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Updated July 4, 2015 because this deal is still alive, and I love reading the full Economist print edition online each week for free.
Updated August 14, 2014 because my miles were credited to my account several weeks ago, and I just got my free magazine and newspaper subscriptions today! The updates will appear throughout this post.
Complain about any airline in less than 140 characters to earn 8,000 Spirit miles, which are enough for several magazines or three free flights for some people.
This is a three-step process that takes just a few minutes. I have gone through the process and now have free subscriptions to The Economist, Entrepreneur, and the Wall Street Journal.
- What are the three steps?
- What are the possible ways to redeem 8,000 Spirit miles?
1. Sign up for a Free Spirit account.
It takes a few minutes to sign up for Spirit’s loyalty program.
2. Leave a 140 character complaint.
I left a complaint about a Spirit flight from several years ago. Here’s the complaint site.
The site says you’ll get the miles within 10 days. I got mine 11 days after my complaint.
The Terms & Coniditions say that the promotion say that the promotion “will end” on July 31, 2014 unless extended by Spirit. Since the site is still up, I assume the promotion has been extended. You may not get your miles, but in that case you’ve only lost a few seconds.
3. Redeem the Miles.
Magazines
I recommend redeeming your 8,000 miles for magazines. Here is the magazine redemption page.
I redeemed for:
- The Economist: 51* issues for 2,600 miles
- Entrepreneur: 12 issues for 900 miles
- The Wall Street Journal: 228 issues for 4,100 Miles
I had a few hiccups.
First, I kept getting an error message in my Firefox browser after making my selections and typing in my address that I had to go back and make new selections. I switched to Safari, and the order went through.
Second, The Economist was listed at two prices for 51 issue subscriptions, so I chose the cheaper one.
My confirmation screen said that I had just redeemed for digital access only.
My confirmation email confirms the 51 issues. We’ll see what I end up getting, but I’m OK with just digital access.
Flights
You can also redeem the miles for flights, but the Spirit program is terrible if you don’t have the Spirit Airlines World MasterCard.
Spirit miles expire after 90 days if you don’t have and use the Spirit credit card every month. Awards start at 2,500 miles one way for Spirit credit card holders or 10,000 miles one way for non cardholders. Here is the chart and legend:
The Spirit card might be worth getting if it weren’t so terrible on its own:
- 15,000 bonus miles after you make a purchase within 90 days of account opening with the World MasterCard® credit card – enough for up to 3 roundtrip off-peak tickets with taxes and fees from $5.00 per award
- Earn 2 miles for every dollar you spend on purchases with the World MasterCard credit card
- Earn 5,000 anniversary bonus FREE SPIRIT™ miles when you spend at least $10,000 in purchases annually and pay your annual fee
- Enjoy Free FREE SPIRIT™ miles that don’t expire for active members (active members must use their Spirit Airlines MasterCard® credit card each month)
- Start redeeming round-trip reward tickets at just 5,000 FREE SPIRIT™ miles with taxes and fees from $5.00 per award (redemptions levels start at 20,000 FREE SPIRIT™ miles for noncardholders)
- Enjoy an Introductory annual fee of $0 for the first year; a $59 fee will apply to World MasterCard® accounts thereafter†
Bottom Line
Spending a few minutes to open a Spirit account and complain about any airline can get you several free magazine subscriptions or a few flights if you have a Spirit Airlines World MasterCard.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
And just an update: We submitted our request Thursday, got an email confirming it, and as of Sunday the miles for mags were withdrawn from our Spirit account! Time, The Economist, and ESPN the Magazine are about to join me on a lot of flights this year! A couple of our readers complained they had a hard time getting the miles, but it’s just the way they started their navigation from within their Spirit account. We wrote a blog post to simplify it for anyone that does struggle http://twototravelandtango.com/travel-tips/how-to-redeem-free-spirit-miles-for-magazines/#more-376
Thanks for the info.
And just an update: We submitted our request Thursday, got an email confirming it, and as of Sunday the miles for mags were withdrawn from our Spirit account! Time, The Economist, and ESPN the Magazine are about to join me on a lot of flights this year! A couple of our readers complained they had a hard time getting the miles, but it’s just the way they started their navigation from within their Spirit account. We wrote a blog post to simplify it for anyone that does struggle http://twototravelandtango.com/travel-tips/how-to-redeem-free-spirit-miles-for-magazines/#more-376
Thanks for the info.
I’m going to assume the magazines are on automatic renewal, so the other important step to remember would be to cancel when the subscription comes due, if you don’t want to pay. Initial offers are so cheap because lots of people forget to cancel. Still, I’ll look into it.
They don’t have any of my credit card info, so auto-renewal would be impossible. They try to get you to purchase other mags for $2 with auto-renewal after you select your mags with miles. I declined.
I’m going to assume the magazines are on automatic renewal, so the other important step to remember would be to cancel when the subscription comes due, if you don’t want to pay. Initial offers are so cheap because lots of people forget to cancel. Still, I’ll look into it.
They don’t have any of my credit card info, so auto-renewal would be impossible. They try to get you to purchase other mags for $2 with auto-renewal after you select your mags with miles. I declined.
@ DaveS.
I do NOT think they are on auto-renewal. Anyway, I have the Spirit MAstercard, and Spirit flies to places I go often (Myrtle Beach) at very reasonable rates. Just make sure you understand what you’re getting in to, as they do charge for water, carryons, etc. – and there’s very little leg room in coach. But it does get you from A to B reasonably efficient, and 2,500 miles from Atlantic City or Philadelphia to Florida is a fantastic redemption no matter how you look at it. And if nothing else, the competition keeps other airlines’ fares low (such as AA/USAIR from PHL –> DFW). So, I’m all in favor of the survival of the smaller, true Low Cost Carriers despite their constant bashing.
@ DaveS.
I do NOT think they are on auto-renewal. Anyway, I have the Spirit MAstercard, and Spirit flies to places I go often (Myrtle Beach) at very reasonable rates. Just make sure you understand what you’re getting in to, as they do charge for water, carryons, etc. – and there’s very little leg room in coach. But it does get you from A to B reasonably efficient, and 2,500 miles from Atlantic City or Philadelphia to Florida is a fantastic redemption no matter how you look at it. And if nothing else, the competition keeps other airlines’ fares low (such as AA/USAIR from PHL –> DFW). So, I’m all in favor of the survival of the smaller, true Low Cost Carriers despite their constant bashing.
just ordered my free mags a few days ago from this gimmick. I have ordered mags from miles many times and it is no problem. I never renew them and they go away. Spirit is dumb to have such a quick expiration on their miles. I flew with them in December for Christmas with my family. The flight was delayed and they offered us some vouchers. I was happy until I realized they expired too quickly for me to make use of them. Between that and my previous miles expiring it didn’t inspire loyalty.
just ordered my free mags a few days ago from this gimmick. I have ordered mags from miles many times and it is no problem. I never renew them and they go away. Spirit is dumb to have such a quick expiration on their miles. I flew with them in December for Christmas with my family. The flight was delayed and they offered us some vouchers. I was happy until I realized they expired too quickly for me to make use of them. Between that and my previous miles expiring it didn’t inspire loyalty.
Hi Scott,
Did you end up getting just the Digital subscription of the Economist or did you also get the print? I want to get the print and was wondering what you got and if you got the digital if it’s possible to convert it to the print subscription.
Hi Scott,
Did you end up getting just the Digital subscription of the Economist or did you also get the print? I want to get the print and was wondering what you got and if you got the digital if it’s possible to convert it to the print subscription.
I used E-rewards for a subscription to the Economist last year and received the print edition. This year I tried the same redemption and was only offered digital. I will bit eh bullet and pay for a student subscription to get the print version.
I travel too much to have a print subscription, but I would like one if I had a constant address. More fun to read at a cafe in print.
I used E-rewards for a subscription to the Economist last year and received the print edition. This year I tried the same redemption and was only offered digital. I will bit eh bullet and pay for a student subscription to get the print version.
I travel too much to have a print subscription, but I would like one if I had a constant address. More fun to read at a cafe in print.
@scott
good info!
i went to hatethousandmiles.com, but where do i actually type my complaint? all it shows is video and no further options.
please advise.
thanks!
@scott
good info!
i went to hatethousandmiles.com, but where do i actually type my complaint? all it shows is video and no further options.
please advise.
thanks!