Airlines now required to pay cash refunds for delayed or canceled flights: DOT

The painful days of late pay are finally over. .

Travelers no longer have to worry about being stuck in a pattern of financial withholding if their flight is abandoned.

U.S. airlines are now required to automatically refund tickets and other flight-related expenses if their flight is canceled or significantly delayed.

“Today, our automatic refund rule goes into full effect,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a Monday post on X. “Airlines are required to provide prompt cash refunds without passengers having to to ask for it.”

In doing so, they are implementing an instant refund policy proposed by the Department of Transportation in April to speed up the refund process, increase transparency and protect against “hidden unwanted fees.”

Although parts of the new DOT policy were put in place as early as May, some provisions took longer to take effect due to their timelines, according to USA Today.

Under the new rules, passengers are entitled to automatic refunds without having to explicitly request them, and these refunds must be processed within seven days for credit card purchases and within 20 days for other payment methods. .

Previously, airlines were required to provide refunds, provided the passenger did not book alternative flights with them, but the exact refund window was ambiguous.

Additionally, these refunds must be paid in full – minus the value of flights already taken – according to the original payment method “used to make the purchase, such as a credit card or airline miles,” according to the policy.

“Airlines may not substitute vouchers, travel credits or other forms of compensation unless the passenger expressly chooses to accept alternative compensation,” it reads.

According to the policy, a significant flight delay is three hours for a domestic flight and six hours for an international route – time limits that apply to both departure and arrival delays.

And flights aren’t the only parts of the trip subject to reimbursement. Under the new regulations, passengers who report mishandled baggage can get their checked baggage fees back if the bag is lost and not delivered within 12 hours of arrival at the boarding gate of a domestic flight.

International flights, on the other hand, will have 15 to 30 hours to return lost baggage, depending on its duration, according to the policy.

These baggage fees must be disclosed with fare and schedule information on the airline’s online platform and not via a hyperlink after booking.

This way, passengers can “avoid surprise fees when purchasing tickets from airlines or ticket agents, including physical travel agencies or online travel agencies,” the policy states.

Finally, passengers are entitled to reimbursement for ancillary services that were not provided due to cancellation or other circumstances.

These include Wi-Fi, seat selection and in-flight entertainment.