Airline Passenger Refunds 101

Passengers are entitled to refunds if they don’t want to be rebooked

passengers in long lines at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on July 20, 2024

Passengers waited in line at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on July 20, 2024, in Atlanta, a day after a tech outage grounded flights.

Getty Images

Nicole Gill Council and Susan B. Barnes,

Updated March 17, 2025

AARP

Published July 22, 2024

/ Updated March 17, 2025

Last April, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a rule that requires airlines to automatically provide passengers with cash refunds when they have experienced significant flight disruptions. The rule went into effect in October. Airlines still will be allowed to offer another flight or a travel credit instead of a refund, but consumers can reject the offer.

Flights may be delayed or canceled due to severe weather, such as the storms that spawned tornadoes, dust storms and wildfires starting on March 14.

If you need to claim a refund for your flight cancellation or delay, keep the following tips in mind.

Refunds 101

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Aviation Consumer Protection program, you may have rights if your travel plans are impacted by a flight delay or cancellation, depending on the reason. The program applies to Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit and United airlines.

As an airline passenger, you are entitled to a full refund of the airfare you paid if:

The airline cancels your flight for any reason (weather, mechanical or staffing issues) and you decide not to travel.
The airline has made a schedule change or significantly delays your flight and you decide not to travel.

Most major U.S. airlines, including American, Delta, United, Southwest and JetBlue, have dedicated online resources for requesting a refund and checking on its status. If you paid for one class of service and are involuntarily moved to a lower class, you are owed the difference in fares. A refund is also in order if you paid baggage fees or purchased optional services such as a seat upgrade or in-flight Wi-Fi and cannot use those services due to a flight cancellation, delay or schedule change.

If you are entitled to a refund for interrupted or canceled travel, the DOT requires airlines and ticket agents to make payments within seven business days if you paid by credit card, and within 20 days if you paid by cash or check.

By the book

For quick reference as to which airlines have made commitments to compensating passengers when controllable cancellations occur, the DOT created a one-stop source: the Airline Customer Service Dashboard.

According to the Transportation Department: “Airlines are required to adhere to the promises that they make in their customer service plan, including commitments to care for customers in the event of controllable delays or cancellations. The Department will hold airlines accountable if they fail to do so.”

All 10 airlines in the program are committed to rebooking passengers on the same airline at no additional cost when a controllable flight cancellation or delay occurs, and all are committed to providing cash or vouchers for meals when a flight delay results in passengers waiting three hours or more.

All airlines except Frontier are committed to providing complimentary hotel accommodations for passengers affected by overnight delays or cancellations, as well as transportation to and from the hotel.

When trying to make new travel plans at the airport, keep in mind that being polite may inspire customer service representatives to take that extra step to help.

Contributing: The Associated Press.

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Nicole Gill Council is a writer and editor of travel and diversity, equity and inclusion content for aarp.org. Previously, she was a digital planning manager and a news editor at USA Today and Gannett News Service, and a copy editor at the Los Angeles Times and Newsday.

Susan B. Barnes is a longtime writer specializing in travel who has written for Afar, Allrecipes, Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and other publications.

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