How to Get a Refund from Spirit Airlines

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If you booked a flight on Spirit Airlines and want the cost of your ticket refunded, you may be out of luck.

Spirit doesn’t have an “easy to find” summary of its refund policy, and they are notorious for being difficult to work with, so we put together this guide of what you need to know if you want to get a refund.

Spirit Airlines Refund Policy

Each airline has its own refund policy, however, they are all governed by the same rules that are mandated by the Department of Transportation (“DOT”).

The following are scenarios that require a full or partial refund, as mandated by the DOT, and enforced through the Spirit Airlines Refund Policy:

24-Hour Refund – When you buy a ticket at least 7 days prior to departure, you have up to 24 hours from when you first buy your ticket to request a refund. The 24-hour refund policy applies to all ticket types, but you must cancel your trip to get a refund.
Canceled Flight – You are entitled to a refund if Spirit Airlines cancels a flight, regardless of the reason, and you choose not to travel.
Schedule Change/Significant Delay – You are entitled to a refund if Spirit Airlines makes a significant schedule change and/or significantly delays a flight and you choose not to travel.
- The DOT does not specify what is “significant” so this will vary from airline to airline. Check Spirit’s Contract of Carriage page for the latest policy.
Class of Service Change – You are entitled to a refund if you are involuntarily moved to a lower class of service. For example, if you purchased a “Big Seat” ticket and are downgraded to a standard economy seat due to an aircraft swap, you are then owed the difference in fares.
Fully refundable ticket – If you purchase a fully refundable ticket are entitled to a refund when you don’t use the purchased ticket to complete your travel. This is the rule mandated by the DOT, but Spirit gets around it, because they do not offer fully refundable fares.
Baggage Fees – You are entitled to a refund if you paid a baggage fee and your baggage has been declared lost.
- Airlines may have different policies to determine when a bag is officially lost. Most airlines will declare a bag lost between five and fourteen days after the flight, but this can vary from one airline to another. Check Spirit’s Contract of Carriage page for the latest policy.

If your flight is canceled and you don’t want to be re-booked on another flight, you are entitled to a full refund of the ticket price.

According to Spirit Airlines Contract of Carriage, if you are involved in a Spirit Airlines cancellation or delay in excess of two hours, you’ll have three options:

Re-accommodation (i.e. they can re-book you on another flight),
Credit for future travel, or
Refund.

Refunds will only be issued to the form of payment used to complete the original purchase (normally charged back to your credit card). Cash refunds will be issued in the form of a check.

Note: Airfare rules have changed since COVID, so check out Spirit Airlines' travel updates page to make sure you are up to speed with the latest developments and policies.

Refundable vs. Non-Refundable Tickets

Getting a refund on a fully refundable ticket is relatively easy, but it’s a lot tougher if you have a non-refundable ticket. As you might expect, Spirit doesn’t offer refundable tickets, so if you're looking for a refund on a Spirit ticket, you better know what the rules are.

Unlike, United, American, and Delta, Spirit is pretty tight on the “unplanned circumstances”. Basically, you have to die to get a refund. Assuming you don’t plan on dying to get a refund, your only other options for a refund are significant delays or cancellation of your flight.

Documentation Requirements for a Refund

If you do happen to die either before or during your trip, someone will have to send a copy of the death certificate to the Spirit Airlines Guest Relations Department to get a refund.

Spirit Airlines Contact for Refunds

Guests entitled to refunds may apply for a refund by contacting Spirit Airlines Guest Care at 855-728-3555 or the request may be made in writing to:

Spirit Airlines Corporate Guest Relations

Attention: Refunds

2800 Executive Way,

Miramar, FL 33025.

How long will it take to get a refund from Spirit Airlines?

If you are owed a refund, Spirit must process the refund and provide credit within 7 business days if you paid by credit card, and 20 business days if you paid by cash or check.