Originally Posted by RustyC

Re: OP. Suddenly a timely topic, for sure.

At first glance Spirit Ailines would appear to have a terrible program, with aggressive expiration, 50% credit on most flights and not many partners.

BUT...if u get the credit card the picture changes a bit, as long as u can do award travel in the spring and fall slow seasons and scoop up some of the 5K and 10K RT off-peaks. Not always easy to do and they have a ridiculous $15 junk fee for bookings 6 months or less out, but you only need $2,500 in actual or manufactured spending for the 5K. The card also gets 100% miles credit and staves off the mile expiration.

They also have one-way awards at the low tier. So, to take a real-life example, I found a date with 2.5K OW from ATL to DEN in April (connection via DFW). They didn't have a return near that date, so I got a $99 DL one-way.

Spirit's flying experience is best-suited for short trips and they're definitely not for everyone, but with the credit-card game u don't really have to fly to earn miles.