{"id":255484,"date":"2026-05-02T15:02:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/255484\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T15:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:02:07","slug":"what-to-do-if-spirit-airlines-left-you-stranded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/255484\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Do If Spirit Airlines Left You Stranded"},"content":{"rendered":"

Budget travelers<\/a> are scrambling Saturday morning after learning that Dania Beach-based Spirit Airlines<\/a> has abruptly shut down following the collapse of a $500 million rescue bailout proposal from the Trump Administration. The airline had been undergoing its second bankruptcy proceedings in two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with great disappointment that Spirit Airlines has started winding down its global operations, effective immediately,\u201d the airline posted on its social channels overnight. \u201cAll flights have been cancelled, and customer service is no longer available.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spirit, a leader of the ultra-low-cost<\/a> flight market, was often the butt of jokes. But its collapse means there\u2019s even less competition in an industry where major airlines frequently swallow up smaller competitors. There are just ten major mainline passenger airlines in the United States, including the Big Four (American<\/a>, Delta, United, and Southwest). While a handful of these are budget airlines, few offer the ultra-low rates Spirit did.<\/p>\n

Still, those carriers will be a lifeline for travelers looking to rebook after Spirit\u2019s shutdown. So, what should you do if you were supposed to fly Spirit in the coming days?<\/p>\n

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THANK YOU!<\/p>\n

You’re all set.<\/p>\n

CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Spirit Customers Will Get Refunds, But There\u2019s Some Fine Print<\/p>\n

Spirit Airlines advised that it is not able to rebook affected customers (\u201ccustomer service is no longer available,\u201d remember?). The airline said that it will \u201cautomatically process refunds for any flights purchased through Spirit with a credit or debit card to the original form of payment.\u201d It adds, however, that \u201ccompensation for guests who booked flights using any other methods, including a voucher, credit, or Free Spirit points, will be determined at a later date through the bankruptcy process.\u201d Guests who booked flights through a travel agent are advised to contact them directly to request a refund.<\/p>\n

A guide on spiritrestructuring.com<\/a>, a website set up to keep the public up to date on the bankruptcy and shutdown proceedings, advised Spirit customers not to head to the airport if they were flying today.<\/p>\n

MIA and FLL Respond to Spirit\u2019s Shutdown<\/p>\n

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport also advised Spirit customers to stay away. \u201cIf you have a ticket booked on Spirit, the airline is advising travelers not to go to the airport and has provided guidance on its website regarding refunds or rebooking,\u201d FLL shared in a statement posted a little over an hour after Spirit\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n

In a statement posted hours later, Miami International Airport advised Spirit customers to \u201cconnect with other airlines operating out of MIA as soon as possible to explore alternate travel options.<\/p>\n

What Other Airlines Are Saying
\nAmerican Airlines Offers Rescue Fares for Spirit Customers<\/p>\n

American Airlines is offering \u201crescue fares\u201d for \u201cSpirit routes where American also offers nonstop service.\u201d The airline added: \u201cAmerican serves 70 of the 72 airports Spirit presently serves, and 67 of the specific routes Spirit currently operates. We are also reviewing opportunities to add additional capacity \u2014 including utilizing larger aircraft and adding flights on critical routes \u2014 to support as many affected passengers as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The airline is also assisting stranded Spirit Airlines staff \u201cwho have been displaced on a work trip.\u201d Additionally, American Airlines says it has set up a microsite for Spirit Airlines staff who might want to join AA, and that recruiting events will follow.<\/p>\n

United Airlines Offers Special Rates for Spirit Customers<\/p>\n

United Airlines is also offering special rates for stranded Spirit customers for the next two weeks. The airline says travelers can visit united.com\/specialfares<\/a> to \u201cprice-capped, one-way tickets from most cities where Spirit flew, including Atlanta, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Newark, New Orleans and Orlando.\u201d The airline adds, \u201cMost of these special fares are capped at $199 with limited exceptions, with longer flights priced no higher than $299.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like American, United is actively recruiting Spirit staff and helping with relocation for stranded employees.<\/p>\n

Delta Offers Reduced, Nonrefundable Rescue Fares<\/p>\n

While Delta shared fewer details than its counterparts, the airline says it is offering \u201creduced, nonrefundable rescue fares in affected markets over the next five days to help travelers book last-minute travel, with availability even on flights that are close to full to provide more options even when space may be limited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Low-Cost Airline JetBlue Steps In<\/p>\n

JetBlue, also a low-cost airline (though not designated ultra-low-cost like Spirit), said in a statement Saturday morning that it will offer \u201c$99 one-way fares for travelers with proof of a valid Spirit itinerary for the same route for travel through May 6, 2026.\u201d The airline advises Spirit customers to call 1-800-JETBLUE (1-800-538-2583) for more information.<\/p>\n

South Florida is a major hub for JetBlue, so the airline says it will cap \u201cBlue Basic fares at $299 or less on JetBlue-operated nonstop routes to and from Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) and San Juan, PR (SJU) that were also operated by Spirit as of April,\u201d adding \u201cthe fare caps apply to new bookings made through May 8, 2026, for travel between May 2, 2026 and May 8, 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Budget travelers are scrambling Saturday morning after learning that Dania Beach-based Spirit Airlines has abruptly shut down following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250,1760,290],"class_list":["post-255484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-just-announced","tag-openings-closings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}