The truth is... Spirit will simply claim that you agreed to the Terms and Conditions when you bought your tickets. This is technically true, but the reality is that the Terms and Conditions are ridiculously labrythine and no one would realistically read them all. They know this. The terms are uttely one sided and could leave you stranded for a week or more before the next available flight with no compensation and only the offer of a refund or next available flight. They do not interline. Ryanair pioneered this anti customer attitude, but the European Union introduced regulations to give passengers basic rights. These are contained in Regulation 261/2004. If you google it, it will give you an idea of how this works. Ryanair and other airlines screamed that this would make flights too costly and undermine the whole low cost industry. When scare tactics failed, Ryanair introduced a charge of £2 ($3) per ticket to cover the cost. This grossly overstates the costs, but I think most passengers would be prepared to pay this if it means they are covered when a problem arises. I would urge you to ask your Senator or Representative to take action to re-regulate in this area. I don't hold out much hope.... the airlines pay millions to your representatives every year to block this.
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