[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

You may never get a dime out of Spirit. Still, I think's it's worth taking them to small claims court and suing them for the cost of that extra ticket you had to buy as well as 50% of the cost of your original ticket. Since this was an international flight Spirit's rules say you must have a boarding pass in your hands no less than 60 minutes prior to departure, and you must arrive at the departure gate no less than 30 minutes prior to departure. You said it was 2:45 when you got your first "no" answer. Was that the time on your watch, or were you looking at a clock in the airport? Spirit will probably deny that it was 2:45 and say you were at the check-in counter later than that. While there was only 5 minutes remaining in which to issue a boarding pass (in order to comply with Spirit's rules) you indicated you were the only one at the ticket counter. In the absence of some unusual circumstance it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to issue a boarding pass. If there were no questions about your passport, and the airport clocks were showing 2:45, then, in theory, Spirit owes you. Unless you have a "disinterested witness" (ie: not a relative, not a friend) this will come down to your word against Spirit's. So how the judge would rule is anyone's guess.