Breaking Down The All-New Free Spirit Loyalty Program

Spirit Airlines recently announced an all-new Free Spirit loyalty program, coming January 21, 2021. Here’s what it means for travelers.

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Spirit Airlines is a carrier that travelers either love, or love to hate. It’s hard to argue with their ultra low fares, which cost even less for members of the airlines’s $9 Fare Club. But what you see is rarely what you get on Spirit Airlines. Take that $9 Fare Club, for instance. You’ll save money on every booking, possibly enough to make the membership pay for itself. But you’re NOT likely to get a $9 fare.

Likewise, Spirit Airlines offers seriously cheap base fares. But chances are good that your final price will be a lot higher. Your base fare includes a seat and enough room to bring a personal item, like a purse or small backpack. Everything else is extra.

For example, a round-trip from Nashville (BNA) to Los Angeles (LAX) is just $103.39. No argument there, that’s a great price! But once seat selection and a single carry-on bag is added, the price more than doubles. But… still a good price.

Current Free Spirit Loyalty Program

Spirit Airlines already has a loyalty program, called Free Spirit, but it’s not great. Members earn miles on every Spirit flight, but those miles expire in just three months without further account activity. Miles don’t expire for Free Spirit members who hold the Spirit World Mastercard and make at least one purchase per month.

The current program has two elite levels: Elite and VIP. The airline requires members to earn status every six months, and its benefits aren’t immediately clear. Elites earn 1 mile for each 1 mile flown, double what non-elites earn. VIPs earn 2 miles per mile flown. Frankly, it’s not enough to make me bother.

The NEW Free Spirit

Spirit seems to have finally recognized that its program is lacking… well, a lot. Late last month, the airline announced an all-new Free Spirit loyalty program. It will keep the same name when it debuts on January 21, 2021, but not much else.

Points Don’t Expire for a Full Year

The new Free Spirit loyalty program will instantly become more useful to leisure travelers. Members will no longer need to scramble to earn points every three months for limited benefit. Points will be good for a full year, and any account activity will re-set the clock on their expiration. For Spirit credit card holders, points will never expire.

This change is a net positive for Free Spirit members. The airline targets leisure travelers — i.e., people who don’t usually travel every three months, but will often travel at least once a year. A lot more Free Spirit members will be able to hold onto their points, without finding they expired since their last trip. However, a one year expiration window is still below industry standard and a far cry from United and Delta, where miles never expire.

Free Spirit will be Revenue-Based, Not Distanced-Based

Spirit is doing away with “miles” and will instead be awarding “points” to its Free Spirit members. While seemingly a minor change, it signals the end of distance-based earning on Spirit Airlines.

For years, most frequent flyer programs awarded miles to their members — typically, one mile for every mile flown. But over the past several years, nearly all the major U.S. carriers have switched to a revenue-based system. That is, members earn points/miles based on the money they spend with the airline. With a revenue-based program, participants have some incentive to buy a more expensive ticket. They’ll earn more points.

The new Free Spirit loyalty program will give customers 6 points for every dollar they spend on their base fare, and 12 points per dollar spent on À La Smarte options — things like seat selection and baggage fees. Silver and Gold elites will earn even more:

Members will also earn miles for Spirit co-branded credit card purchases, as well as purchases from select partners.

Using Free Spirit Points for Travel

Spirit Airlines is doing away with its award chart, but will instead take a page from the Southwest Airlines playbook. Southwest’s Rapid Rewards loyalty program allows its members to book any flight using points at a fixed conversion rate of 78 points per $1 of fare. For example, a $100 base fare would be equal to 7,800 points. Customers can take their pick and pay with points or cash.

Spirit hasn’t yet said what its conversion rate will be, but Free Spirit point bookings will start at 2,500 points. If you book a cheap cash fare, the fare using points will be similarly cheap. There is no arbitrage, where customers compare cash fares to the cost in points, and book the cheapest. The points price is tied directly to the cash price.

Spirit also plans to introduce a Points + Cash combo, allowing customers to split the cost of their ticket between the two currencies.

One important note: Spirit will not allow Free Spirit points to be used for optional services, like baggage fees or seat selection. Customers can use points to cover the cash fare only. But those À La Smarte add-ons will at least earn points.

Recognizable Elite Benefits

Until now, elite status with Spirit meant very little. Elites earned extra miles on every flight, that’s all. But the new Free Spirit loyalty program is working to offer some recognizable elite status benefits.

The new program will have two levels, which members will earn based on the dollars they spend on flights, À La Smarte options and credit card spend. These are the status levels and the number of Status Qualifying Points (SQPs) needed each year:

• Silver — 2,000 SQPs
• Gold — 5,000 SQPs

Members will earn 1 SQP per dollar spent on fares and À La Smarte extras. Spirit World Mastercard holders will earn an additional 1 SQP for every $10 spent on their card. So you’d need to drop $2,000 on Spirit Airlines to earn Free Spirit Silver status. That sounds like a lot for what is predominantly a leisure airline.

When the new Free Spirit program launches on January 21, 2021, elites will receive these benefits:

• Silver – Shortcut security and boarding, to get to the gate and on the plane faster; same-day standby; free seat selection at check-in (excluding exit rows and Big Front Seats); no award redemption fees.
• Gold – One free flight change, at least 24 hours prior to departure; one free checked bag and carry-on bag; free seat selection at booking (including exit rows); complimentary on-board beverage and snack.

Once a member earns Free Spirit Gold, the cost to fly Spirit drops even lower. All the big extras are included, leaving just the base fare (with taxes and fees). That’s great news for Gold elites, until they try and earn Gold status the following year. They’ll earn points on their cheap flights… and not much else.

It seems the only good way to earn and then maintain Gold status each year would require significant use of the Spirit World Mastercard. Or spend extra on the Big Front Seat, one of the few perks not included with Free Spirit Gold.

Points Pooling and Other Perks

The airline will allow its Free Spirit members to pool their points with up to eight friends and family members. It’s a perk more airlines should offer as a matter of good customer service. It simply gives customers a bit more flexibility in how (and when) they use their points. The program will be open to Free Spirit elites and Spirit credit card holders.

Free Spirit members will pay no redemption fees when booking award travel at least 90 days out, down from 180 days. Elites and Spirit credit card holders will never pay award redemption fees. Currently, these fees range in price from $15 to $75. Spirit has not said if the redemption fee structure will be changing.

Renaming the $9 Fare Club

Goodbye, $9 Fare Club. As we mentioned, the club’s name does not describe what happens. It’s unlikely you’ll see a $9 fare. Instead, we’ll get the Spirit Saver$ Club.

The old $9 Fare Club was a good value, allowing members to save on airfares and baggage. Those perks will remain, but the Spirit Saver$ Club will also introduce savings on every kind of trip extra. Members can purchase everything from discounted seats (including the Big Front Seat) to discounted Shortcut Security and Boarding.

Customers can choose one of three membership options:

• 12 months for $69.95
• 18 months for $99.90
• 24 months for $129.90

I’ve long recommended that regular Spirit flyers purchase a membership in the $9 Fare Club. The Spirit Saver$ Club is an improved product and well worth a look. It can benefit even occasional Spirit travelers. Just one flight booking might cover the cost of membership.

Final Thoughts

The new Free Spirit loyalty program is almost here, and it’s a big improvement for its customers. The new program will finally offer some recognizable elite perks (not just added points), and offer at least some value to the points its members earn.

Free Spirit miles currently expire after just three months of inactivity, and that gives them zero value to me. But now, Spirit will extend the points expiration window to a full year, and I’ll have a chance to keep them and actually use them.

We don’t know how much Free Spirit points will be worth, but they will likely never represent the value proposition that points with other airlines represent. Free Spirit points will buy airfare, but not the extras which add so much to the cost of a Spirit flight. Unless you’re the ultimate expert packer, you will almost certainly pay cash to fly Spirit, even if you’re flying on points.

I suspect the new Free Spirit loyalty program will encourage more people to get the airline’s co-branded credit card. And indeed, that may be the point. In addition to the new program, Spirit’s co-branded credit card will add new features, in addition to those we’ve already mentioned:

• Zone 2 shortcut boarding
• $100 companion voucher (at some future date TBA)
• 25% rebate on in-flight food and beverages
• Free Spirit points don’t expire, no purchase necessary

The all-new Free Spirit takes off on January 21, 2021.

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