Free Spirit members have numerous ways to earn Free Spirit points, from flying and paying for seats, baggage and other incidentals to spending credit cards and even purchasing points.
That’s right: “points.” While many airlines refer to their mileage program currency as miles, Spirit refers to its mileage currency as Free Spirit points. This makes sense since the program is based on a spend-based earning and redemption program.
Find the best travel credit cards for 2024
Find the best travel credit card for your travel needs.
Flying with Spirit Airlines
All Free Spirit members earn 6x points per dollar spent on airline tickets. And even better, they earn 12 points per dollar spent on A La Smarte purchases, including seat assignments, baggage and other amenities.
Note that you won’t earn Free Spirit points for government taxes and fees. And with Spirit’s notoriously low fares, these taxes and fees can make up a significant portion of the ticket price.
For example, consider this booking from Newark, New Jersey (EWR) to Atlanta (ATL). Although the advertised price is $29.99 one-way, the base fare is only $10.14 of that price. If you add a checked bag for $50 and seat selection for $25, the total reservation would cost $104.99.
As a standard member, you would receive 960 Free Spirit points with this booking:
- 60 points for airfare ($10.14 base fare x 6 points per dollar spent)
- 900 points for the add-ons ($75 add-on fees x 12 points per dollar spent)
The ability to earn points for baggage, seating and other fees is rare in frequent flyer programs. While many U.S. airlines rely on these incidental fees to generate revenue, travelers generally don’t earn miles or elite status credits for these purchases. Not only does Spirit reward members with points for these fees, but the earning rate is double that of airline ticket purchases.
Spirit recently introduced its new package of fares and benefits, allowing guests to choose between “Go Big,” “Go Comfy,” “Go Savvy,” or “Go.” Pricing is more customizable with new package options for those who want to bundle some of the most popular amenities.
The Go Big option gives you access to the Big Front Seat at the front of the plane, unlimited snacks and drinks, carry-on and checked baggage, priority check-in and more. You also get access to in-flight Wi-Fi. The Go Comfy option guarantees you a blocked middle seat and the same baggage allowance as the Go Big package.
Speaking of luggage, Spirit also recently increased its baggage weight limit from 40 pounds to 50 pounds, so that extra bottle of Caribbean spirits costs less.
Collect status miles
Free Spirit Silver and Gold Elite members earn more points than non-elite members:
- Silver members earn 8 points per dollar on airline tickets and 16 points per dollar on seats, baggage and other amenities.
- Gold members earn 10 points per dollar for airline tickets and 20 points per dollar for amenities.
Earn status with Spirit Airlines
To achieve Gold or Silver elite status, members must earn a certain number of Free Spirit Status Qualifying Points (SQP). They earn 1 SQP per dollar spent on Spirit airline tickets and A La Smarte purchases. Additionally, Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® cardholders can* Earn one SQP for every $10 in purchases you make with the card.
Elite status is valid from the date it is earned and lasts until the end of the following calendar year. Whether you earn Silver status in March or December 2024, this status will last until December 31, 2025.
Free Spirit Silver Elite Status
To earn Free Spirit Silver Elite status, you must earn 2,000 Free Spirit SQP in a calendar year. When you reach Silver status, you’ll earn 8 Free Spirit points for airline tickets and 16 points for A La Smarte purchases. That’s a 33% bonus over what regular members earn.
But Silver Elite status offers more than just bonus points. Silver members receive:
- Free link security
- Free priority boarding
- Free standby on the same day
- Free choice of seat at check-in
- Own guest service hotline
In addition, Silver Elite members can build a points pool and avoid award redemption fees, regardless of how close to departure an award flight is booked.
Free Spirit Gold Elite Status
Free Spirit members reach Gold status when they earn 5,000 SQPs in a calendar year. Gold Elite members earn even more points: 10 points per dollar spent on airline tickets and 20 points per dollar spent on incidental fees. That’s a 67% bonus over what regular members earn.
In addition to all the benefits of Silver membership, Gold Elite members receive:
- Free first checked bag
- Free first piece of hand luggage
- Free choice of seats when booking (including emergency exit rows)
- Free drinks and snacks on board
- Pet fee waiver
Spirit Airlines’ elite benefits can provide significant savings when flying with Spirit. Ironically, however, all of these perks make it difficult to regain elite status because many ancillary fees are waived. This means you’ll need to spend a significant amount on airline tickets and/or a significant amount on a Free Spirit co-branded credit card to earn enough SQPs to re-qualify for elite status.
Earn points through credit card spending that qualify for Free Spirit status
In addition to earning SQPs by flying, Free Spirit members earn 1 SQP for every $10 purchase made with the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®.*.
Several airlines offer elite status earning through credit card spending, however, this is usually based on reaching a certain spending threshold. For example, Southwest Rapid Rewards members can earn 1,500 qualifying points when they spend $5,000 with select cards. Spirit’s card-based elite status earning is unique in that it offers SQP earning in such small increments.
For example, let’s say you earn 1,700 SQPs by flying in a calendar year. You only need to spend $3,000 with the Free Spirit credit card to earn the remaining 300 SQPs and reach Silver Elite status.
Credit cards
The Free Spirit® Journey More World Elite Mastercard®* earns 3 points per dollar spent on eligible Spirit purchases, 2 points on eligible restaurant and grocery store purchases, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. There’s a welcome bonus of 50,000 bonus points plus a $100 companion flight voucher when you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening, and there’s a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year; $79 thereafter. The Spirit credit card is issued by Bank of America.
In addition to collecting Free Spirit points, Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® holders can* Earn 1 SQP for every $10 spent with the card. Other benefits of the Free Spirit credit card include:
- Collect points
- 25% discount on food and drinks on board
- No points expire as long as your account is active
- Zone 2: Quick start
Transfer partner
Spirit is not currently a transfer partner of any of the major transferable points currencies. Fortunately, there are many other ways to earn free Spirit points besides flying and using a Spirit credit card.
Car rental partners
You can earn additional points each time you book a qualifying rental car from one of the rental car partners listed below.
- Reviews: Earn 50 points for rentals of four days or less and 500 points for rentals of more than five days.
- Budget: Earn 50 points for rentals of four days or less and 500 points for rentals of more than five days.
- Dollar: Earn 50 points per day on rentals of one to four days, or 500 points on rentals of five days or more. Note that Dollar charges a surcharge of 75 cents per day to offset the portion of Dollar’s annual cost to participate in the Free Spirit program.
- Hertz: Earn 50 points per day on rentals of one to four days, or 500 points on rentals of five days or more. A frequent flyer surcharge of 75 cents per day (up to $5.25) will be added to your bill.
- Payless: Save 5% on rentals and earn 50 points per rental day.
- Thrifty: Earn 50 points per day for rentals of one to four days, or 500 points for rentals of five days or more. For bookings where you wish to receive frequent flyer miles as award credit, a surcharge of 75 cents per day applies.
Food Rewards
Free Spirit members can enroll in the Free Spirit Dining program to earn points when they dine at participating restaurants. Members earn a base rate of 1 point for every $2 spent at restaurants. Increase that earning rate to 3 points by signing up for a promotional email. If you dine with us frequently, you’ll earn 5 points per dollar spent after completing 11 qualifying transactions in a calendar year.
Free Spirit Dining often offers new members a bonus of 500 bonus points after completing your first transaction of $30 or more and submitting an online review.
Other ways to earn Free Spirit Points
Free Spirit members can earn points by completing qualifying activities with other Free Spirit partners, such as refinancing a mortgage or completing surveys. Members can also currently book cruises through Free Spirit Cruises and earn 1 point per dollar spent.
Buy Free Spirit Points
Spirit sells points at a base price of 2.5 cents per point plus tax. Spirit regularly offers bonuses or discounts when purchasing points. However, even with a 60% bonus, the purchase price after tax is over 1.6 cents per point, which is not a good value.
Due to the low redemption rates for Spirit Points and this high purchase rate, purchasing Spirit Points rarely makes sense. However, it is an option if you are just below the points needed for a redemption and have no other way to generate free Spirit Points.
Also note that points purchases are processed through a third-party service called Points.com, which means you won’t earn category bonus points for spending on Spirit (or other airlines).
