Spirit Travel More Card Review: Some Perks, but No Free Checked Bags

If you fly Spirit Airlines frequently — which you might do if you enjoy the no-frills, low-cost carrier and live near one of the more than 80 destinations in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean it services — then you might be interested in the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®, which comes with an annual fee of $0 intro for the first year, then $79.

In exchange for that fee, the Bank of America®-issued card offers a fair amount of value, in the form of broad ongoing rewards and sought-after airline benefits like companion flight vouchers, priority boarding and rebates on in-flight dining.

What you won't get with the card, however, are free checked bags, and that's a big strike against it. Most other airline credit cards at similar price points offer this key benefit, which is usually valuable enough to more than offset their annual fees.

And as with most airline cards, your reward redemption options will be limited, so if you’re not a regular Spirit flyer, consider a more flexible general travel rewards credit card instead.

Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®: Key Features

Card type: Airline.

Annual fee: $0 intro for the first year, then $79.

Sign-up bonus: Earn 50,000 Bonus Points + $100 Flight Voucher after making at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.

Rewards:

• 3 points per $1 spent on eligible Spirit purchases.

• 2 points per $1 spent on eligible dining and grocery store purchases.

• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

• 1 SQP, or Status Qualifying Point, for every $10 spent on everyday purchases.

NerdWallet values Spirit points at 0.8 cent each. This is a baseline value, drawn from real-world data on hundreds of economy routes, not a maximized value. In other words, you should aim for award redemptions that offer 0.8 cent or more in value from your Spirit points.

Points can be redeemed for Spirit flights and sometimes for eligible Spirit partner products or services. Points don’t expire as long as your credit card account remains open, so there’s no pressure to book travel within a certain time frame.

» MORE: Spirit Airlines frequent flyer program: The complete guide

APR: 19.99%-27.99% Variable APR.

Foreign transaction fee: None.

Balance transfer fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction.

Other benefits:

• Annual $100 Companion Flight Voucher each account anniversary after spending at least $5,000 the previous year.

• Zone 2 Shortcut Boarding on all flights.

• 25% rebate on in-flight food and beverage purchases.

• Earn points toward Free Spirit Status: Cardholders earn 1 Status Qualifying Point for each $10 spent on your card.

• Points pooling with up to eight friends and family members.

• World Elite Mastercard benefits.

How the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® compares with the Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard®

If you're opposed to paying an annual fee, the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® has a $0-annual-fee sibling, called the Free Spirit® Travel Mastercard®. And it offers a surprising amount of perks for a no-annual-fee travel card.

But it still won't get you free checked bags. And it's also worth noting that while this other version of the card has no annual fee, it doesn't help you avoid redemption fees like its more expensive alternative does.

Here's a look at how the two cards stack up:

Bonus rewards for non-Spirit spending

Some airline cards earn bonus rewards only for purchases made with their brand. But with the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®, holders earn extra on more than just travel-related spending, including two of the "biggies." In addition to earning 3 points per $1 for Spirit purchases, you’ll earn 2 points per $1 spent on eligible dining and grocery store purchases (and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases).

Valuable sign-up bonus

The card features the following limited-time offer for newcomers who apply online: Earn 50,000 Bonus Points + $100 Flight Voucher after making at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.

The $100 voucher can help you cover some or all of a loved one’s round-trip flight with the airline, depending on when and where you’re traveling. Plus, at a NerdWallet valuation of 0.8 cent cents per Spirit point, the other half of the bonus is worth $480.

Note that in addition to snagging the $100 companion voucher as part of the card's sign-up bonus, you can also qualify for it annually if you make at least $5,000 in purchases on the card within the previous year, which can offset the card's annual fee after the first year.

» MORE: Top airline cards that offer companion tickets

Earn status by spending

The Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® earns 1 Status Qualifying Point for every $10 spent with the card. SQPs are separate from rewards points you'd use to book flights, and they can get you closer to Free Spirit Silver and Gold status: You’ll need 2,000 SQPs to earn Silver status and 5,000 SQPs to earn Gold status. Those levels come with perks like elevated points earning, seat selection at booking, free in-flight snacks and more.

» LEARN MORE: Your guide to elite status on Spirit Airlines

No redemption fees

No free checked bags

Unlike a lot of other airline credit cards, the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® doesn’t offer free checked bags. And that could be a significant cost on top of what otherwise might be a rock-bottom ticket price: Checked-bag fees with Spirit start at $30 one way.

Although Free Spirit Gold status does come with a free first checked and carry-on bag, you’ll need to spend at least $50,000 on your card each year to earn that status — which can be difficult for some to meet.

Additionally, while the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® does offer the chance to earn a companion voucher that can offer some savings, other airline cards feature much more lucrative companion benefits.

For example, the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card comes with an annual Companion Fare benefit, which allows holders to pay only $99, plus taxes and fees starting at $23, for a companion's coach airline ticket regardless of how much the flight costs. In order to get this Companion Fare, you need to spend $6,000 during the previous year. The $95-annual-fee card also offers free first checked bags for you and up to six other travelers in your reservation.

» MORE: 7 tips to save on baggage fees

Small airline footprint

Spirit is a budget airline with a relatively small presence, compared with larger airlines like American, Delta or United. It doesn't serve every airport, nor does it fly everywhere.

If you don't live near a Spirit hub or your travel plans include, say, Europe, then the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® will be of very little use to you.

Poor flexibility

As with other co-branded airline cards, you're pretty much limited to redeeming points for airfare with Spirit Airlines, which as noted above may not benefit you much depending on where you live and where you want to go. Similarly, many of the perks that come with the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® — like the companion flight voucher or the ability to earn Free Spirit status — are all tied to the airline. General travel rewards credit cards can offer more flexibility in terms of benefits as well as points earning and redemption.

A popular choice is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which earns rewards that can be redeemed for a number of options, including for travel booked through Chase at the rate of 1.25 cents per point. Points can also be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to domestic and international airline and hotel travel partners like British Airways, JetBlue, United, Southwest, Hyatt, Marriott and more. The card charges an annual fee of $95.

The Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard® can be a valuable option for frequent Spirit consumers. You’ll earn bonus points for some general everyday spending, as well as airline-specific benefits like in-flight savings, priority boarding and a companion voucher that can offset the annual fee.