My Spirit Airlines flight was canceled at 2 a.m. I paid $800 extra to get my mom and me home.

• Jessica Stanton had round-trip tickets from Myrtle Beach to Boston for her undergraduate graduation.
• She stayed up all night trying to find another direct flight after her Spirit flight was canceled.
• She found a one-way flight with American Airlines for $399 a ticket.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jessica Stanton. It has been edited for length and clarity.

On Saturday morning at 2:28 a.m., I had an email from Spirit Airlines informing me that my flight back to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had been canceled.

I had booked round trip tickets for my mom and I with Spirit Airlines in February, from Myrtle Beach to Boston, for my college graduation.

I had booked with Spirit because they were the only airline offering the direct flight we needed that day. At Myrtle Beach’s airport, Spirit Airlines was the largest carrier with the most direct flights to Boston.

Each ticket cost me $215

My mom and I got to Boston without any problems. I had my graduation on Friday, May 1, and afterward, had a great celebration with friends.

That evening, back at the hotel, my mom had a text from my stepdad asking if we were stranded.

“What are you talking about?” she asked him. We hadn’t heard anything about a change to our flight, which was booked for around noon on Saturday. I checked my email and texts — nothing. The Spirit Airlines app showed that my plane was on time.

While my mom was sleeping, I decided to stay up a while to see if anything came of the worries my stepdad had. Just in case, I started looking at options for other flights we could get back to Myrtle Beach.

At 2:28 a.m., I received an email informing me that all Spirit Airlines flights had been canceled and that we would be refunded automatically.

I started looking for other flights out

As my mom is older and has mobility issues, getting a direct flight was a priority.

Frontier was advertising reduced-price tickets for those stranded due to Spirit cancellations, but they only had flights to Orlando. Southwest had a flight, but it wasn’t direct. Delta didn’t have any good options.

I called American Airlines after seeing online that they had a direct flight from Boston to Myrtle Beach on Saturday afternoon for $399, and asked whether they would offer a reduced fare for Spirit customers. They told me they couldn’t.

Without another option, I had to bite the bullet and buy the tickets. I couldn’t believe I had already paid for tickets and was having to spend an extra $800 to get home.

Although I thought about looking for other tickets, I knew that once everyone started waking up (it was still early hours of the morning on Saturday), it would be even harder and more expensive to get tickets.

I worked out that it would probably be cheaper to just get the tickets, instead of paying for another night in a hotel plus extra food if I couldn’t secure tickets for Saturday.

We arrived at an empty airport

When my mom woke up, I told her about what had happened, but assured her I had dealt with it and found a solution.

We arrived back in Myrtle Beach to an empty airport because most of the gates there are Spirit Airlines gates. As we walked through the airport, I thought of all the jobs that have been lost. It feels like every six months, thousands of workers at these big companies are losing their jobs. It’s really sad.

After getting home and finally getting some sleep, I’ve noticed that flight prices have gone up and there are fewer flights available. I’m hoping I do get the refund I was promised, but I haven’t heard anything yet.

I’m so glad I booked when I did, and feel really grateful I got myself and my mom home.

[Editor’s note: American Airlines’ website says they are “doing everything we can to support Spirit Airlines customers” and that they have put in place rescue fares on non-stop routes that overlapped with Spirit Airlines.]