Spirit Airlines has rolled out its new Free Spirit loyalty programme, alongside a revamped Spirit Savers Club and two new branded credit cards.
The Free Spirit scheme was announced last year but officially launched this week, and offers members a minimum of six points per dollar spent on fares, as well as double points on extras including seat selection and luggage.
Silver status can be earned by spending $2,000 on Spirit flights, or $20,000 on eligible Free Spirit credit cards, or a combination of the two, and offers members eight points per dollar spent on fares (16 points per dollar spent on optional extras), as well as free ‘shortcut’ security and boarding, and free general seat selection 24 hours before departure, with exit row availability three hours prior to departure.
Meanwhile Gold status can be earned by spending $5,000 spent on flights, or $50,000 on eligible Free Spirit credit cards, or a combination of the two, and offers members ten points per dollar spent on fares (20 points per dollar spent on optional extras), as well as Silver benefits as per the above, a free carry-on and checked bag, and seat selection at the time of booking.
Reward redemptions start at 2,500 points, and can be redeemed against every available seat on all flights, with no blackout dates. As the carrier puts it “If a seat is available for dollars, it’s available for points”.
Points do not expire, so long as members make one qualifying transaction to earn or redeem every 12 months, and those who also hold a branded credit card will see their points remain valid “as their card account remains open”.
Spirit has partnered with Bank of America to offer two new Mastercard credit cards in the US, offering sign-up bonuses, points earning on expenditure, and companion flight vouchers.
For a full overview of the Free Spirit programme click here, and for more details on the branded credit cards click here.
Finally the carrier has revamped its existing $9 Fare Club as the ‘Spirit Saver$ Club’, offering subscription-based benefits including fare discounts and savings on optional extras.
Commenting on the news Bobby Schroeter, Spirit Airlines senior vice president and chief marketing officer, said:
“Points are useless if you have to wait forever to use them. We started with a clean sheet of paper so we could focus on what travellers and their families want, which is points that add up fast and generate rewards just as quickly. We know our Guests want to be able to earn and redeem their points without jumping through hoops.”
