Spirit Airlines Credit Card Review
Q: Is the BofA Spirit Airlines credit card a good deal or not?
A: Founded in 1980, Spirit claims to be “the ultra low cost airline for the Americas.” They’re mostly known for their flights down to Florida and the Caribbean. Personally, I used to fly them all the time because they offered direct flights to and from Detroit/Los Angeles.
I originally wrote a Spirit Airlines credit card review here about 2-3 years ago. Back then it was issued/managed by Barclay’s bank and in short, the experience my family had with it could be summed up in these excepts from the old review:
The prior experience with customer service…
The phone number on the back of the card to book a flight is big, but the number for customer service is so insanely small you can hardly see it. After dealing with them, I understand why they’re apparently not eager for you to talk to their customer service department!
I’ve dealt with many, many foreign call centers and the Spirit credit card service department is by far the worst… ever! Based in India (or some similar country) they seem to just read from a script. It doesn’t matter what you say or what your question is, these people hardly seem to know English. All they know how to do it seems is to read from their script. It feels impossible to communicate with them, let alone have your issue resolved.
And this was the prior experience with the rewards…
The only reason I was interested in the Spirit Airlines MasterCard was the rewards. Unfortunately, this credit card definitely falls short. You only earn 1 mile per $1 spent (and 3 miles per $1 spent on Spirit purchases, but that’s of little value since it only made up a tiny percentage of total annual spending).
To add insult to injury, the promotional signup “bonus” was a total joke. They claim it’s enough for free airfare (which technically is true) but afterward I saw fine print. They use language like “up to” and “off peak.” After we got the card, there wasn’t anywhere close to enough for the roundtrip ticket I wanted. In fact, a year and a half later – plus after it being the main credit card used during that time – there still were not enough accumulated miles!
That was then, but how about now?
Okay so just to reiterate, those comments were from the old Spirit MasterCard review which was written around the end of 2009 and early 2010. Since then the credit card program has changed. Here’s a look at the newer version:
- Issuer: The card is now issued by Bank of America. I’m so glad to hear they changed, because their partnership with Barclays clearly wasn’t working – based not only on my own experience, but from the countless customer complaints I heard echoing much of the same (just scroll through the comments below to see).
- Name: Previously it was called the Free Spirit Onyx World MasterCard. Now it’s just called the Bank of America Spirit World MasterCard.
- Annual Fee: At $59.00 per year it’s not exactly cheap. There is a lower tier version, Platinum Plus for $19.00, but it only earns 1 mile per $1 spent.
- Rewards: The card gives 2 miles per dollar spent. Admittedly this is much better than in the past, but I’m still not convinced it’s a competitive credit card offer and here’s why:
Complaint #1. To redeem Spirit airline miles, you have to call customer service
The Q&A section I found linked to on the credit card application says you have to contact them by phone and speak with a “FREE SPIRIT specialist” to use your miles. Given the reputation of their customer service, this definitely doesn’t sound like a very enjoyable experience.
Complaint #2. You will be charged award redemption fees
Being charged to spend your reward points? What the duck is up with that? The website lists these “non-refundable, per customer award redemption” fees:
- $100 – Award ticket requested 6 days or less prior to departure
- $75 – Award ticket requested between 7 and 20 days prior to departure
- $15 – Award ticket requested between 21 and 179 days prior to departure
- $0 (No Fee) – Award ticket requested at least 180 days prior to departure
Keep in mind, those are in addition to any applicable government taxes and fees you also will have to pay.
Complaint #3. Navigating the peak vs. off peak nightmare
Perhaps the biggest drawback of both the old Free Spirit MasterCard and the new version is the way this airline structures their mileage redemption.
You may have seen them advertise things like “15,000 bonus miles, enough for 3 roundtrip off-peak tickets.” They reel you in with promises like that which are technically correct, but take a look at the complicated redemption maze and judge for yourself whether or not that’s what you will be paying: Free Spirit redemption (PDF file).
From my experience, when I would check for a roundtrip domestic ticket for routes I typically fly (between the Midwest and the West coast) the required amount would often be 20,000, 25,000, or even 37,500 miles.
Sure, on short distances you may be able to snatch a low mile deal but again, I urge you to take a close look at that PDF file and pay attention to all the date ranges they classify as “Peak” and “Standard” flights.
Verdict?
As mentioned I used to fly Spirit airlines all the time but now that they charge for both checked bags and carry-on bags and a slew of other fees, I have actually found it to be cheaper to fly the “regular” airlines instead.
For the past couple years I’ve usually been flying Delta, which for me as often worked out to be cheaper than the self-proclaimed “ultra low cost” airline believe it or not. On top of that, their seats are much more comfortable and they still give free beverages and snacks.
The bottom line is this: The Spirit Airlines credit card rewards are better than the past, but still aren’t competitive. For the same $59 annual fee, you can also get 2 miles per dollar spent with the Capital One Venture and it charges no foreign transaction fees, plus you can use your rewards to pay for any travel purchase (including the purchase of Spirit airline tickets).
To compare the Spirit MasterCard to other airline-specific card offers, here is a list of the top travel credit card deals.
Written Jan 2012. Note that the the Bank of America version was launched in spring of 2011. Older comments are referencing the Barclay’s version.
Amazing that false advertising like this still exists in the USA. Even during the limited off peak, there are only a few seats per flight that are “off-peak”. These seats seem to fill up the first few days that they are offered, 7 months in advance. I have 60,000 points and can get one OFF-PEAK round trip flight in zone one AFTER paying $30 on top of that… my fault for not heeding the complaints before I got the card….
I got the Spirit Mastercard several years back when it was with Barclays bank. I have to admit the features for using this for my small business were great in that I could give card to my employees and monitor their spending individually and set monthly limits and other controls for each of them individually. That’s where my praise ends.
When I joined, I was told (and it is in the documentation that I have) that I would receive 5% rebate on airline tickets I bought with Spirit on the card. I never received that and Spirit says it is a Barclays issue but Barclays says it is a Spirit issue. Go figure.
Then I had a bunch of travel problems on Spirit, not the least of which was when I donated about 100,000 miles for a charity to take a videographer to Lima from Los Angeles. Spirit denied boarding to her in Ft Lauderdale, halfway through her trip to Peru, as there was a baggage embargo to Lima. Yes, this was on the Spirit website, but not in the ‘baggage policies’ section… it was in it’s own section at the bottom of the page titled ‘Lima baggage embargo’ and was not referred to any place else. If they were intentionally trying to trap people, they could not have done a better job. My donation of miles escalated into what I felt was an obligation to buy her ticket to Lima… $1,500 cash. Spirit would not even consider giving me back the miles for the flights that were not taken.
Then about 6 months ago, I get notices that my Spirit mastercard is becoming a Juniper card. What I didn’t realize is that now that I am no longer a Spirit Mastercard holder, that the balance of the miles I had earned (about 70,000 miles still unredeemed) would expire with 3 months of inactivity on my Spirit flyer account.
And so went the balance of the miles I earned with Spirit. I spent almost $200,000 on their flippin’ card and never so much as got a flight back (well, except for LAX to FLL, which was one-forth of the trip), at which time a charitable videographer and all her luggage were left standing at the curb in a strange town, alone.
You can’t swing a dead cat on the internet without hitting a complaint about the customer service of Spirit. I have to admit that their cheap prices did sometimes catch my eye, but I have finally controlled those urges and I don’t even look at them any more. There are a lot better ways to get to Cancun.. ways that won’t leave me needing a few shots of tequila when I get there just to settle down my frustration at some new issue I would have with them.
Just got my statement which included a whopping $39 Annual Fee. I immediately called and after a few minutes got through to rep (Yes in India!) who said okay we will just cancel your card. What’s funny is this is the best customer service I ever received from them. I have always waited forever on the phone or while their website has been down.
They are not flexible whatsoever and if you have been on one of their flights you know you are making sacrifices before you ever step on the plane.
Anyway, goodbye Spirit!!! and good riddance.
I recently tried to use my Spirit Miles for a trip from Cartagena, Columbia to Los Angeles. I called the reservation desk in India two months in advance and was told by “Timothy” that there were no Spirit Miles seats available. I went on the Spirit Airline website and found that there were 71 available seats on the plane for those who would pay for them. I’m glad that “Timothy” didn’t book me on this flight because it disappeared from the flight selection list a week later. I got the phone number for Spirit Airlines in Florida from a useful website and called to complain. There was no number to punch to get a human on the phone. I did email them and got a form letter response that barely addresses my complaint.
I have accrued 85000+ miles on my Spirit Card and I have decided to cut it up because it isn’t worth the space it takes up in my wallet.
I am so angry at this airline – I have accumulated 40,000 miles with their credit card and was informed today that a) it takes 10,000 miles to fly to Costa Rica, my destination next spring since it is “zone 3″; b) since I am traveling in a “peak” time – which appears to be the entire summer – I have to use the entire 40,000 miles for one roundtrip to Costa Rica. I have been to Costa Rica twice in the past 3 months via Spirit, and when the airline attendants were hawking the card from Ft. Lauderdale to Costa Rica they never ONCE said anything about extra miles for international travel OR peak periods.
Where is the class action suit against these tactics?
I’ve had pretty good experiences with the Spirit card. Before getting the card, Spirit often proved to be the best value option for flying from DTW to Florida airports. Flights are undeniably no frills and the extra fees are insane. But when paying for 4 tickets, I don’t often splurge on higher rates just for free soda and peanuts.
I’ve used miles for travel in February, October and December with no issues. I only use the Sprit card for Spirit purchases and one monthly payment to keep the card active. But between the 3x miles per dollar on Spirit purchases, low 2500 mile redemption level and the occasional trip to LAX (2000 miles each way), the miles keep racking up.
Not thrilled with the $9 fare club being removed or the Indian call center. (Although I will say that they were very helpful in rescheduling a trip booked on miles–at no cost to me–when the itineraries changed. Even changed the arrival city with no additional points / cash charged.)
As far as the airline goes, you know what you’re getting from the start. But as long as I continue to have success using my miles, I’m a happy cardholder.
I’ve accumulated 10,000 points and today decided to use those points for a flight; a flight somewhere that I’d never been that is within Zone II for a non peak round trip flight. I spoke with the over seas agent politely (as I usually do with all customer service employees since I manage a customer service sales based company), and perhaps as a result of fielding angry customers all day, she had a hostile attitude from the onset.
She informed me that the destination that I wanted to go to was a zone III flight and required 15,000 points (chicago to san juan). At that moment, I was looking at the website and even printed out the matrix that showed the flight was zone II, yet the woman was insistent even when I verified the link which showed it was a zone II off peak flight on the grid. So I called back later and another employee informed me that I was qualified for the free flight with the 10,000 points to San Juan.
As such, I was going to take it. But having read horror stories about Spirit mile redemption, I asked her for details before booking; such as will there be extra fees. Only because I asked, did she disclose that there was $110 fee and there would be a $175 cancel fee if I decided not to take it at a later date. Immediately after informing me it would be a 13 hour flight due to an 8 hour layover each way, she insisted I take the flight; I was hesitant due to the amount of layover time and because I was getting conflicting information from employees.
So I asked her to explicitly verify that I had enough points and wouldn’t have to pay more, and why other employees told me otherwise. Only than did she say that I needed 15,000 points and would only get credit for one way; and have to pay for my return. She deliberately left that information off; likely because had I accepted her insistent offer to book, she would have asked me for the $400 one way along with the $110 (security and booking fee); had I said ‘no’ she would have charged me the $110 and the $175 cancel fee for nothing.
After reading the reviews (before booking) I wasn’t surprised and was cautious; however I think its odd that a customer service organization would so blatantly try to deceive their customer base. I will be sure to use the points one way or the other, at a marginal cost to me and without any additional hidden charge… even if it means going to some random place with an 8 hour layover, just so that I can use a seat, causing them the opportunity cost of a paying customer.
Was spending a lot of time in the Atlantic City area when my folks took ill down in Florida. First Mom then Dad. Lots of back and forth flights and they were the only option. Since there was line cutting benefits to having the card I got one. Amassed a quarter of a million points and even though they said I could fly for as little at 2,500 points, A QUARTER MILLIION NEVER SEEMED TO BE ENOUGH!)
About a year ago they decided to swap out from the Barclay Bank card they issued me and wanted me to sign onto another card of theirs. Listen folks, I have really good credit, BECAUSE I DONT OPEN LOTS OF RIDUICULOUS NEW CARDS. So, looks like my quarter million points are about to expire. If anyone can give me a reason or way to transfer to a good (or even somewhat shady) cause, I would be happy to.
Do not get a Spirit credit card! Sure they promise you 15,000 free miles for signing and you get the free and earned miles, but don’t try to use them. I have 47,000 miles and am trying to book a trip 6 months and 1 week from today, in April 2012. I talked to someone in India whom I could not understand (another issue that sticks in my craw) and he tells me there are no available seats for the week in April I want. As a matter of fact, he tells me there are no available seats in the entire month, nor is there in March nor is there in May. Of course he was wiling to book me for cash! What a ripoff. I am canceling my cards tomorrow and filing a complaint with Bank of America because there is no way to contact a customer service representative at Spirit. And, you are right Baldanza….not only are you obnoxious, you and your airline do suck! The worst customer service this side of Verizon! And you think you are giving customers bargains? After all the add-ons, do the math. Horrible company.
I was disappointed when they changed from Barclay to BOA as I lost my “free” membership to $9 club. I do not plan on renewing the card when it expires as the “salesperson” misled me on the services with the transfer. Also, using the miles is somewhat tricky since you have to know months in advance when/where you want to travel. I agree with the others who say that the rewards program is a scam and Spirit is not a low cost carrier since they charge for every service they provide.
In my opinion, this Free Sprit Card is almost fraud. I got my 15,000 + miles. But when I tried to use some of them on Spirit airline to travel and after telling the rep that I knew nothing about how to use the benefits, we chose a flight, he charged my free spirit mastercard for a trip, both airmiles and a fee. So far, so good. Then he asked if I wanted to reserve a seat. That would cost extra cash. He said I could avoid the fee by waiting til the day of the flight to get my seat. He asked if I had bags to check. I told him I only had carry on luggage. When I later learned that the carry on luggage also would be charged (and now the total charges would be more than an average regular ticket with the competition…for this supposedly free seat) I asked him to cancel the whole thing. Nope. That would cost me a cancellation fee even greater in cost than the ticket. So, people. BE WARNED. I believe there is nothing even remotely equitable about the business treatment you will get if you fly Spirit airlines with their alleged free airmiles. I have cancelled my card.
I have approximately 15K miles with Spirit that I have racked up over the past year. I went to check the awards chart to see what my 18 round trips 15K miles gets me and found out, that unless I have the World Master Card my award is minimal. The award program is a joke. It’s taken me some 18 round trips just to get to 15K miles, yet all I have is enough for 1 measly round trip, with any other airlines 18 roundtrips between Boston and Miami would have probably given me at least 2 round trips. I was considering getting the Master Card for the sake of using less miles (5K) for the ticket. After reading some of these customer service experiences I will not touch their credit card.
Good thing I have good credit and would qualify for the Spirit World Master Card, BUT POOR PEOPLE WHO FLY THIS AIRLINE AND HAVE BAD CREDIT, THEY ARE TOLD THAT IF THEY ARE APPROVED THEY WILL GET 3 FREE FLIGHTS (15K MILES). SPIRIT SEEMS TO PREY ON POOR PEOPLE WITH LOW CREDIT. I would not be surprised if most people who fly Spirit are probably lower income and have bad credit or low credit and if they qualify, only qualify for the “platinum card” which only gets you 1 free trip. TALK ABOUT SUCKERING YOUR CUSTOMERS.
I was happy with my Free Spirit Mastercard. Customer service has not always been helpful, but I have flown Spirit 13 times in the last 6 months, and though their seats are small, I have gotten plenty of free flights (during their OFF SEASON), and have learned to work their system to my advantage. People at work will tell you I’m addicted to flying Spirit. The truth is, with all the points I’ve gotten with them, it is indeed cheaper to fly than to stay home. I would love better treatment, bigger seats, etc…but my goal is to get to my destination and have fun there. I’m a light packer, so I never pay for extra luggage, and I just sit and look forward to getting to my destination. I think most of you are upset because you haven’t read the fine print. You really do get what you pay for, but once you learn the rules, you actually get a whole lot more than they would like to offer you. GET SMART PEOPLE! Don’t be ignorant like everyone else.
Everything written here is absolutely – 100% – true. I have had the exact same experience, and cancelled my card after 1) not getting the free miles promised, 2) with an excellent credit score – 791 – told that I didn’t qualify for the premium card and 15,000 miles (as above), 3) was charged a late fee when I cancelled, and the Indian told me it was cancelled, 4) tried to use my “reward miles” from the previous $9 club and told “off peak” is not an option with the $9 “rewards” program, so each one way ticket is 15,000 points, and you have to pay for it first, then wait for the “refund”. And, there is MORE – just too much to write about. NEVER use this airline- by the time you pay the baggage fee, the carry on fee, the fee to cash in points, and all other fees, they end up being more than the other “major” carriers. THEY ABSOLUTELY SUCK!!!!
jim u must be related to give a good review 1 out of 50 hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm not good odds
Most of you complainers are so wrong. Read your paperwork first. Spirit has been good to me. I get my free flights (as available), and I get my points as I use the card. So, what your problems are is strange to me. Get a life.
BY FAR THE WORST – Highest interest rate of all my credit cards and – if you do not use their card monthly or fly Spirit every 3 months your miles expire. I just had 21000 miles go away and I have had their card for a few years. No customer service – uncaring airline – a total joke. Next time I find my self with time at an airport where they are hawking their card i think I will plant myself there with this websites address in hand.
Do not get this card. All the negative comments and experiences are 100% accurate. I signed up for the card in Oct 2010, used the card and never got the 15k in miles. I’ve called and called and get the run around from both spirit and barclays. It’s now May 2011 and still nothing. Has anyone looked into a class action lawsuit on this? If so, please let me know.
I have a great creadit!!!! Score 775 – Recently refinanced so I know where exacly I stay with these numbers. When I applied for the card I received there sub-card with only 5000 miles bonus, When I called and asked them why ….. I was told that my credit is not good enough. I have cards with United, BA, AA…. I CLOSED MY ACCOUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rewards program is a total scam, the times you can actually use your points are so limited it totally does not make any sense. Going to cancel asap
TERRIBLE , TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!!!!!! I have gotten great fares in the past before they started charging for bags and seats. I have flown to Florida many times for $9 plus tax. My total flight round trip non stop was $32!!!! I wanted to book a flight in May during off peak time. I called 3 days in a row and got 3 different fees. It should only cost 5,000 miles round trip. They told me at first there were no flights available. Then another person told me there was the exact flight I wanted but it would cost me 50,000 miles because it was a PREMIUM seat. Out of pocket with tax and bag charges it was going to cost me $201.02 plus my miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m done. Oh and by the way. I couldn’t understand ” Shawn” or Lee”. I wonder what American name they will pick from the list the next time someone calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT GET THIS CREDIT CARD YOU WILL NEVER USE YOUR MILES. EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I applied for the Spirit credit card for the 3 free round trips and the additional 5000 miles. Were you told that there is a gray card which I got) and a black card (which my wife got). It depends on your credit score. My wife and I are both over 800. Both don’t give you the same offer, which no one told me. Also, my miles were never posted, nor was the additional 5K miles. Every time I tried to register the 5 K miles bonus it came up as invalid. Their customer “service rep” told me that I entered the certificate number wrong. I entered it correctly at least 4 times. Also, I’ve never gotten the correct miles posted from all of my previous flights and customer service told me that it would be corrected. After many many months it’s still the same.
Try to book your free flight and you enter “Alice In Wonderland World”. Spirits’ website and customer no service is a nightmare. I am going to cancel the card even though it will affect my credit. Between their baggage prices, new weight limits, seat fees and carry on costs it’s less and less a savings to use them.
Well, I’m still thinking about applying but not sure if it is worth it or not, may just use the few miles i have on a flight to fll and see if any cheap deals from there.
Well, I’ve got to say I’ve made out like a bandit with this card. I took it out last February after going to the website to check fares. I didn’t book a flight, but I took the card and got 15K miles and no fee for the first year. Then in the Spring they ran a 10x points bonus and I racked up an extra 25k points. They also gave everybody a 5k bonus after their pilot strike was settled. I booked an off peak ticket from LGA to Guatemala with a stopover in Fort Lauderdale. I used 30k miles to get “big front seats” which also included 2 free checked bags–and I had never actually flown the airline before. My only charges were $55 in taxes. I hope they do another 10x points bonus this spring…
I plan to keep it another year, pay the $69, and try to use up my other 15k points before next renewal.
does anyone have a true number to call Spirit Airlines where someone will answer, even if it is to be put on hold???
Odd that the comment from Spirit doesnt include a decent number to call Spirit Airlines so that customers can get problems resolved. I really smell a rat here.
i signed up for the credit card to get the miles to give me three free flights. later they sent me a card and said I only qualified for one free flight. I asked why, they said I had a bad credit rating. I just looked at my credit rating which of three scores the lowest still qualified for the excellent rating. My hightest score was a wonderful 818, median was 778 , lowest was I think 760 plus. I own two homes, all paid off, cars all paid off, huge savings and checking accounts, no balances on any credit cards. I retired early because i have so much money and they want to say I have bad credit as an excuse to take away my free flights !!!???
Yes, this airline appears to me as nothing but a rip off oriented business with bad claims, horrible service and I do mean horrible. I had to drive to the airport just to talk to a person about getting my luggage back. Nobody answers the phones and even at the busy Las Vegas airport it was hard to find someone to talk to. I did find a sign saying they would be back later in the day. Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable but also so insulting to learn they think I have a bad credit rating when infact I would bet my credit rating is higher than 98% of americans. I am so disappointed in this company.
GOT THEIR CREDIT CARD AND WENT ON 3 FREE FLIGHTS WITHOUT A GLITCH.MY WIFE THEN GOT ONE AND WE WENT TO COLUMBIA FOR FREE.
CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE ONCE AND HAD NO PROBLEM EXCEPT PUT ON HOLD 3 TO 4 MINUTES.
BEATS DELTA FF PROGRAM TO BITS
Saw a $74 fare to Panama. Chose flights for my husband and self and then tried to proceed to pay for the reservation. I could not access payment, called Spirit and got the predicted non US English speaking Indian who told me her screen showed $99 for the fare. In addition, it cost $40 for her to make he reservation. My basic fare of $160 ended up costing $300 because I had to reserve through Spirit.
I called the tech dept only to be told:
1. I didn’t download the NEW software at the bottom of the page. Did that, still didn’t work. Downloaded it to all the avail. websites, still didn’t work.
2. It was my computer, theirs worked fine.
3. Tried to make a reservation on 5 different computers. None worked.
4. Asked where I could complain and was told “There wasn’t anyplace to complain.”
Seems it is a scam to force you to reserve via non US English speaking people and gouge you for the extra $$$$.
Hi – If you’d read the offer details in full before signing up, you would have known about $1/$ 3 pts per spirit purchase. Also, you would have seen the annual fee. The application clearly says that by applying it depends on your credit worthiness which card you get. You may or may not get 15,000 pts upfront. You could have called customer support (yes, they’re foreign, yes, it’s a PAIN to talk to them and their hold time is long) but for a $20 flight….. I’m okay with that.
Yes, it’s terrible they cancel routes, but all airlines do it from time to time.
I think it’s that people don’t look into programs, not the cards that are the problem.
Think, gather, and PLAN how to use the card in advance before signing up for the card and take the hit on your credit report (not by carrying balance — because if you do…. that’s nuts) by opening more credit line & a new acct.
Ask people what the financial application disclosures mean before just signing up, too. Friends or friends of friends may have bank knowledge, or even go to your bank and they can put it in English.
If you’re “told” something, you need to get it in writing. The SpiritCard M/C clear says you have to have a transaction per month for automatic $9 fare rates.
I’ve been called three different times from their fraud department authorizing charges that seemed fishy. They’re obviously VERY into PROTECTION. One was a cellular phone charge for $398. I bought a new Samsung Tablet at Christmas time & paid some of the 1st bill. Normally my cellular bills are cheap because I work for a cell phone company & only pay a small small amount due to free min/text. I hadn’t even barely signed my copy of the receipt before I had their call & was taking down an authorization number to call back in with!
So look into programs…….. then make good decisions folks. This Spirit Master Card is a life saver, and I cannot WAIT to use up my points on a tropical vacation after I finish school!!!! =) Even with international fees and everything, it’s going to be so inexpensive!!
IN SIGNED UP FOR THE SPIRIT CREDIT CARD AND WAS TOLD I GET ONE YEARS FREE MEMBERSHIP IN THE $9 FARE CLUB. I WAS CHARGED $59.95 INSTEAD. AFTER SPENDING A TOTAL OF 2 HOURS BEING CHASED FROM ONE PHONE TO ANOTHER BY PEOPLE WHO DID NOT UNDERSTAND ENGLISH I WAS LEFT HOLDING ON A LINE FOR 34 MINUTES AND THEN HUNG UP ON.. I WILL MAKE SURE THAT I WARN EVERYONE I KNOW NOT TO USE BARCLAYS BANK FOR ANYTHING
My fiance and I have had good experience with Spirit Air and we have the Free Spirit Onyx World MasterCard. It states that you get the 15,000 miles after you make your first purchase AND that it could take up to 45 days to show on your account. It was probably took about a month, but we did get those 15,000 miles (which HELLO people do your research before you sign up for something! If you would have looked into the program first, you would see that 15,000 miles is NOT going to get you a round trip flight during peak or premier times to anywhere!). And yes, in the fine print (but you’ll find that with ANY airline awards company) it does say that 15,000 miles is for about 3 ONE-WAY tickets during off-peak times. So right, it’s not an ideal awards card for you if you ALWAYS want to fly during spring break and the holidays, but it works for us because we’re flexible in our travel times and Spirit flies where we want to go.
We knew signing up that we weren’t going to get a free flight right away but after buying our honeymoon tickets through Spirit (getting 3 points for each $1) and spending about $1500 on the card each month (only 3 months so far) on all of our other expenses (which we planned to do to build up our credit history), we now have enough points for a free standard round trip flight. And that is what we expected to happen!
I feel like all of you complaining about the Spirit Airlines credit card didn’t look into the program before you just blindly signed up for a credit card. Which to me, looks a lot more like your fault than Spirit Airs. If you’re griping about the fact that you only get $1 per mile, well guess what? MOST basic flyer award cards are the same way! I’ll agree that Spirit’s off-peak, standard, peak and premier flying times isn’t ideal, so if (after you’ve looked into it which is very easy to do on the website…you can see where Spirit flies AND how many points it takes to get to EACH place based on the date and distance) that doesn’t work for you, then get a different rewards card!
So for people looking for someone with a positive Spirit Air experience, I’m one of those people. We’ve gotten what we’ve expected out of Spirit Air because we did the research and knew what to expect.
(I’m merely commenting on the frequent flyer program, we have not experienced customer service in regard to fraudulent claims, service fees, annual fees, etc… so I can’t comment on those aspects of this card)
OK, I signed up and did get the 15,000 points, plus on occasion there were promotional to earn extra miles and I did receive them as well. I believe many of the statements posted on here are well founded. have two credit cards issued with Barclays and have had problems with both cards when it comes to disputing charges. They make you provide documentation typically more than once and then find in favor of the merchant even if the charge was not authorized. So I don’t charge anything with the credit card that may be disputed online later (i.e. online purchases).
You get what you pay for with Spirit and sometimes they don’t have the flights available when you use your frequent flyer miles or else will upcharge to premium. Never the less I will keep my spirit credit card!
I have had a pleasant experience with Spirit Airline’s credit card. Signed up for the Onyx, activated it, used it, called and asked that my billing date be changed to 3 days from the date of my call to get the bonus miles credited immediately, that happened just as I asked, got the bill, paid the bill, got the bonus miles, and booked a free flight from Ft. Lauderdale to San Juan yesterday. Big Front Seat, taxes, and one bag: the flight cost $42.50.
I read the fine print before I did any of the above, and knew exactly what my bonus miles were good for, and called to make sure I could do that. I booked the flight through their call center in India, and then booked a fully paid flight simultaneously online to get the other Big Front Seat.
So far, so good.
THEY ARE THE WORST EVER. THEY FALSE ADVERTISE AND DONT GIVE YOU THE
15,000 POINTS. THEY GIVE YOU A B.S. EXCUSE WHY THE NEED TO ONLY GIVE
YOU 5,000 POINTS AFTER SPENDING $3,000 THE FIRST PURCHASE.
CUSTOMER SERVICE IS BAD AND RUDE AND WE WERE TOLD TO WRITE
THE PRES. IF WE DIDNT LIKE IT…
WE ARE IN OUR 60′S WITH A 845 CREDIT SCORE AND THEY SAID WE DIDNT
MEET THE REQUIREMENTS.
RUN , RUN AND WHEN YOU FLY SPIRIT LET THEM KNOW HOW BAD THEIR CARD IS.
Why the people from Puerto Rico are excluded from Spirit Airlines Master card?
Run, Run, as fast as you can AWAY, from this Spirit Mastercard. Horrible service, with all of their supposed great deals, you end up paying somewhere, somehow with this card. Many problems, too numeroush to try to explaint. Get rid of it!!!!
I also had horrible customer service.
On my last flight with Spirit, the flight attended talked me into applying for the card, so I did. I wanted to revive 3 FREE TICKETS (or 15,000 miles), she told me I will get. Well, I NEVER GOT IT. Called to complain, my call is being rerouted to a foreign country. The person told me that I will recive the promised miles but never recived.
From what I have read above, I am not going to use this card, pay my upcoming bill, and canceled the card.
Too bad, I like the airline, hate the card.
Free Spirit mastercard is a hoax.Everytime I call to book a flight for a free ticket using my mileage credit, they have no seats available.I advise everybody to not get this card.THey should be in trouble for advertsising free tickets if you sign up.You can never use the miles..
I just applied to the credit card hooked by the $125 off, but after hearing all this comments about it I don’t really want anything to do with it. they havent given me a dicision yet since they need it more time. I have good credit score so more like it I will be approve. how can I cancelled or do I get the chance to not activate it?
I just had the most mindnumbing experience with Spirit. I was all set to book a flight at perhaps 10:30 or 10:45 at night. I only got it booked at 12:05 due to an absurd fiasco with their phone centers and credit card.
I’d selected the flight 1.5 hours earlier and only had to pay. Then, they offer me a Spirit card for $125 off, a supposed free flight, and of course way cheaper baggage. So, I figure, what the hell. It said that I had would need to USE the card for the flight. I was approved, but, as far as I could tell it never gave me the card number or the number that’d be on the back. And, to book the flight on the Spirit card, they required that info. So, they suckered me into opening the credit card account, but I got no $125 off the flight because I had no way to use the card to book it!! Then, of course, I called to see if I really had to use the card (which it said I had to) to book it, and if so, how did that work if I didn’t have the card number or security number on its back? Shortly after I got on the phone with the first person, the session timed out and I lost the $125 credit. I could not understand 3 of the 4 people I talked to on the phone and felt bad because I had to tell them so. I think I understood a total of about 3 complete sentences due to very thick accents, which made the situation all the more maddening. I was transferred to one person who told me she wasn’t the right person and I had to call the credit card people. Finally, over an hour after I first called, I talked to the credit card person who was supposedly the right person. She said they can’t give me the card number and it’d take 7-10 days to get the card. So, I’m supposed to use a card I won’t have for 7-10 days to book a flight!? And, of course, the credit only applies/shows up electronically when you’re first applying for the card and it timed out long before my 1.5 hours on the phone with people who I couldn’t understand.
Ultimately, I canceled the card and gave up. I can’t imagine how they can get away with this or why they would have this promo if you can’t even really use the card for the flight it’s promoted to give you $125 off on. Very bizarre and maddening, and what a time suck.
I opened a CC thru their website. It was approved immediately. When I received the statement for the month of August, they are charging me $39 annual fee. It clearly states in their TERMS and CONDITIONS that for the ONYX Card they first year’s AF will be waived and for the Platinum card, there is no fee. So I called Barclays and the nice lady Danielle told me they gave me a different card, which is not the ONYX nor the Platinum and for that card, there is no waiving fee. She told me that was part of their Terms and Conditions so I made their read them. She apologized because on the T&C there was nothing about a “third kind of card” yet she couldn’t do anything about the Fee (I had to LOL). Manager didn’t want to talk to me, and so I am left having to pay for a fee on a credit card i didn’t sign up for!! Their “mistake” yet I have to pay for it???? Bad bad ways of doing business. It’s good to steal $40 off a ex-loyal Spirit customer, but bad because I won’t be spending the nearly $1200 I used to spend every year on trips to Colombia with this company. Sad, very sad day!!
Will someone say something positive about Spirit’s credit card , their customer service or its value…..?? I really want to sign up for one.. I have had straight forward ,, you get what you get on the flights from Spirit Airlines…I would expect the same from the credit card…no?
Horrible service.
Cannot redeem miles for a free ticket
All avenues set up by Spirit to have issues resolved, go round and round…..
Cancelling ASAP
When I signed up for the Spirit Master card, I was under the impression that after I booked a round trip ticket, I was to receive Three Free Round trip tickets. I called customer service and was bounced from pillar to post by a non-english speaking agent. To date, I have not resolved the problem. I will cancel the card after it expires.
Spirit Airlines credit Card by Barclay’s Bank has the worst customer service I’ve ever encountered in my life. Their customer service reps are rude and definitely don’t care about the customer. I will never get another credit card issued by Barclay’s Bank again. Stay clear – you’ve been warned!!!
can i Please have any number where i can call them right now to cancell my credit card.
thanks
I have had also problems, they being charge me for services like, credit proteccion and insurance (just in case I lost my job, they pay the due amount.)
Since I open my account, I being charge.
the problem is that I never ask for this services, when I call to complain, they tell me That I ask for those 2 services, so I replaid where you have a document sing by me, or any probe. they say in 6 week I will recibe , so far nothing.
Also I have to call those 2 companies to cancel something that I never ask for in first place.
when I dispute this charge whit the credit card. to give me my money back. they don’t want to her me.
Look to me that the credit card insted protect the costumer protect the companies, and give the impression they work toghether to scam there clientele.
Iapplied for credit card 40 days ago why haven’t I heard from them?
I have had the same horrible experience. On May 15th, I applied for the card. I never received a new membership package which means I never received a card. But I did on July 12th, receive a computerized phone call stating that my account was overdue by $80.95. Because I didn’t have the package, I didn’t have phone numbers. It took me almost a half hour to find a phone number on the web. And, yes, the service is foreign and unhelpful. I do feel sorry for the person that answered the phone because my frustrations were vented on him. He tells me that the overdue amount is annual fee and overdue charges. I never received a statement and where were these charges hidden on the initial application? I feel that this card is a scam.
I have had the same terrible service. I called their “Customer Service Number”; got the same unresponsive, unhelpful “service” in India. I had set up a pay online option, using my Wachovia bank account to make my monthly payment. The Barclays bank said they couldn’t find the account: I use this account to pay for 3 other cards and numerous online purchases. This can only mean to me incompetence on Barclay’s account. The “service” person I talked to in India said the payment was refused and the problem was mine, not theirs. I finally had to use another debit card to make the payment. The Spirit people had the nerve to charge me $39 twice for returned payments. Now I see $890 in unexplained purchases for the month of July, with no explanation given in the monthly activity report. I am going to have to dispute these charges and I don’t look forward to talking with these wankers again.
Also, their so called bonus mileage of 15,000 miles for 3 free trips has never shown up on my account.
Ms. Pinson,
I decided not to activate the spirit airlines card I received in the mail. Is spite of that, I received an electronic bill for annual fee. I called before the bill was due in order to clarify that I was not interested in the card. The person who helped me told me he had cancelled it and I was not going to receive any more bills. He told me I did not have to worry for the annual fee because the card had been cancelled after my request. Cancelling a card that was not activated in the first place is against credit history, so I discussed the situation with your representative, who assured me the situation was corrected and I had nothing to worry about. Once again I received this month another bill. I spoke this afternoon with Alice followed by Ali, who told me I owe now late fees. I can not believe this is happening. Their supervisor could not talk to me after my request. Please, help me correct this situation. I was told on the phone by Ali, your representative that I owe $81 now for late fees plus annual fee! How come? This situation does not make sense. Where is my right to accept or not a credit card? Where my previous conversation where I was assured everything was clear and clarified ended up? Spirit offered a discount if I applied for the Spirit credit card while I was buying my flight ticket on line, it never happened because very conveniently, credit could not be approved right away, but long after my trip was done, I get the card in the mail, which I decided NOT to activate because it was undesired after experiencing the dishonest hook. Besides receiving a bill WITH NO activation occurring, I am also charge for the annual fee that is advertised on line as free for the first year! Please, help me as soon as possible. Help Keep America Honest! I request this situation to be corrected ASAP. It is attempting against the good name of Spirit who finally is not even the company that deals with this cards. When I called Spirit costumer service today, I was told I should called after June 12 since they are very busy working on flight booking. So, Ms. Pinson, I am asking you to please take care of this situation for me.
Sincerely,
Kattia Chaves Herrera
On behalf of Spirit Airlines, I regret to hear about your experience. But I’m happy to say that much has changed since your experience with the FREE SPIRIT MasterCard program.
***JANUARY 8, 2010: NOTE BY ADMIN***
I appreciate your response Misty, but about 80% of your post appears to be nothing but an advertisement for Spirit credit cards, so I have to delete most of it (except for the first and last sentences, since those are not promotional). Your commentary is welcomed, but please refrain from advertising.
Regarding your “much has changed” statement, unfortunately that doesn’t appear correct. I just called your customer service less than 2 weeks ago (I believe it was December 26th or 27th) and it was the same terrible Indian call center, people just reading from a script. You may only have to pay them 1/4 the hourly rate you pay an American, but the Indians take 4 times longer and the issues are still not resolved. In addition, all that does is anger customers such as myself, and in turn I will never buy another flight on your airline again. Sure, the Indian CSR that dealt with me probably saved you a couple dollars, but you’re now going to lose out on a couple thousand dollars in annual airfare purchases from me and my family, because I’ll make sure we never fly Spirit again.
Again, I’m sorry about your experience, but would be happy to assist in reviewing your particular situation with our credit card company Barclays. I can be reached at misty.pinson@spiritair.com.