inflight beverage and snack
I can taste the BuzzBallz and chardonnay already!
Spirit Airlines credit cards
Spirit Airlines is introducing two refreshed co-branded credit cards, issued by Bank of America. While I wouldn’t consider either of the cards to be particularly compelling for everyday spending, they do offer some perks that could make them worth holding onto.
Perks for the Free Spirit Travel Mastercard on the left, Free Spirit Travel More World Elite Mastercard on the right
Free Spirit Travel Mastercard
The no annual fee Free Spirit Travel Mastercard is the more basic of the two credit cards, and offers the following perks:
- 2x points per dollar spent on Spirit, 1x points on all other purchases
- 5,000 bonus points on your account anniversary when you spend $10,000
- The ability to create a Points Pool
- Shortcut boarding with Zone 2
- A 25% rebate on inflight food & beverage purchases
- Points never expire
Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®
The Spirit Airlines Free Spirit Travel More Mastercard has a $0 Introductory Fee for the first year. After that, your Annual Fee will be $79. It is the more premium of the two credit cards, and offers the following perks:
- 3x points per dollar spent on Spirit, 2x points on eligible dining and grocery store purchases, 1x point on all other purchases
- A $100 companion voucher on your account anniversary when you spend $5,000 in the prior anniversary year
- The ability to create a Points Pool
- The ability to earn SQPs through spending
- A waiver of award redemption fees
- Shortcut boarding with Zone 2
- A 25% rebate on inflight food & beverage purchases
- Points never expire
Spirit Airlines Saver$ Club
Spirit Airlines’ $9 Fare Club (which is a subscription based program) is being rebranded as the Spirit Saver$ Club. With this change, the membership is now offering expanded savings on seats and other ancillary fees.
This can be purchased in 12, 18 or 24 month increments.
Spirit Airlines’ new program is great
I never thought I’d say this, but Spirit Airlines’ new loyalty program is well thought out. And that’s despite the fact that the airline is going from distance based to a revenue based program.
The reality is that historically Spirit Airlines’ loyalty program has been a bit of a joke. Points expired after just three months of inactivity, and redemption fees were often higher than just outright paying for a ticket.
The program was truly a gimmick, and I’ve never actually credited a flight to Spirit Airlines, because I figured it wouldn’t even be worth the effort. And I say that as someone who loves loyalty programs.
By contrast, the new program is extremely well thought out:
- The airline is disproportionately rewarding ancillary fees, which seems like a smart approach for Spirit to take
- Points are valid long enough that members might actually be engaged, rather than not bothering
- Redemption fees are being lowered significantly, and redemption values actually seem decent
- Elite members are potentially looking at priority security and boarding, and free seat assignments, flight changes, snacks, drinks, and more; these are perks I never expected to see at Spirit Airlines
- New co-branded credit cards could be worth holding onto for the solid perks that they offer
Bottom line
Spirit Airlines’ impressive new Free Spirit loyalty program is now “live.” The program is fully revenue based, but for an airline like Spirit that makes perfect sense, and actually represents an improvement. The program is particularly rewarding for buying extras, and also has elite perks that rival (and in some cases surpass) what we see at other major airlines.
Well done, Spirit Airlines!
Are you as impressed by Spirit Airlines’ new loyalty program as I am?
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