--- title: Airlines Must Give Cash Refunds for Canceled Flights Under New Rule description: The Biden administration announced new rules Wednesday concerning airlines' cash refund policies, bag fees and luggage delays. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 602 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2024-04-24T19:23:52.000Z' modified: '2024-04-24T19:23:52.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - News word_count: 409 canonical: https://money.com/airline-refund-canceled-flights-rule/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Suitcase with various airline luggage tags attached.](https://img.money.com/2024/04/News-Airlines-Cash-Refund-Bag-Fees.jpg) Make your vacation plans with confidence: Airline passengers will now be entitled to automatic refunds if their flights are canceled or significantly delayed. The Biden administration announced Wednesday that airlines must provide cash refunds to your credit card within seven days, and customers won’t have to call their airlines or complete paperwork to get their money back. The [new rule](https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/biden-harris-administration-announces-final-rule-requiring-automatic-refunds-airline), issued by the Department of Transportation, applies to any trip to or from the U.S. when the customer does not take an alternative flight or accept a travel voucher instead of the delayed or canceled flight. Airlines can still offer travel credits to make up for flight cancellations, but they must notify customers of the cash refund option. ## Planning on taking a trip soon? ### Make sure that your trip is covered with Travel Insurance. Click your state to get coverage. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/f4d78f1a1ce6?ap_referrer=%2Fairline-refund-canceled-flights-rule%2F) The administration also [announced a separate rule](https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/biden-harris-administration-announces-final-rule-protect-consumers-surprise-airline) Wednesday meant to prevent airlines from charging [“junk fees.”](https://money.com/biden-ban-junk-fees-banks-hotels/) Officials said that airlines will now be required to disclose baggage fees as well as flight change and cancellation fees when customers are buying tickets so there are no surprises later on. “Airlines should compete with one another to secure passengers’ business — not to see who can charge the most in surprise fees,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. ## What the new airline rules mean for you As the department's changes go into effect over the next year, passengers will gain more clearly defined rights related to ticketing and airline refunds. Notably, the Department of Transportation is laying out exactly what constitutes a “significant change" to a flight requiring a refund. Previously, airlines had their own refund policies for delayed flights, leading to confusion for customers. Here are the situations included in the new definition of a significant change: - Delays of three or more hours for domestic flights - Delays of six or more hours for international flights - Additional connections on the new route - Changes to the departure or arrival airport - Downgrades to a “lower class of service” When flights are canceled or significantly delayed, airlines must now provide total refunds, including all taxes and fees, even if some of those taxes and fees are sunk costs for the airline (meaning they can't be recovered). Lastly, under the new rule, passengers will also be entitled to refunds for baggage fees if their bag isn’t delivered within 12 hours for domestic flights, or within 15 to 30 hours for international flights. ## All packed and ready to go? Don't forget the Travel Insurance. ### There are so many things that can happen while we're away from home. With Travel Insurance, you'll have less to worry about. Find out more by clicking below. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/iea5824ef750?ap_referrer=%2Fairline-refund-canceled-flights-rule%2F) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/28840/medium_dca16b05-03f8-4766-b735-a167b0e7c79d.png) Enjoy your trip worry-free with the help of Travel Insurance [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/v76af457ef6b?ap_referrer=%2Fairline-refund-canceled-flights-rule%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/airline-refund-canceled-flights-rule/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Travel", "item": "https://money.com/travel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Airlines Must Give Cash Refunds for Canceled Flights Under New Rule" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/airline-refund-canceled-flights-rule/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/airline-refund-canceled-flights-rule/", "name": "Airlines Must Give Cash Refunds for Canceled Flights Under New Rule", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2024-04-24T19:23:52.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/airline-refund-canceled-flights-rule/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/airline-refund-canceled-flights-rule/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-24T19:23:52.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Airlines Must Give Cash Refunds for Canceled Flights Under New Rule", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/04/News-Airlines-Cash-Refund-Bag-Fees.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Airlines-Cash-Refund-Bag-Fees" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. 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