FORT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - Passengers have had to deal with losing time and money since the shut down of Spirit Airlines on Saturday, and now other airlines have stepped in to help those passengers during this period of uncertainty.
Since the Dania Beach-based airline shut down, stranded passengers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport are wondering what comes now.
“What’s next? And how do we get our refund?” said a stranded passenger.
Spirit Airlines said in a statement that they will automatically process refunds for any flights purchased through them, but if you booked your flight through a third party, you’ll have to go through that third party to get refunded.
With all flights grounded, passengers have been searching for new airlines to take them where they need to go.
“We got to look for another way to get to Colombia, we could fly Copa but we’d have to go down to Miami to fly through Copa and it goes to a different town not Armenia, it’s very inconvenient for us,” said a man.
Brian Bricker and girlfriend Sarah Osselborn had a birthday weekend trip to Florida become a frustrating experience.
“So I got a notification from Spirit saying that they might be shutting down the flight so I’m going to her like, ‘I just wanna go to Florida for my birthday, just wanna go to Florida, just want to get away,'” said Bricker.
The airline ceased operations while the couple was away from their home in Pittsburgh.
“We got to the airport on Friday morning, had no issues. I even made a comment to him about the lady, I was like, ‘She’s a little too perky and happy for somebody that’s probably going to lose her job over the weekend.’ We were like, ‘Thanks for everything,’ super nice, had no issues getting here,” said Osselborn.
When it came to their return trip on Sunday, they suddenly found themselves having to scramble for alternatives and extending their trip while they waited for a new flight.
“We were supposed to leave last night and I had to call both my jobs and say I’m not going to be back until Tuesday night, Wednesday morning for my daytime job,” said Osselborn.
Other airlines have stepped up, offering rescue fares at discounted or capped rates for Spirit passengers, like Bricker and Osselborn, in need of a way home.
“I made the budget, everything was already arranged, now, that’s the big question,” said a traveler.
However some airlines have deadlines for those rescue rates.
Southwest, Delta and JetBlue are extending those rates through Wednesday, but Southwest will require passengers to secure those rates in person.
United has given flyers up to two weeks with an option to get them online.
For Bricker and Osselborn, they did ultimately succeed in booking a return flight, but it came with some serious sticker shock, as they got a flight through JetBlue before the airline announced they would cap fares for flyers.
“Basically, what we paid for our flights, our round trip flight, double is what we have to pay just to get home,” said Osselborn. “We were like, ‘Let’s just go. We’ll go for your birthday, let’s go for the weekend.’ It ended up a lot more headaches than it needed to be.”
Travel experts say the transition will take time.
“There’s not an endless supply of seats to rebook on and we’re even hearing of some stranded passengers in select markets like Orlando, for example, that are waiting, you know, a few days to get rebooked,” said travel industry analyst, Katy Nastro.
The impact on flyers now is evident, and with Spirit out of the market, it could reshape how we fly and for how much moving forward.
“In this current market, because of the operating costs, higher operating costs due to the higher price of jet fuel, it’s likely that we are in for a more expensive time frame for the unforeseeable future,” said Nastro.
JetBlue announced Monday that they’ve added expanded flights to 11 different cities as well as adding a loyalty share match for those Spirit customers.
FLL CEO Mark Gale said Spirit Airlines had the highest share of passengers at the airport as of March. He added that JetBlue has made a concerted effort to fill that void for travelers.
“We continue to see interest from other airlines, such as JetBlue, for new or expanded service at FLL, which is expected to offset some of the shortfall from Spirit’s absence.”
If you’re still looking for that refund, the Department of Transportation urges you to contact your credit card company to exercise your rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act.
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