Papa Johns Offers Spirit Flyers a Pizza Instead of a Flight

Hey, disappointed former Spirit Airlines flyers. Have you heard about the promotion that Papa John's Pizza has cooked up?

No, they haven't created a magic flying pizza that will fly you to Orlando for $119 if you only have one small carry-on bag. That really would be an amazing promotion.

What Papa John's is offering us, poor Spirit-less travelers, is a large Papa John's Pizza in exchange for showing them the leftover Spirit loyalty points you still have, which don't mean diddly anymore.

Kind of a consolation prize, that's really a shrewd, self-serving marketing ploy for a certain pizza place that we'll call PJ's to protect them from people who hate self-serving marketing schemes.

Let's break down this offer and see if it flies, so to speak.

Papa John's Offers Pizza for Spirit Loyalty Points

Here's the deal Papa John's Pizza is offering you with its "Skies to Pies" promotion, direct from its website.

"For a short time, eligible former Spirit loyalty members can convert proof of their loyalty into a free pizza. Stranded Spirit members can now find a home in Papa Rewards.

How Skies to Pies Works:

1. Show you were a Spirit Loyalty Member
   Direct message @PapaJohns on Instagram, proof that you were a Spirit loyalty member
2. Join Papa Rewards
   Prove that you’re a Papa Rewards member by also direct messaging a screenshot of your Papa Johns account
3. Get Your Pizza
   Once verified, Papa Johns will send the first 250 people a code for a free large one‑topping pizza. While supplies last."

Here's What I Hate About This Promotion

1- This pizza place is forcing me to do a lot of work to get one Papa Johns Pizza. I will be honest with you, I have never had Papa Johns Pizza, but it better be the best damn pizza on Earth for all this bother.

Just for giggles, I searched up the price of a large one-topping Papa Johns pizza, and here's what Google told me.

A large one-topping pizza from Papa Johns typically costs around $11.99 to $14.99, though special promotions, such as carry-out deals, often lower the price to between $7.99 and $9.99.

See what I mean? How much direct messaging am I going to do with Papa John for $8 to $15? My personal answer would be ...NONE, but maybe it means more to you than it does to me, so let's go on.

2- After I show you the points from the loyalty program that I got screwed out of with Spirit Air, I have to join the Papa Johns Loyalty Program. Really? For a free pizza?

I can only guess how many marketing lists will add my personal information when I join that group. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, I don't want to be in any lame pizza club that would have me.

I don't mean to ruin this attempt at a fun, clever promotion by a pizza place to gain attention by piggybacking on the shutdown of a beloved airline that was so important to people in South Jersey ( well, maybe I really do), so good luck getting your free pizza from Papa Johns by jumping through some hoops on their Instagram page.

Looks like you had better hurry, though, because they are only giving away pizzas to the first 250 people who apply.

At $15 a pizza, the entire promotion is only costing them $3,750 or whatever it really costs to make a PJ's Pizza.