Our take: With perks that include priority boarding, an annual anniversary voucher, a rebate on in-flight purchases and a waiver of redemption fees and points expiration, the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® is a solid pick for frequent flyers of Spirit Airlines.
For the frequent Spirit flyer, the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® is worth having. It’s the superior option to Spirit’s no-annual fee airline card, the Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard®.
The Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® includes valuable benefits that can easily outweigh its annual fee. Besides offering the ability to earn Free Spirit status through spending and increased earning on Spirit purchases, it comes with a much better sign-up bonus compared with the Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard®.
The card’s benefits can help frequent Spirit flyers avoid all the “gotcha” fees that come with Spirit’s “a la carte” pricing model, allowing you to enjoy a better and less costly Spirit Airlines travel experience. It even allows you to avoid the redemption fee for award flights booked within 28 days of departure.
Intro Purchase APR
N/A
Regular Purchase APR
18.99% - 26.99% Variable APR
Intro BT APR
N/A
Regular BT APR
18.99% - 26.99% Variable APR on balance transfers
Annual Fee
$0 Introductory Fee for the first year. After that, your Annual Fee will be $79.
Cash Advance Fee
See Terms
Foreign Transaction Fee
None
Balance Transfer Fee
Either $10 or 3% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
The Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® currently offers a decent sign-up bonus. You can Earn 60,000 bonus points plus a $100 Companion Flight Voucher after making at least $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening.
LendingTree values Spirit points at 0.9 cent each, which is about average when compared with other points, but less than many airline programs, including American Airlines, United and Delta.
This means the current welcome offer is worth roughly $360. We also need to include the value of the $100 companion fare, which is essentially a discount off a companion ticket on the same itinerary as the cardholder. This discount maxes out at $100. Thus, the total value of the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®is approximately $460. This is a little less valuable than sign-up bonuses from similar airline credit cards.
What it’s worth: Around $460, including the flight voucher
Who’s eligible to earn this offer? This offer is available to those opening a new card account and doesn’t apply to product changes from another Spirit airlines credit card.
Like most airline credit cards, the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® earns bonus points for purchases with Spirit Airlines, plus bonus points in a couple other common spending categories.
Earn 3 points per dollar spent on eligible Spirit purchases; 2 points per dollar spent on eligible dining and grocery store purchases; and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
The relatively low value of Spirit points make this card a poor choice for most spending. Earning 3 points per $1 on Spirit purchases isn’t bad, except that you could be earning 3 points per $1 on all airline purchases with a more flexible card like the Citi Premier® Card. There are also some excellent card choices for dining and grocery stores that provide a far better return.
With the revamped Spirit Airlines program, the value of Spirit Airlines points has vastly improved. Our sampling of some flights below pegs the value at around 0.9 cents per point. By shopping around for award flights, you can get even better deals than this. Spirit rewards still don’t match the value of top airline programs, like Delta and Southwest, but it is possible to travel far with Spirit points.
Spirit Airlines revamped their Free Spirit loyalty program in January 2021. Along with now using a revenue-based model for awarding points based on fare price, Spirit is using a pseudo-dynamic pricing model for redeeming points.
How many Spirit points do you need for a free flight?: Spirit award tickets start at just 2,500 points, and just 1,000 points for the new Points + Cash option. As you can see from our examples below, Spirit award flight prices vary considerably. You can find them for as low as 2,500 points one-way, and prices climb over 30,000 points for a one-way itinerary at other times.
The value you can get for your points depends entirely on the origin, destination and date of travel. It is good practice to compare the award ticket price to the cost of a paid ticket, minus any taxes and fees. We’ll walk through a few examples showing the relative value of your Spirit points.
Flight | Cash price | Points required | Points value |
---|---|---|---|
Oakland to Las Vegas | $22.40 | 2,500 + $5.60 | $0.007 |
Sacramento to Nashville | $84 | 8,000 + $5.60 | $0.01 |
San Diego to Medellin, Colombia | $74 | 5,000 + $20.60 | $0.011 |
Los Angeles to Baltimore | $266 | 29,000 | $0.009 |
Average value | $0.009 |
Beyond earning Spirit points that you can redeem for free flights, the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® offers a great selection of perks for the frequent Spirit Airlines flyer.
Along with offering a $100 Companion Flight Voucher as part of the sign-up bonus, you can receive a $100 Companion Flight Voucher after each account anniversary if you make at least $5,000 in purchases within the year. You will receive a code via email within the first billing cycle after your account anniversary, or within one billing cycle after you meet the spend requirement of the welcome offer.
The $100 Companion Flight Voucher codes work the same whether you earned it via sign-up bonus or the anniversary benefit:
Primary cardholders of the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® and any companions traveling on the same reservation will all receive a Zone 2 “shortcut boarding” benefit. Zone 1 boarding is reserved for passengers who purchased a carry-on bag. Zone 2 boarding occurs next, followed by family boarding and Zone 3 and Zone 4 boarding.
Whenever you use your Spirit Airlines credit card to purchase food and beverages in flight, you will receive a 25% rebate in the form of a statement credit. The credit will automatically post to your account within seven days from the transaction posting date, and your account must be open to receive the credit.
The Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® offers an introductory annual fee of , letting you test out the card’s many benefits for a whole year without paying anything.
Both Spirit Airlines credit cardholders and Free Spirit elite members can enjoy the points pooling benefit. Points Pooling is a feature of the Free Spirit program where an elite member or primary cardholder can become a “Pool Pilot” for a group of family or friends. You can link up to eight other Free Spirit members to your points pool. The Pool Pilot must be the one to make award redemptions, although awards can be booked for anyone in the pool.
Spirit Airlines normally charges a $50 award redemption fee for award tickets booked fewer than 28 days from the date of travel. (If you book 28 or more days from the date of departure, you do not have to pay a fee.) This fee is waived for Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® holders and Free Spirit Silver and Gold elite members. Airfare and applicable taxes must be paid using your Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® if this is how you receive this benefit.
One of the unique benefits of the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® is that your spending helps you earn Free Spirit elite status. For every $10 in net purchases on your card, you’ll earn 1 Status Qualifying Point (SQP).
Gold status entitles you to prime perks that can save you a lot of money on Spirit Airline fees, like free checked bags, free seat selection and free in-flight beverages and snacks. Elite status is valid from when it is initially earned in a given year through the end of the following calendar year.
Both Bank of America Spirit credit cards don’t charge foreign transaction fees, making them a good choice when you’re outside the U.S. at any of the international destinations served by Spirit Airlines.
Elite status is valid from when it is initially earned in a given year through the end of the following calendar year.
If you’re on the fence about whether the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® might be a good choice for you, here’s how it compares to a few other similar products.
Credit Cards | Annual Fee | Rewards Rate | Welcome Offer | |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®
Review Coming Soon
|
$0 Introductory Fee for the first year. After that, your Annual Fee will be $79. | Earn 3 points per dollar spent on eligible Spirit purchases; 2 points per dollar spent on eligible dining and grocery store purchases; and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. | Earn 60,000 bonus points plus a $100 Companion Flight Voucher after making at least $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening. | Review Coming Soon |
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
on Capital One's secure site Rates & Fees |
$95 | 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel | Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel |
on Capital One's secure site Rates & Fees |
![]() Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
|
$95 | Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, and 2x on all other travel purchases, and $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, plus more. | Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. | |
United℠ Explorer Card
|
$0 Intro for the First Year, then $95 | Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on dining, hotel stays and United® purchases. 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases | Earn 60,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. |
If you’re not committed to Spirit airlines and discount flying, you might consider the United℠ Explorer Card for its valuable airline loyalty program. The United℠ Explorer Card lets you earn more valuable miles at a faster pace.
Similar to the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® for Spirit flyers, it also offers a set of benefits when travelers fly with United Airlines, including priority boarding and a free checked bag. It also offers a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application. The annual fee is slightly higher than the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® at$0 Intro for the First Year, then $95.
If you’re looking for a card that earns flexible points that can be redeemed in a variety of ways, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is likely a better choice than a Spirit credit card. It has a slightly higher annual fee of $95, but the ongoing earning rate is better for travel purchases, including Spirit Airlines purchases.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, and 2x on all other travel purchases, and $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, plus more.. Your points are worth 25% more when redeemed through Chase Travel. You can also transfer points at a 1:1 ratio to a variety of travel partners.
However, you lose out on the Spirit-specific benefits like 25% back on in-flight purchases and the ability to spend toward elite status.
Another comparable product to the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. Similar to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you earn rewards that are redeemable in a variety of ways rather than being locked into a particular airline currency like you are with a Spirit credit card.
Capital One miles can be used to book travel directly through Capital One, redeemed for cash or for Amazon purchases, or transferred to a set of travel partner programs. This gives you flexibility that the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® doesn’t offer.
On the downside, just like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card doesn’t offer airline-specific perks.
If you’re a frequent flyer with Spirit Airlines, the perks offered by the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® may be well worth the reduced return on spend and the annual fee. The card waives the Spirit award redemption fee, gives you 25% back on in-flight purchases, allows you to pool points and helps you earn Free Spirit Elite status that can provide other valuable perks such as free bags and seat selection for Free Spirit Gold members.
For more casual flyers of Spirit Airlines, there are other card options that provide much better value. Check out our recommendations for the best airline credit cards and best credit cards for dining and groceries.
Yes, the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® has a $0 Introductory Fee for the first year. After that, your Annual Fee will be $79.
Spirit award redemption starts at 2,500 Spirit points. For the new Points + Cash option, awards start at 1,000 points plus additional cash to cover the rest of the fare.
The benefits of the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® include priority boarding, 25% off in-flight food and beverage purchases, the ability to pool points and the ability to earn Status Qualifying Points through spend. Check out the details above.
You can earn 1,000 free Spirit points when you sign up for Free Spirit Dining and dine within 30 days.
The information related to Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®, United℠ Explorer Card and Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard® has been independently collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication.
The information related to the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® has been independently collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication.