When an airline closes it's not only the cancellation of flights, it's also left many doubts among passengers, the most common one being “will I get a refund?”. This is what which has awakened Spirit Airlines, a company that is already returning money to its customers after stopping its operations and who will have to wait longer to recover what they paid.

After announcing its exit from the market, Spirit Airlines reported that it has already refunded the majority of its customers. Even so, it acknowledged that there still exists “a small percentage”of pending refunds, which are in process.

The company explained that it initiated an orderly shutdown after failing to get a federal bailout of $500 million dollars. As part of that process, it compromised It automatically refunded the money to those who bought tickets with credit or debit cards. This group has been the first to receive their refund.

“Under federal law, consumers are entitled to refunds when a company fails to deliver a purchased service,” Eric Rosen, director of travel content at The Points Guy, told CBS News.

Therefore, everyone who paid for a flight on Spirit Airlines, regardless of the date on which it is scheduled and as long as it is after the closing, you The return is guaranteed. In practice, those who paid for the credit card have seen a faster response after the airline's closure.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the same fate. Passengers who paid in cash or used loyalty points face a more uncertain scenario, although they have the same rights to receive their money back.

“By contrast, customers who paid cash or used loyalty points are not eligible for a refund,” Rosen noted. director of travel content at The Points Guy. “These points cannot transfer to another airline rewards program.”

In addition, Spirit indicated that those who used vouchers or credits should wait. The compensation in these cases will be defined within the bankruptcy process, so there is no clear date.

Airlines that offer support

While some passengers seek to recover their money, the need to travel for many is inherent to the problem. Given this, several airlines have offered help.

United Airlines has relocated about 14,000 affected customers and launched special fares for a limited time. is joining in n American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines, with discounts for those who had flights with Spirit.

JetBlue, for its part, announced new routes and benefits to attract these travelers, including programs to equalize the status of frequent customers.

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