Why having the Spirit Airlines credit card isn’t crazy

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.

There’s an airline credit card that can offer incredible value when it comes to affordable travel. This credit card allows you to earn award flights, pool your points together and even achieve elite status solely based on spend.

So, what card is it?

We’re talking about the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®. This card can help you earn free flights and money-saving status levels if you’re comfortable flying Spirit Airlines and understand how to maximize the Spirit frequent-flyer program.

The information for the Free Spirit Travel More World Elite Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Spirit Airlines credit card basics

There are actually two different Spirit cobranded credit cards: The Free Spirit Travel More World Elite Mastercard with a $79 annual fee and the Free Spirit Travel Mastercard with no annual fee.

While the no-annual-fee card might sound enticing, we recommend the Free Spirit Travel More card with the annual fee since it offers more value for frequent Spirit flyers.

New cardholders can receive a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year (and then $79 thereafter). This will allow you to try out the card for the first year for the same no annual fee and see if the benefits are worth it for you and your family for the years following.

The information for the Free Spirit Travel Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

You’ll also earn 50,000 bonus points plus a $100 companion flight voucher after spending at least $1,000 on purchases within 90 days of opening an account.

Free Spirit Travel More benefits

Free Spirit Travel More World Elite Mastercard cardholders receive the following benefits, too:

Spirit points will not expire for cardholders as long as your card account is open
No redemption fees as a primary cardholder
Points pooling for themselves and up to eight others (benefit for both cards)
25% rebate on inflight food and beverage purchases when charged to the cards (benefit for both cards)
Zone 2 shortcut boarding (benefit for both cards)
Earn 1 Status Qualifying Point (SQP) for every $10 charged to the Free Spirit Travel More World Elite Mastercard
Receive a $100 companion flight voucher on each cardmember anniversary after making at least $5,000 in purchases within the prior anniversary year

Pathway to elite status

While these are overall decent benefits, there’s one that truly sticks out amongst the rest: The ability to earn 1 Status Qualifying Point (SQP) toward status for every $10 charged to the card. Spirit Airlines’ loyalty program has two tiers, Free Spirit Silver and Gold status. You need 2,000 SQPs to earn Silver status and 5,000 SQPs to earn Gold status.

Benefits to elite status include increased point earning rates, free seat selection at booking, free first checked bag, free carry-on and more. $20,000 in annual charges on the card automatically earns you Silver status, while $50,000 in charges earns you Gold — with just credit card spending alone. Of course, if you earn SQPs flying Spirit throughout the year as well, this will lower the amount of spend required on the card.

Spirit bag sizer at Louisville airport — KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY

One gripe a lot of travelers have with Spirit is the fees associated with flying this airline. While bag and seat assignment fees are becoming more standard these days, Spirit charges you to print your boarding pass during check-in and for soda while on board. You might even discover that the advertised cheap fare you found is triple the price once all of your necessary fees are added to the equation.

Having a cobranded Spirit Airlines card can help offset some of those costs with the points and other rewards you earn as a cardholder making purchases with your Free Spirit Travel more card.

Stretching your points with the Spirit credit card

Cardmembers used to receive the special perk of booking award flights from just 2,500 points each way; this benefit has now been extended to all Spirit travelers. And while Spirit has done away with its award chart, there are still opportunities to fly Spirit at this low level.

For example, if you live in Houston, you can easily fly Spirit to places like Las Vegas or Orlando for just 5,000 Spirit points round-trip (if you’re flexible with dates).

Spirit Big Front Seat — ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY

Or, now that Spirit offers the opportunity to use points and cash, you can book an award flight starting at just 1,000 points plus a copay. This is great for folks who don’t spend a lot on their credit card and want to redeem points for as little as possible.

Bottom line

Flying Spirit isn’t for everyone, and neither are Spirit Airlines’ credit cards. But if you like redeeming points for flights and are looking for a low-cost way to get from Point A to Point B, consider getting a Spirit cobranded card. I don’t currently have the Spirit card myself, but my semi-retired parents have had the Spirit card for years and are happily racking up points and making memories by having access to inexpensive award tickets courtesy of their Spirit credit card.

On a flight comparison, two of our TPG staffers flew on Spirit Airlines and compared the Big Front Seat to the economy experience. Nicky Kelvin and Stella Shon enjoyed their point-to-point, no-frills flight, and both agreed they’d fly Spirit again given the opportunity.