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HENDERSON, Colo. -- An out-of-state baseball tournament was supposed to be the highlight of the year for a group of Colorado high school seniors, but after the tournament was canceled, the team is now fighting for a refund.
"We were all really excited for the season to start and on the first day of our season, we found out we wouldn’t be able to play for a while. The first thing we thought about was our spring trip," said Jaydon Carabajal, a senior at Prairie View High School.
The baseball team was supposed to travel to Alabama to compete in the Gulf Coast Classic at the end of March. The team started making travel arrangements in January and booked more than $11,000 worth of airfare through Denver-based Frontier Airlines.
"Tickets were booked – 25 round-trip tickets to cover for all the families and players to travel. And then, obviously COVID-19 things started coming up," said Jason Carabajal, the President of the Thunderhawk Diamond Club.
The Thunderhawk Diamond Club is a nonprofit that works to raise funds to offset the cost of the baseball program. Students take part in the fundraising efforts by selling Christmas wreaths and Rockies tickets to help pay for the trip.
On March 12, the team's coach reached out to Frontier after COVID-19 concerns canceled the tournament. Coach Mark Gonzales wanted to know if it would be possible for the team to get a refund. But after an email exchange he was offered a voucher.
"We’re finding out that’s really not an option as we’re more than likely not going to be able to travel for the next couple of years for the safety of our students," said Gonzales.
A spokesperson for Frontier Airlines released the following statement:
The tickets that were purchased by the group are non-refundable, which was communicated to the Group Leader at the time of booking. However, as a courtesy due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we waived cancellation fees and provided a full travel credit for the non-refundable tickets. The travel credit is available for 90 days from the date of issuance. Please note, travel does not need to occur within that 90 period. The customer simply needs to book travel by the expiration date. The travel can be scheduled all the way through September 2021 and, again, those reservations can be changed free of charge up until 60 or more days prior to the travel date.
