Spirit Travel More Mastercard review: Decent perks with an enhanced sign-up bonus

Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® overview

The Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® is the premium card option for earning Spirit points. Cardholders 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. In addition, the Spirit Travel More card offers priority boarding, a companion voucher, a waived annual fee for the first year and many significant perks for frequent Spirit flyers. Card rating*: ⭐⭐½

The information for the Free Spirit Travel More Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

* Card rating is based on the opinion of TPG’s editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.

Spirit Airlines is a budget airline known for affordable fares, and it adopts a no-frills approach to its flights. However, its loyalty program — Free Spirit — underwent a major overhaul in early 2021, including some notable enhancements.

Spirit Airlines officially offers two credit cards: the Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard® and the Free Spirit Travel More World Elite Mastercard, both issued by Bank of America. (There is also a third Spirit credit card that is invite-only.) The Spirit Travel More card is the carrier’s more premium option with higher earning rates, a larger sign-up bonus and an annual fee of $79 (which is waived for the first year).

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Frequent flyers are quick to scoff at Spirit’s “one personal item” policy and lack of amenities, but Spirit is all about affordable travel. So if you are a frequent Spirit flyer or live near a Spirit hub, the Travel More card can be a great option for you.

But with limited spots in your wallet, is the Travel More card worth it?

Related: Everything you should know before flying Spirit Airlines

Who should get the Free Spirit Travel More Mastercard?

Flying Spirit Airlines is not for everyone, but if you are a frequent traveler on the carrier, a Spirit credit card can be a great addition to your wallet. The Free Spirit Travel More Mastercard offers typical airline credit card perks like priority boarding, inflight discounts, the ability to earn elite status, points pooling and more.

The Travel More card also offers a $100 companion flight voucher as an annual perk at your cardmember anniversary when you spend $5,000 in a year, which is relatively low when compared to other airline cards. In addition, the Spirit Travel More card will travel well, since it features no foreign transaction fees.

Unlike many other cobranded airline cards, the Travel More card does not offer perks such as free checked (or carry-on) bags, nor does it get you free seat reservations. Even when factoring in Spirit’s budget travel mentality, the Travel More card can seem lackluster.

In addition, Spirit Airlines also has no transfer partners, so all Spirit points are limited to Spirit flights. These restrictions can make the Travel More card seem extremely limiting.

For travelers wanting a little more freedom with their flights and points or those that rarely fly Spirit Airlines, the card likely won’t be a good fit. Most of the Spirit Travel More credit card’s perks are tailored for frequent Spirit flyers. So if Spirit is your airline of choice, the Travel More card certainly offers attractive perks and benefits.

Related: Why having the Spirit Airlines credit card isn’t crazy

Sign-up offer worth up to $760

The Spirit Travel More Mastercard currently offers new cardmembers an elevated sign-up offer of 60,000 bonus points (previously 40,000 bonus points) plus a $100 companion flight voucher after making at least $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening. TPG’s valuations peg the worth of Spirit points at 1.1 cents each, making this welcome bonus worth roughly $660. And if we take the companion voucher at face value, the total sign-up offer is worth up to $760.

Card benefits and perks

Unlike most airline cards, the Travel More card does not offer a free checked (or carry-on) bag, but it does include benefits like:

• $100 companion flight voucher: When you make $5,000 in purchases within the prior anniversary year, you’ll receive a $100 companion flight voucher upon renewal of your card. This voucher can be used as a discount on companion airfare (excluding taxes and fees).
• Points pooling: As the primary cardholder, Spirit lets you combine Free Spirit points with up to eight friends and family members.
• Spending toward Free Spirit elite status: Spirit awards 1 Status Qualifying Point per dollar spent on fares or many ancillary purchases, but Travel More cardholders can earn 1 SQP for every $10 spent on everyday purchases. Silver status can be earned at 2,000 SQPs, and Gold status is earned at 5,000 SQPs. This means that you could reach Silver by spending $20,000 on the card or Gold by spending $50,000 on the card.
• No redemption fees: Spirit typically charges a redemption fee of $50 for award flights booked less than 28 days prior to departure, but this fee is waived for the primary cardholder.
• 25% rebate on inflight purchases.
• Zone 2 boarding: On all flights, you’ll board in Zone 2 — only behind passengers who have purchased a carry-on.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Waived annual fee for the first year: The card's $79 annual fee is waived for the first year.

Related: Why I (sometimes) choose to fly a budget airline over a full-service carrier

How to earn Spirit points

With the Travel More card, you can earn Free Spirit points on purchases as follows:

• 3 points per dollar spent on Spirit flights and inflight purchases.
• 2 points per dollar spent on eligible dining and grocery store purchases.
• 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.

Based on TPG’s valuations, this means that you can get an effective return of 3.3% on eligible Spirit flights and inflight purchases, 2.2% on dining and grocery store purchases, and 1.1% on all other purchases.

Free Spirit points also do not expire as long as your card account is active.

How to redeem Spirit points

The best way to redeem Free Spirit points is to book award flights on Spirit Airlines. Spirit has no airline partners, so your points can only be redeemed on Spirit flights. Since Spirit uses a dynamic award pricing system, redemption rates can vary but typically start at 2,500 Free Spirit points. Taxes and fees for award flights start at $5.60 one-way.

Related: How to fly without bag fees on Spirit Airlines using the free personal item

Since Spirit Airlines has limited routes and frequencies, flyers from the carrier’s major airports — including Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), Orlando International Airport (MCO), Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) — are more likely to find nonstop flights. However, the point-to-point network means that there may be routings that work for you.

In one example, a flight from Los Angeles to Los Cabos, Mexico, can be bought for 5,000 Free Spirit points and $164.44 in fees ($50 of which is the redemption fee since this flight is less than 28 days away).

However, if you had the Travel More card, this same trip to Los Cabos would only be 5,000 Free Spirit points and $114.44 in fees, since the redemption fee is waived for cardmembers.

It is also important to note that Spirit’s points can be less valuable when you fly from smaller airports or on less common routes — especially those with a connection.

Which cards compete with the Free Spirit Travel More Mastercard?

While the Spirit Travel More card offers tons of savings for Spirit flyers, not everyone may want to fly Spirit, with its limited amenities and routes. So if you are not a Spirit Airlines loyalist, there are travel credit cards that may be a better fit for your wallet than the Free Spirit Travel More World Elite Mastercard.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is currently offering an elevated sign-up bonus of 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. According to TPG’s valuations, this sign-up bonus is worth $1,200.

The Sapphire Preferred comes out ahead of the Free Spirit Travel More card in another key aspect: flexibility. Chase has 14 airline and hotel transfer partners, which means cardmembers have more than their fair share of redemption options. This stands in sharp contrast to the Travel More card, which awards Free Spirit points that can only be redeemed with Spirit Airlines.

In addition, the Chase Sapphire Preferred features better earning rates across many popular categories, and while there are no airline-related perks, it does feature annual benefits such as a $50 hotel credit for bookings made through the Chase travel portal and a 10% anniversary points bonus (based on the total purchases you made last year).

These additional perks do come at a higher annual fee of $95, but Chase’s elevated earning rate, list of transfer partners and added protections may well be worth it.

Official Application Link: Chase Sapphire Preferred

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a great mid-tier travel card and is offering a solid sign-up bonus of 75,000 miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases within three months from account opening. This bonus is worth $1,387, based on TPG's valuations, $727 more than the Travel More card. Capital One miles can be transferred to over 15 transfer partners or used directly for any travel purchase — which means there is great flexibility when it comes to redemption options.

The Capital One Venture features an earning rate of 5 miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 2 miles per dollar spent on everyday purchases. Based on TPG’s valuation of Capital One miles, this is a return of 9.25% on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and a 3.7% return on everything else. These rates are superior to those offered on the Spirit card.

The Capital One Venture card does charge an annual fee of $95, which is higher than the Travel More’s annual fee of $79. The Venture does, however, offer $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck and two free visits to Capital One lounges a year.

Official application link: Capital One Venture

Related: Should you get the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Capital One Venture — or both?

Bottom line

The Free Spirit Travel More World Elite Mastercard is Spirit’s higher-end credit card, and while it may be a great option for frequent Spirit flyers, it is not a good fit for all. Free Spirit points are not transferable, and despite being a cobranded airline card, the Travel More card does not offer flyers a free checked (or carry-on) bag for cardholders.

In addition, the annual $100 companion voucher, while easily obtainable with $5,000 in annual spending, is not eligible to be used in conjunction with an award flight, which means it will have to be used on a Spirit flight that you (and a friend or family member) are willing to pay cash for. Priority boarding, inflight rebates and an earning boost for elite status are fair perks, but if you are not a Spirit loyalist, they hold minimal value.