Why did I join Spirit Saver$ Club? Is it because the economy is falling into a recession? Is it because TPOL is going broke? While points hoarders can only hope for a recession and while I have spent too much on remodeling the Puerto Rico villa (see House Hunters Puerto Rico: TPOL Finds His Home), those are not the reasons that I joined. In need of a flight to Jamaica Carnival (see Puerto Rico to Jamaica: Oh No, Not Spirit! Wait, Why Am I Connecting through Panama?), the only affordable option was on Spirit. With an expiring credit from a previously unused flight, I decided to try out this infamous airline.
Proactively, I decided to pay for my carry-on bag versus risking an exploitative charge at the airport (100 GBP Carry-On Bags? Scammed by Ryanair & Trips.com). Simultaneously, my Amex Business Platinum card’s annual is due this month. Having not used the $200 Amex travel credit, I loaded up the Spirit extras including a premium seat. With funds to spare, I also decided to enroll in the Spirit Saver$ Club which costs $69.95 for the year. Per Spirit’s website, here are the benefits of joining this exclusive club.
Spirit Saver$ Club members will benefit from:
- Discounted fares
- Discounted bags
- Discounted seats (NEW!)
- Discounted Flight Flex (NEW!)
- Discounted Shortcut Security (NEW!)
- Discounted Shortcut Boarding (NEW!)
Spirit also flies direct to the following destination from Puerto Rico:
- Atlanta
- Baltimore
- Boston
- Chicago–O’Hare
- Dallas/Fort Worth
- Detroit
- Fort Lauderdale
- Hartford
- Miami
- Newark
- Orlando
- Philadelphia
- Tampa
Writing this after flying Spirit (see Spirit: Thankfully Not Awful Like Frontier), it is possible that I may actually make use of this membership that cost me nothing. In any event, it is better than letting the Amex credits go to waste (though I could have also used said credits to get wasted on the plane).
Who else is a Free Spirit?
I did the status match for Spirit Gold and it makes flying Spirit better. I like the 800 number that I can call and get fairly quick access to customer service. The ability to change a flight for free is also really nice.