Desperate Spirit Airlines flyers scramble to rebook flights paying $900 for one-way tickets and asking for donations
It’s the end of an inexpensive travel era.Money-savvy travelers are mourning Spirit Airlines, the once-beloved budget carrier, which permanently shut down on Saturday after undergoing severe financial distress and failing to obtain a $500 million bailout from the administration.
After the company’s officials announced yesterday that they were closing operations of the nation’s eighth-largest airline “effective immediately,” hundreds of shocked flyers were left scrambling to rebook flights to their destination, especially since customer service is no longer available.And it’s costing them a pretty penny and a lot of grief.Spirit, which has been around for 34 years, plans to refund flyers, but the gesture isn’t enough to reverse the damage already done.Many stranded flyers took to social media to share their frustrations.One flyer said she had a flight booked for 9 a.m.on Saturday and found out it was canceled only eight hours prior.
“Thank god this time I was a late packer and didn’t get any sleep,” which allowed her to read the doomsday email.“All Spirit flights are canceled immediately.We are going to give you back refunds but that’s it.
We’re not paying for you to go to another airline or anything like that,” she recalled the email saying.While she found success rebooking with JetBlue, this traveler pointed out that “Some people don’t know their flights are canceled.They’re coming to the airport and they don’t have any flights.”A commenter on the video highlighted that “…other airlines are taking full advantage of the situation, increasing all their prices” — which is what one vacationing couple experienced when they frantically rebooked after their Spirit flight home from a cruise was canceled.“We woke up this morning to the news that our flight home tomorrow is canceled because Spirit has gone under,” they said in their TikTok video.
“I’m grateful that Chippy and I have the means to be able to book immed...