Q. I read that if a consumer buys are airfare and then realized it was for the wrong date that it would be possible to correct the mistake without paying a penalty. I booked the wrong date and immediately called Spirit Airlines but they still charged me $75 as a change fee. Can I get my money back?

A. New regulations recently proposed by the U.S. D.O.T. will require all airlines to permit consumers to reserve an airline seat without paying for it and lock in a fare for 24 hours, allowing the buyer to shop for a lower fare and correct any mistake that might have been made. However, some of these regulations have been put on hold at the request of the airlines. Many airlines, including United, Southwest, American, and Delta, already allow passengers to correct mistakes without penalty within 24 hours, and it looks like Spirit is not one of these, at least not until the new regulations take effect. You should ask Spirit to reconsider and at the very least offer a flight coupon good for future travel in the amount of the change fee, but to put it mildly, Spirit is not known for being sympathetic in such circumstances.

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