Award sale: Flights available from just 1,250 miles each way on Spirit Airlines
The loyalty program with the lowest-priced mileage awards is often ... Spirit Airlines. Believe it or not, day in and day out Spirit has some of the lowest-cost awards out there. One-way award flights within the same region (up to 1,249 miles) normally start on off-peak days at just 2,500 miles plus taxes and fees for those who have the cobranded Spirit Airlines credit card, and 10,000 miles for those without the card. But right now, I've spotted an apparent 50% off sale that knocks the starting price of awards for cardholders down to just 1,250 miles each way, plus the same taxes and fees.
Since the Spirit credit card awards 2 miles per dollar on purchases, that's like getting an award flight for every $625 charged to the card. That rate is virtually unmatched by other programs.
Even if you don't have the Spirit credit card, this 50% discount on certain awards is appearing on rates for non-cardholders, too.
Related: Best credit cards for booking airfare
For example, this Houston (IAH) - Las Vegas (LAS) award that costs 1,250 miles plus $13.10 each way if you have the Spirit card is available for 5,000 miles and the same amount of taxes and fees without the card. Normally, those rates would start at 2,500 and 10,000 miles respectively.
It's not just domestic flights that can be booked from 1,250 miles plus taxes and fees. International flights look to be eligible, too. For example, here is Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Cancun (CUN) for 1,250 miles plus taxes and fees that do ring in higher for the international flight.
Combine those prices with spending a bit more cash (often $30 - $50) to sit in the Big Front Seat and you have a heck of an overall deal to Vegas, Florida, Mexico or wherever you want to go.
There are many reasons to love Spirit Airlines, but cheap fares obviously top the list, and it doesn't get much cheaper to fly than 1,250 miles and about $13 each way. Do keep in mind that Spirit miles expire very quickly if you aren't extremely careful, but if you have some Spirit miles at your disposal, this might be a great time to turn them into some flights.
If the airline suddenly sounds interesting to you, here is a guide to flying Spirit Airlines and a look at some improvements that are underway, including better seats. Take a listen to the Talking Points podcast with Brian Kelly and Spirit Airlines' CEO to hear all about the airline's plans to transform itself.
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