Airline Passenger Refunds 101

​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.

​Take note: Airlines are not required to refund passengers for incidental expenses accrued due to a delayed or canceled flight, such as food, a hotel room or a rental car. That said, it’s always a good idea to check directly with an airline agent to determine what compensation they will offer. 

​By the book

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

​“One good thing about this administration is that they made a dashboard that’s really easy for consumers,” says John E. DiScala, founder of the travel website Johnny Jet. “Basically, they asked all of the airlines, ‘What will you put in writing that you will give if something goes wrong, whatever the reasons are?’ Now, the trick is to try and get them to enforce it.”

According to the USDOT, “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.” 

​The USDOT defines controllable in this case as “essentially a delay or cancellation caused by the airline. Examples include: maintenance or crew problems; cabin cleaning; baggage loading; and fueling.” 

​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.