Passengers Stranded In Different Parts Of The World After Bargain WOW Air Goes Out Of Business Without Warning

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Passengers were stranded across two continents on Thursday after WOW Air suddenly ceased operations.

CBS2's Valerie Castro spoke to one of many frustrated travelers, whose overseas vacation out of Newark was canceled.

"Our 10 days in Europe is no more," Megan Russell said.

Russell was one of thousands of passengers whose travel plans plummeted when the bargain airline went out of business without warning.

"They never emailed. They never called. They didn't text. We found out in Detroit when we were doing our connecting flight in to Newark and it was day of. It was today, actually," Russell said.

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Russell was traveling with her four children from Salt Lake City to Europe. The trip was her Christmas gift to them over spring break. She said Delta Airlines offered to get them as far as Newark.

But the rest of her trip?

"I'm a single mom and to book tickets to Europe day of isn't in my budget, and so I'm just going to enjoy my time here in New York and head home early," Russell said.

The cancellations caused chaos at other airports and in Baltimore police were called to get things under control at one of the gates.

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WOW Air, an Iceland-based airline, flew out of four U.S. airports to 20 cities, mostly in Europe, including Amsterdam, where Russell's vacation was supposed to kick off.

She said she's out at least $6,000, not to mention the hours of planning.

"My connecting flights, my Euro rail pass, all of the Airbnbs for 10 days, so we incurred a big loss," she said.

Russell said she hopes to recoup some of the money. Meanwhile, the airline is advising travelers to contact any credit card companies used to purchase tickets or to try to file a claim if they bought travel insurance.