Spirit Airways Reinstates Change and Cancellation Charges

As Spirit Airways emerges from Chapter 11 chapter, the ultra-low-cost service has quietly reinstated one in every of its notorious passenger charges. For tickets bought after Feb. 5, 2025, cancellation and alter charges will apply as soon as extra on “Go” fares, the airline’s model of primary financial system.

The transfer comes lower than a yr after the airline eradicated these charges as half of a bigger model overhaul. Now the charges are again — though they do not apply to all fare sorts, as they did beforehand.

Nonetheless, in some circumstances, the change and cancellation charges charged by Spirit may eclipse the precise worth of the tickets bought.

Right here’s all the things it’s essential to learn about this newest change and how one can keep away from it altogether.

Change and cancellation charges are nonetheless waived on Spirit’s costlier fares, Go Savvy, Go Comfortable and Go Large. And for flights greater than 60 days or extra prematurely, change charges stay free on Go fares.

However for journey inside 60 days on Go fares, these are the charges you may anticipate to pay:

• Altering flights inside 31–59 days of departure: $59.

• Altering flights inside seven to 30 days of departure: $79.

• Altering flights inside seven days: $99.

These charges apply to tickets bought on or after Feb. 5, 2025. If you happen to purchased your ticket earlier than that date, these newly added charges don’t apply.

To cancel a Go fare fully, there’s a $99 cancellation payment that applies to tickets that had been bought after Feb. 5, 2025. Tickets bought earlier than that date are exempt from this new surcharge.

Bookings which are canceled 24 hours after the preliminary buy for flights greater than seven days out are nonetheless eligible at no cost cancellations and refunds to your authentic cost methodology, in accordance with federal necessities. Outdoors of that time-frame, you will get a journey credit score from Spirit. For Go fare cancellations, that credit score will likely be lowered by the cancellation payment. If the cancellation payment exceeds the fare, you received’t get a credit score.

Journey credit should be redeemed on-line; cellphone or airport brokers are unable to use them. The credit score covers all the things from the bottom fare of the ticket to charges like checked or carry-on luggage, seat assignments and authorities taxes.

There are additionally charges to make a gaggle title change to your ticket inside 30 days of departure, which stay at $50. If you don’t present up on your flight (both on function or because of one more reason), you lose the whole worth of the ticket, plus service costs, taxes and charges. If you don’t plan on utilizing the ticket, paying the $99 cancellation payment and getting a journey credit score for future use may be cheaper than simply not displaying up.

In case you are unsure about your plans, it’s best to go for a Go Savvy fare (or greater), to keep away from charges for adjustments or cancellations. You will nonetheless get a journey credit score should you cancel greater than 24 hours after reserving or lower than seven days out out of your departure, however your credit score will not be lowered by $99, as it might with a canceled Go fare.

Regardless of making this alteration to Go fares, the airline remains to be shifting ahead with an onboard expertise overhaul introduced in 2024 that added perks like free Wi-Fi for Free Spirit Gold elite standing members or people who buy a Go Large fare.

Different adjustments included a extra beneficiant bag dimension, in addition to extending the time restrict that you should use most journey credit to a full yr, relatively than 90 days. (Credit issued due to flight cancellations or adjustments are legitimate for 5 years.) As of publishing, there aren’t any adjustments to those enhancements.