You have the Right to Refunds, Reimbursement, and Compensation: Spirit Airlines

Important update: Spirit Airlines has ceased operations

Spirit Airlines ceased all operations on May 2, 2026, following its bankruptcy proceedings, and is now in an orderly wind-down process. All flights have been canceled and the airline is no longer operating.

If your Spirit Airlines flight was delayed, canceled, or otherwise disrupted before May 2, 2026, you may still be entitled to compensation under applicable passenger rights regulations — including EC 261 for flights departing from European airports. Eligible claims under EC 261 can generally be filed up to three years after the disruption. AirHelp can check your eligibility for free.

Regardless of whether you're at home or abroad when you find out about your Spirit Airlines flight cancellation, you're going to have a lot of questions and concerns. The first thing to know is that Spirit Airlines should find you a new flight, or offer you a full refund.

But because flight cancellations almost always play havoc with your travel plans, you should check whether you're also entitled to claim Spirit Airlines cancelled flight compensation to help make up for the disruption.

Under UK and EU regulations, Spirit Airlines should pay passengers up to US$650 per person when they cancel flights at late notice — that is, any flight cancellation less than 14 days before it was due to depart.

Exceptions:
Spirit Airlines will not have to pay compensation if they were able to offer a replacement flight with similar departure and arrival times to the original. You can check the exact requirements on our flight cancellation compensation page.

Airlines also don't have to pay compensation if extraordinary circumstances were at play. That means that if an unusual situation occurred that was outside of the airline's control but forced a cancellation, there's no Spirit Airlines flight cancellation compensation owed. Typical examples include bad weather or a strike by air traffic control.

Whenever you're kept waiting by Spirit Airlines flight delays, it's worth checking whether you're entitled to compensation for your time. If Spirit Airlines is responsible for the delay, EU regulations say that passengers are owed up to US$650 per person when they're delayed by 3 hours or more.

When you're claiming flight delay compensation, Spirit Airlines will check what time the flight arrived at the final destination. That's because for flight delay claims it is the time that you arrived that is important, not the time of departure. AirHelp owns one of the most comprehensive databases of flight stats available, so we can always back up Spirit Airlines flight delay compensation claims with the exact delay time.

Exceptions:
Airlines like Spirit Airlines do not have to pay out compensation if there's some external reason for the delay. That means delays caused by bad weather, an incident at the airport, or air traffic control strikes are not eligible for compensation. These kind of situations are called extraordinary circumstances.

You can learn more about what is and isn't included on our flight delay compensation page.

Even though Spirit Airlines is not a European airline, they always comply with European laws every time they depart from a European airport. That means passengers flying out of a European airport with United Airlines are protected by EC 261, one of the world's most comprehensive air passenger rights laws.

This gives passengers the right to claim flight delay compensation, United Airlines cancellation compensation, or overbooking compensation if United Airlines is responsible for the issue. That's in addition to their rights to a flight refund.

Unfortunately, the same protections don't apply for flights going the other way. Spirit Airlines passengers who land in the EU are not covered by EC 261 if the departure airport is outside the EU. For these flights, you'll need to check what other air passenger rights apply.

Which United Airlines Flights are Covered by EC 261?

Table shows values in € as specified in EC 261. Distances and amounts are similar under UK law.

There are exceptions and special circumstances which may impact how much compensation owes in your case. The easiest way to find out what you’re owed is to use our free compensation check.