You can now get an automatic refund if your flight is delayed or canceled

• Airlines must now supply automatic refunds erstwhile flights are delayed aliases canceled.
• New regulations announced successful April and enacted successful October mean passengers tin get automatic refunds connected delayed bags.
• Previously, airlines group their ain policies astir erstwhile passengers were eligible for refunds.

Airlines are now required to supply passengers pinch "prompt" automatic refunds erstwhile their flights are delayed aliases canceled nether a caller norm from nan Department of Transportation.

The regulations, which were first announced successful April and took effect connected Monday, October 28, besides entitle passengers to automatic refunds for delays to checked bags and for airlines' nonaccomplishment to supply paid-for other services.

Under nan DOT regulations, passengers tin get a refund if their formation is canceled aliases importantly changed and they don't judge replacement proscription aliases recreation credits offered. This includes home flights delayed by much than 3 hours and world flights delayed by much than six hours.

Significant changes that make passengers eligible for a refund see a alteration successful nan departure aliases presence airport, an summation successful nan number of connections, and being downgraded to a little walking class. Passengers tin besides get a refund if they're switched to connections astatine different airports aliases flights connected different planes that are little accessible for a personification pinch a disability.

The caller regulations will travel arsenic a alleviation to passengers deed by unforeseen terrible delays, specified arsenic nan 1 connected Friday erstwhile airports crossed nan globe were plunged into chaos by a world IT outage.

Passengers were issued pinch handwritten boarding passes and had to get their formation accusation from whiteboards aft Microsoft reported problems linked to an rumor astatine cybersecurity patient CrowdStrike.

The IT outage saw airlines including United, Delta, American, and Allegiant crushed flights and forced airports to move to manual check-ins, causing terrible delays.

Previously, airlines group their ain standards for which circumstances passengers could get a refund in, which could make it confusing for passengers trying to fig retired whether they were eligible for a refund and really to apply, nan DOT said successful a property release.

It added that immoderate airlines gave passengers a recreation in installments aliases voucher by default, meaning they couldn't usage their refund to rebook connected different hose "without navigating a cumbersome petition process."

Passengers are besides entitled to a refund of their checked container interest if their container is delayed and they record a mishandled baggage report. The DOT says that nan argumentation covers bags that aren't delivered wrong 12 hours of a home formation arriving astatine nan gate, aliases 15 to 30 hours for an world flight, depending connected nan magnitude of nan flight.

And if passengers salary other for a work specified arsenic WiFi, spot selection, aliases in-flight intermezo and past don't person this, they're entitled to a refund for nan interest they paid.

"The caller norm makes it easy for passengers to get refunds erstwhile airlines cancel aliases importantly alteration their flights, importantly hold their checked bags, aliases neglect to supply nan other services they purchased," nan DOT said successful a property release.

As good arsenic being automatic, nan refunds must beryllium "prompt," which it describes arsenic wrong 7 business days for in installments paper purchases and 20 almanac days for different costs methods.

The refunds must beryllium successful immoderate costs method nan rider primitively used, whether cash, in installments card, aliases hose miles, alternatively than substituting vouchers aliases recreation credits unless nan rider accepts replacement compensation.  

The DOT besides noted that airlines must supply a afloat refund, including each government-imposed taxes and fees and airline-imposed fees.

Many passengers person antecedently spoken to Business Insider astir their troubles getting compensation for delayed and canceled flights and mislaid luggage. In 2020, erstwhile flights were canceled owed to waves of COVID lockdowns, nan DOT sewage more than 102,000 complaints from hose customers successful total. Nearly 90,000 were related to refunds.