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Spirit Airlines is not coming to help you. Hey there fellow travelers. Mark here with Walters World. Today I want to talk about a very important travel issue for a lot of travelers. Like thousands of travelers are stranded right now because Spirit Airlines has now shut down. As of May 2nd, Spirit completely stopped flying. That means their planes aren't going. There's not gate agents. There's no one checking people in. There's no customer service lines. And so if you got a trip coming up, I hate to tell you, you're going to have to rebook with a different airline. and we're going to go through today like
what's coming up, what you can do, and if you're some of those people that actually stuck and you actually got flown somewhere by Spirit, but you got no way home, we're going to give you some tips so you know what you can do to kind of get through there. But I want you to know Spirit isn't coming to help you. No matter how you paid, no matter how many po free, you know, free spirit points you had, they're they're not coming to get you. And if we kind of look at what really happened, you know, Spirit's been struggling for years. I mean, this isn't something that came out of the blue. Remember, it had multiple bankruptcies. They tried to merge with Frontier. It tried to merge with Jet,
you know, JetBlue, which got blocked. You know, they've gone through bankruptcy, restructuring, and basically you throw in all this debt, all the stuff on there, the high fuel costs that are there, it's became uh, you know, financially unsustainable. And so, they shut down their operations. And if you look at who's really impacted, I mean, this isn't a small thing. I mean, you're talking, yes, there's a people that are flying right now with Spirit, but I don't fly Spirit, but I'm impacted as well because Spirit did so much for the airline industry here in the US. Now, think about it. All those $79 flights and $49 flights meant that we ended up getting Delta's, you know, basic economy
and all these cheaper flights out there because competition is great and they did a good job of kind of bringing prices down. But if you think about it, the people that are really impacted by this though, thousands of passengers fly with them, okay, with the canceled flights, tens of thousands of employees no longer have jobs. I mean, last week they had a job. This week they don't have a job. I mean, there's a lot of people that are really impacted. And then, like I said, the travelers are going to be impacted because Spirit really did. I mean, competition drives down prices. When there's more supply, prices go down. And now we have one less airline, prices will go up. especially
on those destinations that are very popular with Spirit because now there's no more Spirit there and people we're going to be stuck paying probably a bit more for a while until you know maybe other airlines come or you know there's other things that happen. But let's get into the three groups that I really want to kind of help today. One, people that have future Spirit flights. What do you need to know? Two, people who are currently stranded somewhere because that's probably the scariest part is when you go I don't know how to get home. And remember, Spirit didn't just fly within the US. They went international as well, right? So, you have that and then people that are trying to get their money back because
you have a future flight. Wait, I spent all that money for my family of five to go to Fort Lauderdale or go to Florida or whatever. What am I going to do? I want to go to San. What am I going to do? So, we're going to go through that. Okay. So, if you have a future flight, this doesn't matter if you're like already there or you're going to be supposed to be flying later this week with Spirit. What I want to tell you is uh do not go to the airport. Okay? There's no point. No one's going to be there. Don't do that. customer service is not operating. So, there's no point in calling them either. Remember, Spirit is not coming to your rescue when it comes to this because there is no more
Spirit. Okay? So, what I recommend, number one, if you are somewhere, book a new ticket. Book a new flight ASAP because with all the people trying to rebook their tickets, especially if you're farther out, like you're looking for your summer vacation trips, you're going to have all these people that were flying these destinations that have booked their hotels, have booked their tickets to Epcot or whatever, and they're all going to get new flights. So, you got to rebook as fast as you can, okay? Because people are going to be scrambling, which means the prices are going to go up, but also there'll be limited seating, so you might not be able to get a flight. So, that's one thing for the longer term,
okay? Shorter term, if you are one of the people that are actually stranded there, one thing I want to tell you is, yes, you're going to need to rebook your tickets, okay? Go on another airline. What's cool is like United and Southwest, they all have kind of these rescue fairs that are out there. here. United discounted fair is around $199 to $299 one way depending on the distance you have. JetBlue has some routes as low as $99. Delta Southwest, like I said, they all have, you know, these kind of rescue fairs to help you get back home. But here's the thing. No matter if you have a future flight or a current flight, you are going to need all of the
information. Save everything. Okay? Your ticket confirmation, right, that they sent you via email or whatever. If you haven't ever felt like the app hasn't closed down, yeah, screen cap all those things, emails that you've got, receipts, and I'm not just saying receipts for your ticket, receipts for your bag, your seats, your upgrades, have those, have all those things screenshotted, have those ready to go because you're going to need all those for refunds if you can get your free refund. Now, what's great is if you book direct with Spirit Airlines, okay, they say you should be automatically paid back. So use your debit card or your, you know, credit card to buy your ticket on Spirit Airlines thing. This isn't
going with Expedia or Kayak or somebody or travel agent. No, no, no. This if you book direct with them, they're saying, "Oh, refunds should be automatic." Should be. We'll see. I didn't book with them, so I can't say. So, there is that. Now, if you book through like Expedia or you, you know, book through a third party or a travel agent, you're going to have to go through that third party. You're going to have to go on to Expedia and get your money back. you're going to have to contact your travel agent, be like, "Hey, what's going on?"
Okay? And the thing is, if nothing happens, then file a credit card chargeback, okay? Because you're not getting the service. And I know some like, "Chargebacks? Is that bad?" Hey, look, you got if you want to get your money back, these are things you're going to have to do. And it's it sucks because here's the thing. It's going to take time. This isn't going to happen overnight. It's going to take time. And so, be aware of that. Now, let's go back to those people that are actually stranded. Whe you're on vacation, a business trip, whatever, visiting grandma, wherever. Look, like I said, Spirit, don't wait for Spirit to fix this. They're not going to. They don't exist anymore. It's like they're gone.
Okay? So, like I said, look for those rescue fairs so you can get back home cuz here's the key thing. Get home first. Deal with all the other BS later, but you need to get home. So, buy that ticket. Like I said, those rescue fairs to get yourself home. I mean, you don't have to go back like today, but you know, get the rescue fair so you can enjoy the rest of your vacation and then head back because there are a lot of airlines and you know, that's what's cool. A lot of these airlines are stepping up and offering these fairs to, you know, help people go. So, that's kind of nice. But, honestly, get home first, worry about the refund later, okay? We'll all be talking about this
for a while because it'll take a while to get anything back from this. But, be aware of that. And for those of you that are like, "Wait, what about my points or vouchers, all those extra things that I had? What's going on there?" Well, basically they're all frozen. Look, your free spirit points, well, there's no flights to use them on, so kind of worthless. Your vouchers and credits, that's tied up in bankruptcy. Okay? So, that's going to be while if you get anything, those baggage fees, seat fees, all those things. Look, keep your receipts so you can have refund claims. So, you have that because there is a chance this will all get sorted out, right? And we'll be back getting our
money from them and all kinds of thing. But I like any bankruptcy, um don't count on getting everything back. All right? So, just be aware of that, okay? So, so have a heads up. And if you're one of those people stuck, I am truly sorry for you to be stuck like this. It is a horrible thing and it's scary. But look for those fees. Whether you're in Puerto Rico or you're in the US or wherever you're at, find those fairs to get back home and get that set up and do it sooner. And for those summer vacation people, book your stuff. Rebook your stuff now. Do it ASAP, okay? Okay, because those prices are going to go up because there's more competition and with the high gas prices, they're already raising the
prices. So, be aware of that. Okay. Now, what does this mean kind of going forward for the airline industry overall? Because this does affect everyone, not just people that were going to fly with Spirit or are already flying with Spirit, but for the other people out there, you know, think about it. Spirit really forced other airlines to be cheaper. I mean, Spirit had the, you know, the $79 flights, you know what? all the legacy carries, they had to offer cheaper fairs to compete because don't get me wrong, I love Delta, but if the flight is $79 with Spirit or $600 with Delta, I mean, I love Delta, but D, it's really hard to pay, you know, almost 10 times the price for a flight. So, you have to
realize that. But the thing is, when you have less competition without spirit there, one thing you got to realize, this is straight economics. This is like your econ 101 class from back in high school, right? Less competition means higher prices, less choice. Okay, we're going to few fewer of these ultra cheap options out there. And what's sad is one thing I mean, I didn't use Spirit, but what I appreciated is they made travel possible for so many Americans out there to go around the country, you know? I mean, think about it. A $600 flight and it's your family of five. Wow, that's $3,000 right there. That could be your entire budget or, you know, you couldn't go. But when it's, you know, $50 a flight
and we're a family of five, that's $ 250. $250. You're like, wait, hold on. One way. So 500 round trip. Oh my goodness. We can go to Florida. We can go see grandma. And that's one thing that's really sad about kind of disappearing. And if we look at destinations that are really going to get hit by this, these bigger spirit destination, some of the Florida spots like Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, um Las Vegas, some Caribbean destination, you know, destinations, these are going to get hit. So, do be expecting less options out there, which is kind of sad. And then one of the things I always wondered when airlines go out of business, what happens to their planes?
Do they just kind of sit there at that gate and just sit there and rot away? Uh, no. What you have to realize is most airlines, not well, not most airlines, some airlines, like they lease out their planes. And for Spirit, many of their planes were leased. So, those leasing companies will just come and get their planes eventually. So they'll take that back in, you know, or they'll be picked up by other airlines or maybe they'll be stored temporarily like you'll see them off on the field or just be reassigned to new carriers. So they're not just going to sit there. It's not like you're going to have this.
It's not like that like old like car that's off of the side in the, you know, the neighbor's yard that gets overgrown with grass. It's not going to be like that. They'll be reabsorbed into the system eventually. It'll just take a little bit of time. So um in a few months time, you'll be like, "Oh, there's a spirit. I haven't seen one of them in a while." And eventually they'll all be gone. But, you know, let's let's look at this. Overall, one thing, Spirit's done. Spirit's over. They're not coming to help. It's done. Your po your free spirit points probably worthless unless somebody buys their like customer database and wants to have their things. There might be something, but probably not. Um, if
you're booked with Spirit, rebook now with somebody else because you're not going to get that flight. It doesn't exist anymore. That's really, really key, you know. And if you're stranded, find that rescue fair and get home. worry about the refunds and all that stuff later. Complain when later on, just book rebooked so you have a way to get back home. Really kind of a key thing. And for everyone that booked with Spirit, keep your receipts. You want to have your receipts ready because you're going have to use those to fight for your refunds later. I don't know if you're going to get your refunds, so do expect maybe not to get everything back. But just remember, if you booked direct
with Spirit, they're supposed to like, oh well, it'll go automatically back. We'll see. I mean, I don't know. We'll see. And if you went through a third party like a kayak or uh you know um a travel agent, go to them directly to get your refund or try to get your refund from them. So there is that. But honestly, in the long term, what you're going to see more fellow travelers is higher prices for tickets for a lot of destinations here in the US at Spirit Served because of the lack of competition. And so I want to say thank you to spirit for the years you did give us. Um and you made travel more affordable for a lot of people and the fact that you drove that competition to drive prices down for everybody else.
But I just want to say for those you that are stuck, get home safe. Re get those rescue fairs to get home. I know it sucks. Yeah. Sad day out there for travel, fellow travelers. So let us know. Did you fly Spirit? What was your experience like with them? And if you didn't fly Spirit, why didn't you fly Spirit? Let us know. And if you're one of those ones stranded, let us know where you're stranded. and let us know if you get home. Okay. All right. So, happy travels everybody. Sadly, spirit isn't coming to save us and isn't coming to save you when you're traveling with them because spirit is no more. So, bye fellow travelers and good luck getting
