Spirit… Yes Spirit, Now Has The Best Airline Credit Card

Spirit Airlines has changed the benefits for its credit card offering and it now beats out every US competitor – and it’s not even close. 

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Update: A prior version of this post included links and offers not publicly available. The email some Free Spirit members received was targeted in nature (check your email) and only valid for members that received it. Additionally, with recent changes to Spirit ticketing policies, the Flex Freedom perk is no longer necessary as there are no change fees, and one other benefit was incorrect.

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In What World Is This Possible? An Objective One

At first glance, how can a discount airline with no lounges, no first class, no IFE system, and no partners have “the best airline credit card?” It’s a fair question and likely the first one on most readers minds. But for many consumers, the way they use their credit cards are less driven by incentive (that’s reserved for the super users) and more by an aversion of fees. In the words of my mother who still holds a Delta credit card and has not flown the airline in at least five years,

“I don’t have to pay for bags with this card.” That’s absolutely true, mom, but you don’t have to pay for bags if you don’t fly them anyway. I’m not picking on my mother, but ask your own relatives, neighbors, and coworkers why they have the airline credit cards that they do and it’s almost exclusively an aversion rather than incentive approach.

For the purpose of this article, we will look at those aversions and compare card benefits for a similar annual fee and the benefits they provide based on four trips per year, one roundtrip each quarter. We also need to consider that most of these cardholders are flying basic economy and paying extra for perks and comforts.

Objectively, there’s not a better card on the market for any airline at the moment. Let me prove it.

Spirit Ups The Ante, Announces New Credit Card Benefits

Spirit Airlines sent an email this week to some Free Spirit members with a special offer to grab their credit card.  With just $5,000 in spending in the first 180 days (six months) on its Free Spirit Travel More Elite Mastercard, cardholders would receive Free Spirit Gold Status valid for the rest of the year and all of next year. If this offer is somehow still valid from January 1st, 2025 the terms dictate it would provide Gold status until December 31st, 2026.

The basic benefits of the card are as follows:

• 3x points on eligible Spirit purchases.
• 2x points on dining and grocery purchases.
• 1x points on all other purchases.
• 25% rebate on in-flight food and beverages.
• Shortcut Boarding/Zone 2 early boarding.
• Point pooling with up to eight additional members.
• $100 Companion Flight Voucher annually after spending $5,000.

That mostly compares to other card offers from other airlines, though most other carriers don’t have a point pooling feature. The $100 Companion Flight Voucher is a staple of the Alaska Airlines entry level card and in those regards, they beat most of the competition. With American Airlines Aviator Red Mastercard from Barclays offers the opportunity to earn a companion certificate but doesn’t come with one, the same is true for Southwest. The sign-up bonus is 50,000 points after $1,000 in spending.

However, with the new offer – which has a spending target to cards in the same annual fee range ($79) – cardholders will also get the following benefits as a result of their new Free Spirit Gold status.

• Increased Earning Rates: Gold members earn 10 points per dollar spent on fares and 20 points per dollar spent on À La Smarte options (such as bags and seats).
• Complimentary Bags: Gold members receive a free first checked bag and a free carry-on bag on all flights.
• Seat Selection: Enjoy free seat selection at booking, including premium seats like exit rows.
• Free flight changes: Spirit recently removed cancellation/change fees.
• In-Flight Perks: Gold members are entitled to a free in-flight beverage and snack on every flight.
• Priority Services: Members receive priority check-in and priority boarding, ensuring a smoother and quicker airport experience.
• Shortcut Security: Access to Shortcut Security, allowing you to expedite the security process at participating airports.

How It Compares To Other Cards

Looking at the Free Spirit Gold status benefits now as credit card benefits, here’s how they compare:

• Buying Spirit Airlines flights will eclipse competitor earnings 10-20x. A $300 roundtrip on American Airlines will earn 600 Aadvantage miles at 2x points per dollar. Buying an upgrade for another $150 would earn another 300 Aadvantage miles for a total of $450 for 900 miles plus 5x points on the base fare or a total of 1,500 + 900. Spirit would earn 3,900 points for the same base flight purchase but would add another 450 points for the upgrade spending on the credit card and another 20x for the upgrade or 3,000 more points. Spirit cardholders with Gold Status earn 7,350 points on this transaction, with American Airlines Aviator Red cardholders earn 2,400.
• All of the airline credit cards include a free checked bag at this point, but United, Frontier, and Allegiant still charge for carry-ons on their lowest fares, so Spirit gains a $25-45 benefit on every flight.
• Seat selection includes exit rows but not the Big Front Seat. No other carrier allows free seat selection for credit cardholders, a value of $19-60 (depending on exit row, carrier, availability and flight duration.) That’s a huge advantage.
• Its new cancellation/change fee removal allows customers to change their flight for free. This is available for many elite status levels at competing airlines – but not as a credit card benefit. Some airlines also share this policy, but not all.
• Priority customer service lines, and priority check-in are both offered by many other cards at this annual fee level, but Priority boarding would move from Group 2 to Group 1 behind only those that need extra time boarding. It’s hard to put a value on Group 1 boarding, but if we said it was worth $6.99 per flight, that would add up for quarterly travelers.
• Shortcut security is better than nothing but is pretty limited in execution. For what it’s worth, no other airline credit card at this level includes any sort of priority security measure. At LaGuardia a few weeks ago, it was worth at least 20 minutes saved versus standard security.
• Spirit eliminated award redemption costs, some airlines still charge $25 per person.

Overcoming Concerns

There are two concerns for many Free Spirit members. The first is that the the points are worth about 1¢/each, about 30% less than most other airlines. They often require a co-pay but not always, and they often require a close-in booking fee but this is waived for status members which applies under this deal. In essence, the points are worth as much and earning them doesn’t add tremendous value.

The second concern is that Spirit is facing some economic difficulty and that could effect the overall usage of both the points and benefits. Some could speculate that this is a move to shore up cash and grow its user base however, it could also be an easy way to counter Frontier’s move for free luggage for cardholders.

Conclusion

For casual travelers who can utilize Spirit routes, this is a great card to have and hold at least through the term of Free Spirit Gold status. It provides more benefits than other cards while eliminating the nickel and dime approach of a basic economy ticket. For casual flyers looking to save on nonstop trips, there’s no question this is the best product on the market. It’s not great for building valuable point balances for international flyers in lie flat business class – but not every trip requires that and not every traveler does either.

What do you think? 

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