by Lyle Daly | Jan. 26, 2021
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The new Spirit Airlines loyalty program is here, and so are two airline credit cards that can help you score free flights.
Spirit Airlines first released details about its new loyalty program last October. The announcement mainly covered upcoming changes to the Free Spirit® program, but it also teased the new airline credit cards it would offer with Bank of America.
Now the updated Free Spirit® program has launched and the new Spirit Airlines credit cards are officially open for applications. Here's a full breakdown of their features and whether they're worth getting.
Spirit Airlines' top credit card option is the Free Spirit® Travel More Mastercard®. It's $79 annual fee is waived in the first year. The airline also offers a no-annual-fee card called the Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard®.
Both cards have several perks in common:
In addition to those benefits, each card has its own set of features.
If you're going to get a Spirit Airlines card, the Free Spirit® Travel More Mastercard® probably makes the most sense. It offers:
Frequent flyers with Spirit Airlines should be able to get good value from this card. The sign-up bonus alone is worth about $500: $400 from the 40,000 bonus points and up to $100 from the Companion Voucher. The rewards rate is competitive, and avoiding those pesky redemption fees is a nice extra.
Since it doesn't cost anything, the Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard® has more limited features. It gets you:
This card will likely only serve a very small niche of travelers. Airline credit cards are typically only a good deal if you fly often with the airline. And if you fly often with Spirit Airlines, the Free Spirit® Travel More Mastercard® perks could save you more money.
The general guideline on airline credit cards is that you should consider applying if you fly with the airline multiple times per year.
That's still the case here. The more that you fly with Spirit Airlines, the more valuable one of its credit cards will be. If you like to travel and Spirit is your carrier of choice, its new cards (and in particular, the Free Spirit® Travel More Mastercard®) are worth a look.
For those who only hop on the occasional Spirit flight, more versatile travel rewards cards are the better option.
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