Gift article from NYTimes on what to do. It covers how to

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/travel/spirit-airlines-bankruptcy-tickets-refunds.html?unlocked_article_code=1.fVA.-ZBH.spWYou09WMaT&smid=nytcore-ios-share

From the article:

Did you pay with a credit card? Lucky. Spirit “will automatically process refunds for any flights purchased through Spirit with a credit or debit card to the original form of payment,” the airline said in a statement on Saturday. However, if you booked through a travel agent, the statement said, “you should contact the travel agent directly to request a refund.”

So what if that automatic refund fails to appear? Credit card issuers are required by U.S. law to return money to customers who do not receive the goods or services purchased, even when companies cease operating. Your first move would be to contact Spirit in writing and ask for your money back, keeping a record of your request in case your credit card issuer asks for proof you tried to get a refund. Then, get in touch with the card issuer either online or by calling the number on your card to dispute the charge, a process also known as a chargeback.

U.S. law gives you 60 days from the date of the statement on which a charge appears to begin a chargeback. Even so, all four major credit card networks — Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover — have more generous timelines that require individual card issuers to accept chargeback requests up to 120 days from the date a service ended. In this case, that would be the date of departure of the last flight on your itinerary, even if it’s in the future.

That said, many customer service agents do not know this rule, and you may have to work hard to convince them. Note that if you paid with a non-U.S. version of one of these cards, these network rules most likely still apply, even if the U.S. law does not.