Spirit Airlines $9 Fare Club - A Good Deal Depending on Where You Live and Travel

I've posted a number of times about Spirit Airlines and their occasional super-discount prices on date-specific airfares. When I first checked them out, I was able to get penny airfares to Las Vegas and to Florida from Atlantic City. At the time the only restriction was the dates of flying in each direction and getting in quickly to book them before the seats sold out.

More recently, they started a $9 Fare Club, and when they come out with their bargains, the best prices are available to members. They still offer fairly good prices to non-members as well, but nowhere near as low.

As an example, they have a fare sale right now good for flights booked through 11:59 pm tomorrow, October 1st. Many city pairs have flights on specified dates which Club members can get for $9 each direction, and non-members can get for $29 each way (plus airport/security fees). Examples include flights between Atlantic City and Fort Lauderdale, Boston and Myrtle Beach, Detroit and Los Angeles, New York and Fort Lauderdale. To see the whole list of current special fares, click this link.

The question becomes whether it's worth joining the $9 Fare Club. There are two ways to join it: first, to pay for membership. The annual fee to join is $39.95. That's something you might make up in one roundtrip if you're booking the special fares, but it probably makes much more sense if you live in or near one of their major cities and have a reason to travel a few times a year to another of their cities. If you're anywhere near Fort Lauderdale, you have the biggest selection of destinations (including some in the Caribbean and Central/South America). If you're in/near Myrtle Beach or Atlantic City, it would give you some options too. People in other departure cities with family/friends at one or more of their main hub cities could do well too.

To apply for membership, you would use this link.

The second way to join is to get Spirit's World MasterCard, which comes with a complimentary membership as long as you use the card at least once monthly -- it also includes bonus miles you can earn for free travel on Spirit as well. To check out all the credit card rules and see if this is a better option for you, click this link.

Spirit's $9 Fare Club may not be for everybody, but depending on where you live and your travel needs, this might be a way of saving a good bit on some upcoming trips.