Travelers are still beginning to process the impact of the departure of Spirit Airlines, which had an outsized network in the Caribbean.

For some routes, Spirit was the only airline operating them — and recovering from those voids will take some time —and initiative from existing carriers. 

But for others, Spirit was simply the cheapest — at least that was the perception. 

A closer look reveals that Spirit wasn’t always the cheapest fare available, and that cheaper fares still remain available from other carriers. 

The best example? New York-LaGuardia to San Juan. 

Last week, fares from New York to San Juan on Spirit were running around $320 roundtrip. 

Today, I found a nonstop route from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico on JetBlue for only $257 — along with $257 on United and $297 on Delta. 

That covers the end of May and early June, based on Google Flights portal data.

Rates on Spirit’s LGA-SJU route had continued to extend in the $300s for most of the next few months, according to what’s still shown on an extant portion of Spirit’s website. 

In other words, from an affordability standpoint, not necessarily a seismic change — and several great fares still persist. Whether that remains the case is another questions, without Spirit’s ability to set a floor for airfare pricing.