Flight canceled or significantly delayed? You're owed a cash refund, automatically (DOT rule)

Since October 2024, U.S. airlines must refund your ticket in cash, not a voucher, when they cancel your flight or change it significantly and you don't take the alternative. What counts as "significant", the 7-day deadline for refunds, bag-fee and extras refunds, and what to do when the airline pushes credit instead.

The rule, in plain English

The Department of Transportation's automatic refund rule (finalized April 2024, in force since October 28, 2024) ended the voucher game. It applies to all airlines operating in the U.S., domestic and foreign, for flights to, from, or within the United States.

You are owed a refund when:

1. The airline cancels the flight, for any reason (weather included), and you don't fly on the alternative they offer.
2. The airline significantly changes the flight and you decline the change. Significant means any of: schedule moved 3+ hours domestic / 6+ hours international (departure or arrival); different origin or destination airport; one or more connections added; downgrade to a lower class of service; change to a flight less accessible to a passenger with a disability.
3. You paid for a service you didn't get: checked bag that arrived late (beyond the 12-hour / 15–30-hour windows after you file a mishandled bag report), Wi-Fi that didn't work, a seat or upgrade you didn't receive.

What you get: the full amount paid, including taxes and fees, for the unused portion. Cash to the original form of payment (or the same form: a credit card refund, a cash refund, points back if you paid with points). Not a voucher, unless you choose one.

Automatically: the airline must issue it without you filing a request, after you decline or don't respond to the rebooking offer. In practice, airlines send a cancellation email with options; if you don't accept, the refund should follow. Most don't happen without a nudge, so use the steps below.

What to do, step by step

1. Don't accept the voucher. Airlines email "your flight is canceled, here's a credit" with a big button. Don't click accept. You can also decline the rebooked flight if it's a significant change.
2. Request the refund in writing through the airline's refund form (every airline has one, usually under "Refunds" in the help center). State: "My flight [number, date] was [canceled / significantly changed]. I did not accept the alternative. Under 14 CFR Part 260 I request a full refund to my original form of payment within 7 business days."
3. Keep the emails: the cancellation notice, the original itinerary, and your refund request. Note the ticket number.
4. Give it 7 business days (card) or 20 days (other). Check your statement.
5. Not refunded, or offered only credit? File a DOT complaint (takes 5 minutes; airlines must respond within 60 days and DOT enforces this rule directly). See how to file a DOT complaint.
6. Still nothing: dispute the charge with your credit card as "services not rendered" (chargeback), attaching the cancellation email and your refund request. Card issuers side with the passenger on canceled flights almost every time.

Bags, Wi-Fi, seats: refunds for extras

• Checked bag fee: file a mishandled baggage report at the airport (or online within 24 hours); if the bag isn't delivered within 12 hours of your domestic flight's arrival (15 hours international up to 12 hours flight time, 30 hours for longer), the fee must be refunded. This is separate from compensation for the bag's contents (see lost or delayed baggage).
• Wi-Fi, seat selection, upgrades, entertainment: if you paid and didn't get it, the airline must refund that fee. Ask through the refund form with your receipt.

What the rule does NOT give you

• No compensation for delays on domestic flights, however long, if you still fly. The DOT's dashboard shows what each airline voluntarily promises (meals, hotels, rebooking) for delays it controls; those are commitments, not law.
• No refund if you cancel a non-refundable ticket yourself (except within 24 hours of booking, for flights 7+ days out, under the 24-hour rule).
• No hotel or meal reimbursement for weather cancellations, unless the airline's own policy offers it.

For flights to, from, or within Europe, EU and UK law adds fixed compensation of €250–€600 for cancellations and long delays. That's often the bigger check: EU flight compensation for Americans.

FAQ

The airline says weather cancellations aren't refundable

Wrong. The reason for the cancellation doesn't matter for refunds; only whether you flew. Weather only matters for the airline's voluntary hotel/meal promises.

I accepted a rebooking but then it got canceled too

You're owed the refund for the flight you didn't take. Each cancellation restarts your right.

They refunded to a "travel credit" without asking

The rule prohibits that unless you chose it. Reply in writing that you did not accept credit and request cash; escalate to DOT if they refuse.

I booked through Expedia or a travel agency

The party that took your money (the agent or the airline) must refund. Start with the airline for cancellations; if you paid the agency, the agency must pass the refund through within the same deadlines.