luckyman_apd
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2010
So, Spirit Airlines has been the bain of existence for some.....but for us, it has provided many ultra cheap flights....but this one takes the cake. Spirit is not a typical airline, and if you're not familiar with them, you can be shocked by all their extra fees and make your flight more expensive than if you flew another airline. Read the fine print and know what you're getting into to see if it will save you money or not.
So on our last flight, they go through their credit card sale on board and I'm half listening.....15,000 bonus miles on first purchase.....2500 extra miles if you sign up on the plane.......enough for up to 3 roundtrip tickets.....Wait what? 3 round trip tickets? get outta town....that can't be true. So the wheels start spinning and I say sure....let me sign up...I'll just cancel 2 weeks after the card arrives if it's bogus. When you sign up on the plane sometimes they give you a certificate for bonus miles. In this case, 2500 or enough for a possible 1 way flight. When we get off the plane I do so searching on my phone...and I find sure enough.....with enough advance planning (like more than 6 months) it is possible as a Spirit Mastercard holder, you can get an early morning or late night flight for as low as 2500 miles one way. So now I'm giddy because our trip in December has some of these flights available.
Once the card arrived (took almost 2 weeks) and made the first purchase to get the miles....Had to wait for the billing period to end, and then PAY THE BILL the 15,000 miles were deposited into my free spirit account. With the 2500 certificate they gave me, and the 1,600 I already had...I was able to purchase 1,000 miles for $26.88 and then use 20,000 miles to book 4 round trip flights from Atlantic City to Orlando in December. It cost $5.60 in taxes to book each segment, so $22.40 each way....plus the 26.88 to buy the 1000 miles (the lowest amount they sell) and I just book round trip airfare for 4 for $71.68! Total!
Some warnings and exceptions to anyone looking to take advantage of this......Spirit is VERY clever with their fine print and processes so fully educate yourself. When booking reward flights with these miles, spirit charges a fee.....and the closer the flight, the more the fee. There is no reward redemption fee when you book 180 out and beyond. Once you get inside 180 days the fees start to build and get higher and really make it not worth it. Plus, those 2500 mile flights are rare and practically non existent inside of 180 days. BUT if you play it right, plan ahead, and search the flights online before ever signing up....it can pay off! $71.68 for 4 people comes to $17.92 round trip....Truly a $9 airfare!
Edit....a few extra details.....the credit card DOES have an annual fee, but they waive the fee for the first year. Surely enough the $71.68 is the LAST charge we will be making on the card and after the trip in December we will be canceling the card and NOT paying the $59 annual fee. If you take the card and miles, you have to make a purchase every month with it to keep the miles. They will expire if you don't make 1 purchase a month. Overall I am a fan of the airline because of the cheap airfares we've gotten, but this deal takes some planning to execute. There was a different flight we wanted but had to travel for an extra day because the 2500 mile flight disappeared a week ago and we hadn't had the miles deposited into our free spirit account until yesterday.
So on our last flight, they go through their credit card sale on board and I'm half listening.....15,000 bonus miles on first purchase.....2500 extra miles if you sign up on the plane.......enough for up to 3 roundtrip tickets.....Wait what? 3 round trip tickets? get outta town....that can't be true. So the wheels start spinning and I say sure....let me sign up...I'll just cancel 2 weeks after the card arrives if it's bogus. When you sign up on the plane sometimes they give you a certificate for bonus miles. In this case, 2500 or enough for a possible 1 way flight. When we get off the plane I do so searching on my phone...and I find sure enough.....with enough advance planning (like more than 6 months) it is possible as a Spirit Mastercard holder, you can get an early morning or late night flight for as low as 2500 miles one way. So now I'm giddy because our trip in December has some of these flights available.
Once the card arrived (took almost 2 weeks) and made the first purchase to get the miles....Had to wait for the billing period to end, and then PAY THE BILL the 15,000 miles were deposited into my free spirit account. With the 2500 certificate they gave me, and the 1,600 I already had...I was able to purchase 1,000 miles for $26.88 and then use 20,000 miles to book 4 round trip flights from Atlantic City to Orlando in December. It cost $5.60 in taxes to book each segment, so $22.40 each way....plus the 26.88 to buy the 1000 miles (the lowest amount they sell) and I just book round trip airfare for 4 for $71.68! Total!
Some warnings and exceptions to anyone looking to take advantage of this......Spirit is VERY clever with their fine print and processes so fully educate yourself. When booking reward flights with these miles, spirit charges a fee.....and the closer the flight, the more the fee. There is no reward redemption fee when you book 180 out and beyond. Once you get inside 180 days the fees start to build and get higher and really make it not worth it. Plus, those 2500 mile flights are rare and practically non existent inside of 180 days. BUT if you play it right, plan ahead, and search the flights online before ever signing up....it can pay off! $71.68 for 4 people comes to $17.92 round trip....Truly a $9 airfare!
Edit....a few extra details.....the credit card DOES have an annual fee, but they waive the fee for the first year. Surely enough the $71.68 is the LAST charge we will be making on the card and after the trip in December we will be canceling the card and NOT paying the $59 annual fee. If you take the card and miles, you have to make a purchase every month with it to keep the miles. They will expire if you don't make 1 purchase a month. Overall I am a fan of the airline because of the cheap airfares we've gotten, but this deal takes some planning to execute. There was a different flight we wanted but had to travel for an extra day because the 2500 mile flight disappeared a week ago and we hadn't had the miles deposited into our free spirit account until yesterday.
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