Spirit Airlines teased the launched of a debit card last year, but it hadn’t materialized yet. It looks like the debit card is finally approaching takeoff as there’s now a landing page for the card.
It’s not possible to apply for the card yet, but most of the card details appear to be available on that page.
Free Spirit Debit Card Details
Welcome offer
200 points when joining, then 200 points every month for months 2-12 months of card membership.
Monthly fee
$6.99 per month.
Earning rates
The card will earn:
- 1 point per $1 spent on eligible Spirit purchases
- 1 point per $2 spent on everything else
At the time of publishing this post, the 1 point per $1 spending categories are unknown. I suspect it’ll include Spirit flight purchases, but hopefully there’ll be other bonused categories once the card actually launches.
Other earning opportunities
Free Spirit Debit Card holders will be able to earn up to 4,000 bonus points per month depending on how much money you have on deposit on your account. Exact details are still to be confirmed.
Other card benefits
- Group 2 priority boarding
- Priority check-in
- Points pooling
Who is the Free Spirit Debit Card issued by?
The Free Spirit Debit Mastercard account and any financial services related to the Free Spirit Debit Mastercard account are provided by Mezu (NA), Inc. dba. Alviere as a licensed money transmitter (NMLS ID No. 1738907) and/or as an agent and service provider of Cross River Bank, Member FDIC. The Free Spirit Debit Mastercard Debit Card is issued by Cross River Bank.
How can you add money to the Free Spirit Debit Card?
There’ll be four options to add funds to your debit card:
- ACH
- Debit card
- Direct deposit
- Cash deposits (locations can be found within the app)
The debit card loading option might be of interest if you have another rewards-earning debit card, provided those aren’t blocked.
How many points do you earn for keeping money on your card?
If you have an average daily balance, you can earn bonus points as follows:
- $1,000-$2,499: 100 bonus points per month
- $2,500-$4,999: 200 bonus points per month
- $5,000-$9,999: 400 bonus points per month
- $10,000-$24,999: 800 bonus points per month
- $25,000-$49,999: 2,000 bonus points per month
- $50,000+-4,000 bonus points per month
Quick Thoughts
On the face of it, this new debit card for Spirit Airlines doesn’t seem to have much going for it. The $6.99 monthly fee feels steep considering the welcome offer appears to consist of only 200 Free Spirit points, with an additional 200 points per month for months 2-12 if you remain subscribed that long.
The earning rates on spend of 1x or 0.5x aren’t particularly rewarding either, although the ratio is in keeping with the debit cards for United, Southwest, and Wyndham.
Getting access to priority check-in and group 2 boarding might appeal to some, as might access to points pooling. The latter feature is currently only available to those with Silver status, Gold status, or a Spirit credit card, so gaining access via a debit card could be appealing for some.
Something that isn’t very appealing is keeping a large amount of money on deposit in order to earn bonus points. For someone using this account on a day-to-day basis, I can understand perhaps having an average daily balance in the $1,000-$2,499 range by default and thereby earning a nominal 100 bonus points per month. However, depositing $50K or more in order to earn 4,000 bonus points per month is a ludicrous idea given the interest you could earn elsewhere by having those funds in a high yield savings account.
It’s also not clear yet if the debit card will earn Status Qualifying Points (SQP). The Free Spirit Travel More Mastercard (i.e. the credit card with a $79 annual fee) earns 1 SQP for every $10 you spend on the card, so perhaps we’ll see the debit card have a similar feature, albeit with a worse earning rate (maybe something like 1 SQP per $20). That said, there’s no mention of this on the debit card landing page which might mean it won’t be offered, especially considering Spirit’s no annual fee credit card doesn’t provide an option to earn SQPs on spend.
Ultimately, as things stand right now there’s not much that’s compelling about the upcoming Free Spirit Debit Card, especially if you’re willing to get a Spirit credit card instead. If you apply for the debit card and keep it for an entire year, you’ll earn a total of 2,400 bonus points in return for $83.88 in monthly fees.
By comparison, here are details of the two Spirit credit cards:
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $811 1st Yr Value Estimate$100 companion voucher valued at $50 Click to learn about first year value estimates 65K Points + $100 Voucher Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler 65K points plus $100 companion voucher after $1K spend in the first 90 days (enter any 110662 as "employee code")$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $79 Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Earning rate: 3X Spirit ✦ 2X dining & grocery ✦ 1X everywhere else Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by BOA. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: $100 Companion Flight Voucher each anniversary after making at least $5,000 in purchases within the prior year ✦ Earn 1 SQP (towards elite status) for each $10 of spend Noteworthy perks: Two free checked bags for primary cardholder for flights paid for with the card ✦ Waived redemption fees ✦ Points Pooling ✦ 25% in-flight food & beverage rebate ✦ No points expiration ✦ Zone 2 priority boarding |
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $111 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 10K Points Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler 10K after $500 spend in the first 90 daysNo Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Earning rate: 2X Spirit Card Info: Mastercard World issued by BOA. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: 5K bonus miles each anniversary when you spend $10K within prior year Noteworthy perks: Points Pooling ✦ 25% in-flight food & beverage rebate ✦ No points expiration ✦ Zone 2 priority boarding |
As you can see, the welcome offer on the no annual fee card would earn you quadruple the number of points after meeting the minimum spend requirement than you’d earn with the debit card, but you’d be saving $83.88 in fees.
With the Free Spirit Travel More Mastercard, the annual fee is less than 12 months of the debit card’s monthly fee, but gives you an opportunity to earn 65,000 points and get a $100 companion voucher for the welcome offer, not to mention a whole host of other benefits and improved earning rates on spend versus the debit card.
As a result, you’d spend less in fees (provided you pay off your balance each month) and earn more with a Spirit credit card versus the debit card, regardless of which of the two credit cards you were to pick. The debit card will therefore likely only be worthwhile for people who’ll run a lot of spend through it for transactions that aren’t otherwise possible for credit cards, or where fees for debit card transactions are significantly lower than credit card fees (e.g. paying taxes). It might also be of interest for people wanting to accrue Spirit points but don’t want to apply for a credit card that’ll affect their 5/24 status.
All that said, perhaps Spirit will surprise us and improve the card once the card actually launches. Before the Southwest debit card launched, quite a few details were known. Upon its launch though, it turned out that there were additional features that made it more rewarding than originally anticipated, so fingers crossed that the Free Spirit Debit Card follows suit.
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Spirit is in Chapter 11;
Their secondary card processor just dropped them;
They are selling gates;
They are selling planes;
They are dropping routes;
Employees are leaving to work at other carriers;
They don’t offer the full-service carrier features;
They progressively less often offer lower fares;
Stephen: This parrot is no more, it is going to its maker, it has expired;
And you are talking about a new fee-based debit card? This is not the story you meant to write. This is pepper spray!
Very much on brand. They know their target market well.