The Value of Spirit Airlines’ Free Spirit Points

We evaluate a number of loyalty programs for the value of their points and the program. Here is what Spirit Airlines’ Free Spirit points are worth.

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How To Earn Free Spirit Points

Spirit Airlines’ loyalty program, Free Spirit, was revamped in the last couple of years to form a fairly compelling program even for seasoned road warriors in the US. In fact, with the exception of complimentary upgrades to Spirit’s Big Front Seat (comparable to domestic First Class on United, Delta, and American) the program offers more in Spirit elite status Gold level than any other carrier at a comparable 50,000 mile/year level.

Like other carriers, Free Spirit loyalty program participants earn points for flying based on the tier level and cash prices of the airfare, status members earn more. But what Spirit did that no other carrier has matched, is incentivizing ancillary purchases at an even higher level. For example, buying wifi onboard can earn up to 20 points per dollar regardless of the credit card issuer, while travelers on American, for example, would have to be American Airlines credit cardholders to earn ANY points for the same purchase. This extends to seat selection, food onboard, etc.

Check out this comprehensive post about the new program.

The Free Spirit credit card also has an elevated offer of 60,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 within three months of account opening.  (Editorial note: we don’t receive compensation from the Free Spirit card, it’s just information.)

Establishing A Value

Some travel writers will speculate about the value of points based on the maximum possible value a redemption can incur. For example, I once booked a business class ticket using American Airlines Advantage miles for 110,000 roundtrip to Southeast Asia that retailed for $18,000; in this example, each mile would be worth 16.36¢. That, however, doesn’t reflect the value to me because I would never pay $18,000 out of pocket, it didn’t replace that for me. For others who may only use their miles for trips to Mexico, their value is closer to 1¢/point as that’s what it replaces from a cash price they would pay for the same route and flight.

However, unlike those cases of intrinsic value, Spirit Airlines uses a fixed value. They will never tell a consumer this value per point, it has to be ascertained through planned bookings. While redemptions start at 2,500 for elite Free Spirit members and cardholders, that doesn’t really speak to the value Spirit places on each point.

I took an example for a route today from Fort Lauderdale to Pittsburgh on a…