For the last year and a half, COVID-19 has upended travel plans left and right. Travelers canceled trips en masse as the pandemic first struck last spring. And despite hopes for a return to normal in 2021, the unpredictability surrounding travel may be with us for some time.
Another wave of COVID-19 cases has many travelers rethinking their upcoming trips, near and far. Fortunately, most major airlines have gotten rid of change fees – at least if you paid for the right kind of ticket. But what if you want a cash refund, not just a free change or a voucher or credit for future travel?
If you choose to cancel your flight, the best you'll get is a voucher or credit for future travel. And that's still true even if the U.S. warns you not to travel abroad or the country you're heading to decides to ban Americans.
If, however, your airline cancels your flight outright – or changes it significantly – that's when you're entitled to a refund.Â
Let's dive into how this works and what you need to be aware of if you want your money back.
What the Law Says About Refunds
The law is clear: If an airline cancels any flight that touches U.S. soil, you should be eligible for a refund. No questions asked, no bones about it. It doesn't matter whether you're flying with a U.S. airline or a foreign carrier.
Here's an excerpt from Department of Transportation regulations:
If your flight is canceled and you choose to cancel your trip as a result, you are entitled to a refund for the unused transportation – even for non-refundable tickets. You are also entitled to a refund for any bag fee that you paid, and any extras you may have purchased, such as a seat assignment.
Notably, it doesn't matter whether the airline offers to put you on an alternate flight – you still have the right to request a refund. You could also be eligible for a refund if schedule changes result in a “significant delay” – though airlines have much more leeway to decide in those cases. United's initial, slimy move to issue refunds only when the delay is 24-plus hours last year is proof of that, though the airline has since backtracked. Delta increased that threshold from 90 minutes to a two-hour change on both domestic and international flights.
It seems pretty cut and dry – and by the letter of the law, it is.
But airlines haven't always played nice with customers – especially during the depths of the pandemic. United and JetBlue initially refused to give passengers refunds, leading the Department of Transportation to issue two separate warnings regarding refund laws. Air Canada was among the worst offenders, refusing to follow the law for many months. The DOT is cracking down on them, too.
Watch Out for Games
In theory, it should be simple to get a refund. If an airline cancels your flight, it's legally obligated to give you your money back.Â
But airlines are employing new ways to try to keep the money that you are entitled to. They range from the creative to the wrong to the blatantly illegal.
First things first: It's up to you to know your rights. Airlines often won't tell travelers when a refund is on the table. When canceling or changing flights, the airline may only mention a voucher in hopes that passengers unknowingly accept it.
But it gets worse. Some airlines simply made it hard to even request or process the refund they owe you after canceling a flight.
And then there are the truly egregious examples of airlines outright denying the refund that they owe you after canceling a flight. United Airlines flat-out refused to issue refunds in many cases throughout March and April of 2020, leading to a massive spike in complaints to the Department of Transportation. The same happened with Air Canada through much of 2020.
As this pandemic drags on, we may see more and more airlines resorting to these methods. Sure, airlines need money after the worst year in industry history. But so do Americans. And most importantly, airlines are breaking the law by not giving it to you after canceling a flight.
The Department of Transportation has repeatedly warned these airlines and others that they're breaking the law.
Only time will tell if they start behaving. So what can you do if your airline refuses to cough up the money they owe you?
What You Can Do to Get Your Money Back
If you're due a refund, don't give up easy. If you don't want a voucher for future travel, don't settle for one.
- If your flight hasn't been canceled or changed, wait! That's likely to change – and if it does, you could get your money back.
- If you can't find the option to process a refund online, call your airline – or better yet, send them a direct message via Twitter.
- If you booked through an OTA like Expedia or KAYAK, you'll have to call that company.
- Cite the Department of Transportation rules, the DOT's April 3 enforcement notice, as well as your airline's “contract of carriage” – both spell out that they're required to give you a refund if they cancel your flight.
- If the airline refuses to give you the refund you are legally owed, hang up and call again – or ask to speak to a supervisor.
- You can initiate a credit card chargeback with your bank, though this should be your last resort.
- File a complaint with the Department of Transportation.
What If You Already Accepted a Voucher?
Now we're getting into some gray area.
If your airline canceled your flight but forced you to take a voucher, you may be in luck. The Department of Transportation has instructed airlines to contact, “in a timely manner, the passengers provided vouchers for flights that the carrier canceled or significantly delayed to notify those passengers that they have the option of a refund.”
If you fit that description, your airline may reach out and offer to replace your voucher with a refund. It doesn't hurt to reach out proactively and ask, either.
But if you chose to cancel your flight and, later on, the airline cancels it … well, that gets tricky. Odds are, you missed your chance at getting a refund. That's why we caution travelers to wait to cancel their flights.
Technically, the airline would be under no obligation to give you a refund. You chose to exchange your ticket for a voucher for future travel. You don't have a ticket to refund anymore.
That said, it's still worth asking your airline to reconsider. The new guidance from federal regulators may give you some ammunition to convince your airline to give you a refund.Â
Bottom Line
Want a refund? If your flight has been canceled by the airline, they owe you your money back. The same is true if they significantly change your flights.
Unfortunately, airlines haven't always played nice when it comes to giving you what they legally must. And if your flight is still scheduled to depart as normal but you're rethinking your travel plans, the best you can do is get a voucher for future travel.
The US airlines took in almost $5B in baggage fees. Are they honestly operating on that slim of a profit margin with it comes to the cost of their flights? One stipulation that should be involved with any bailout for the airlines is they are NOT allowed to oversell a flight. As soon as all the seats are taken, the flight closes. Oh, and lets not talk about “change fees”…it shouldn’t cost me $200+ the difference to just change a name on a ticket. I love flying, and I hope the airlines rebound, but some of this right now is karma for the way they have been treating us over the past decade or 2….
This is a good post. I was notified on Tues. (March 24) by JetBlue that my outbound and return flights in late April had been cancelled, and I was automatically re-booked on other outbound and return flights on the same days, albeit about 9 and 10 hours earlier than those in the original itinerary. Understandably, the telephone associate attempted to lure me into cancelling the auto-booked itinerary and retaining the funds for future travel, but I emphasized that both original flights were cancelled and a refund is required both by law and JetBlue’s contract of carriage. After 2 lengthy holds, the associate granted the refund. According to my TrueBlue account, the trip was cancelled, but the credit card refund hasn’t posted yet…hopefully it will by tomorrow. I have nothing against an airline offering an incentive to take a future travel voucher or put the funds in a travel bank, but if the flights are *cancelled* and you want a refund, ask for it. If not granted, do as Kyle says and initiate the chargeback request and the DOT complaint.
So when you were automatically rebooked, did you agree to it and still got a refund?
Also, if an airline cancels or delays your flight for several hours and rebooks your flight to another time and you agree, can you still request a refund or travel voucher? Is it that, you have to accept one and forfeit the other? Or can you accept being rebooked to a new flight at a later time and still demand a refund or travel voucher? I would be happy if you could clarify.
Thanks for the write up Kyle. My Delta flight on 4/19 to Rome was canceled out of DTW and auto rebooked a few days later to add a leg and 3.5 hours…and an adjusted time going back home. Needless to say, trip is being postponed ha. I talked to Delta today asking for a cash refund and the lady was great…she could not have been more helpful. She said the computer allowed her to process the refund but said she could try to get manager approval if it didnt. Anyways I got my refund processed and they are telling people it could take up to 21 business days for the credit to appear (maybe under promising/overdelivering but we will see). In response to some of the other less fortunate folks…my guess is some of these airliners have serious cash issues at the moment and protocol is to try and keep all cash in house as much as possible. This could tell us that Delta is in decent enough financial shape to continue to put customers first instead of clawing for survival. Im no Delta loyalist/cardholder/super gemini medallion status or whatever, but damn. A+ Delta
Refund just came in FYI. Took 2 days
which number did you call? I cannot get through to anybody and my flight has also been cancelled.
Sun Country Airlines has “changed” my flight by 9 hours. The new schedule will not work for me. Am I entitled to a refund?
Sun Country typically will not issue refunds unless if your flight schedule gets changed by at least a day, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.
air canada cancelled a flight from YUL->MCO April 8-14th.
In response to the DOT policy, air canada said
Thank you for reaching out to us. We regret to inform you that effective March 19, 2020, for all schedule changes occurring on/after March 19, 2020, refunds are no longer permitted. We understand that for many of our customers travel plans have been disrupted. As these are exceptional circumstances, we do continue to monitor the fast-changing situation. We have implemented a flexible rebooking policy, allowing one free change for our customers.
I’m going to followup with air canada, then if nothing happens start a chargeback.
Canada’s government has changed its regulations to no longer require refunds. That’s what Air Canada will reference in denying you a refund.
That said, the US DOT policy legally requires all airlines, foreign or domestic, to issue refunds for cancellations on flights that touch U.S. soil. So it will be a fight to get Air Canada to recognize the US policy and give you a refund. I would recommend filing a complaint with the DOT, reference that complaint in your next communication with Air Canada, and only initiate a chargeback if they continue to resist.
I already issued a chargeback request. Aircanada’s site broke on a request yesterday, and reading it carefully “refund requests take 6-8 weeks”. DOT is overloaded too. In past experience, its easier to let amex deal with it. Thanks for your article.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Took a long time for the dispute to be “finalized” — I received a note that the
closure is “pending” and if they don’t hear from them by last week, its final
(Good thing — I can’t find my vouchers — I want to see if they’re still good)
We had flights to Spain via Lisbon on Air Portugal for late May. They cancelled the flights two days ago and offered a voucher. According to their rules of carriage, refunds are only required if the cancellation is within two weeks of the trip. Is there still a case to be made for a refund?
The Department of Transportation has no such rule about the timing of a cancellation for a refund. Absolutely make the case to the airline that you should get a full refund instead.
Thanks, Kyle. This may be an uphill battle. Checked the TAPortugal FB page and it is flooded with complaints about the airline’s handling of cancellations. They are holding firm on vouchers only – when they respond, which I guess isn’t often. They are stating that it was a government decision to cancel flights which affects their ability to only offer vouchers not refunds. Folks are going immediately to the step of filing a claim with their credit card companies. I feel fortunate that there are so many dogged travelers who have done the necessary homework to help with the issue.
Its probably easier to let the credit card company handle it (if they’re any good). I found amex is very good. Once you approach the airline, and they refuse….turn to the credit card company….At least while the dispute is in progress, you won’t have to pay the bill….
I have a hunch if you complain to the DOT, you may not hear from them until next year.
Thanks, Martin. That’s our plan at this point. TAPortugal is overwhelmed and not responding. But then so is American Express. We’ll see what happens.
Thank you for this article. I booked my tickets using (for the most part) USBank Flexperks. We were booked on United Airlines to fly to Ireland today (3/29). I called USBank Flexperks on March 24 and learned that my flights had been cancelled, and after an hour with a USBank Flexperks travel agent, was issued waivers with United Airlines. I definitely want a refund instead. Do I go try to work with United Airlines for a refund… Or with USBank Flexperks? Since I was given credit with United Airlines… Am I stuck with that now?
My Business Class Aer Lingus flight was due to leave in a week but has showed as cancelled by them but active by Travelocity (where I purchased my ticket). But…my fare rules stated that I can cancel at any time for an 85% refund. When I finally found the cancel for refund form I got an email 1 minute later saying they are giving me an airline credit (w a Jan 2021 expiration!). I only want a refund and will keep pushing until they follow the Fare rules.
I have flights booked in May on American Airlines. If at least one leg of a four-flight itinerary gets canceled, am I entitled to a refund for the entire trip? How long should I wait to see if the flights are canceled before requesting the voucher so I at least get something?
In our experience, one leg of an itinerary getting canceled triggers the ability to cancel the entire trip for a refund. But your mileage may vary.
If i already accepted a credit with the airlines, would i have any chance of winning a credit card dispute if i explained to my bank I asked for a refund and they only gave me a choice of a credit? Id have no problem giving up the credit for my refund
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just called KLM after they cancelled our flight to Uganda. Of course, we were offered a voucher, and were told that was the company’s policy. I had to request speaking with the initial agent’s supervisor, and was placed on hold quite some time, but eventually our refund request was submitted. We should receive confirmation by email within 24 hours that the request was submitted, and we are told it could take up to 20 days for the refund to be authorized, but we are in line.
Second round of flight cancellations…. From Uganda we had booked a flight to South Africa through CheapOair. The tickets are on South African Airlines and have a South African Airlines flight number (although the flight is “operated by” South African Airlink). CheapOair has offered to provide us with credit on South African Airlink and for this so-called “service” they’ll charge us $70! Their credit would be available only to us (we cannot transfer the credit to anyone else). If we had booked directly with South African Airlines w the credit would be transferable.
Related question. The voucher we’re issued by TAPortugal is good for a year from the time the original flight was purchased (Feb 14). If we were to use it and book airfare for say, October, and the ban continues and THAT trip can’t happen, what do airlines do about vouchered travel? Issue another one? Stick to the original date? The announcement today from Delta about extending e-credit for two years was welcome news, and if Portugal air did that I’d feel better. Obviously I’m not experienced with using travel vouchers for airfare, and the precarious nature of some of these airlines that might go bankrupt from all of this, makes me wonder about the chances of losing the funds all together. Thank you.
I wish I would have found this article sooner! My family had a trip booked for Ireland leaving next week. After the announcement of the travel ban, we cancelled our trip. I was refunded all but $300 per ticket (cancellation fee but received due to a travel waiver)and given that as a voucher. I contacted Delta yesterday after being made aware that because the flight is now cancelled we should have been given the entire amount as a refund. Delta advised that since I had already cancelled our trip before they cancelled the trip that there was nothing they could do! They have extended the voucher use until May 2022 but we would rather have the cash back and use it how we need it now. Any advice?
thanks for posting. hope to see more enjoyable articles
The airlines cancelled 3 out of 4 flights. I was able to request a refund. I am praying they will follow through. Many people have posted On Facebook they are not getting refunds they have been promised and have waited months.
For what it’s worth, I talked with AMEX about our hypothetical refund from TAP. The agent had worked in the travel area and had experience with processing time. She said that in ‘normal’ times to expect at least 2 billing cycles. With the deluge of refunds and other delays, they are now telling folks to expect at least 12 weeks. She also advised that anywhere during the wait that we could initiate a dispute. Given TAP’s erratic behavior and current change of practice (like due to the DOT complaints), I’ll give it the two cycles then start the process.
American Airlines is playing games now with cancelled flights and refunds. They have canceled our flights and rebooked us on different flights that are later in the day. They claim that this is a “schedule change” and thus far have refused a refund. Different flight numbers, different equipment and our original flight numbers are no longer on their schedule for our day of departure.
Hi Rick, how much did your schedules change by?
Thank you for your article. I bought a non-refundable ticket. My flight is canceled by the American airline, and they rebooked a 2 hours early flight for me. I don’t want to rebook another early flight in the morning at 6 am. I canceled my trip and requested a refund but is denied. They said only Schedule changes resulting in a change of 241 minutes or more can get a refund. They said my flight changed to another flight but is still scheduled to operate.
In this situation, am I entitled to a refund? Thanks.
American Airlines was late making their own connection due to mechanical failure and could not rebook us for a time arriving before my scheduled departer date. They flew us back home. They are calling this a voluntary return and have only offered me a voucher. They could not complete the trip and have it also marked as a “trip in vain”. Multiple calls and emails to the airline that I want a refund, as I have already purchased new tickets (on American, the only one flying there), so now out the price of two trips. Have filed with the DOT and a credit card dispute. What else can I do???? Customer service keeps saying they have no ability to help.
Hi Kyle,
I used chase points ($60000) to book tix to Naples for my husband and I last Sept 2. You had published a mistake fare column and I grabbed it. The flight was canceled (partners Air France) and I have contacted Chase, Virgin Atlantic (at least 6 times) and Air France. No one wants to take responsibility. Air France told me last week I have an open ticket that they can’t access. Virgin Atlantic told me my ticket was archived and after a 4 hour hold, the supervisor never returned my call. My points aren’t showing up online in the Virgin Atlantic club. I’m at a loss in what to do but have rescheduled the trip tour to Naples May 2022. Please advise. I am a thrifty traveler premium member.
Hi Katherine,
Those points should have automatically redeposited back into your Virgin Atlantic account when your flights were canceled. I would continue working with Virgin Atlantic to ensure you get your points back.
I hold 2 open tix. I got a letter yesterday asking if i want a voucher. The problem is that the partnering flight AF who took over the flight (chase ultimate points-virgin Atlantic-AF) says i have to use VA who doesn’t go to Italy next May. It is a confusing situation and I really need advice. I have made at least 10 calls to then3 parties. Can you help?
We bought three tickets for round trips to Portugal then due to Covid and personal Heath reasons back surgery we canceled our trip we paid an extra 300 each on our three tickets for flight insurance with United airlines
We tried numerous times to get a refund but only gave us vouchers and they will expire before we can use them .
I guess we are out our three thousand dollars even though we paid for insurance through United.
Don’t know if we can now ask our credit card to refund our money
Pretty damm sad we bailed the airlines out multiple times and this is how they treat us .
I’m a disable veteran and can’t afford to be ripped off .
Where are our congress members or are airlines lobbyists winning
If an airline cancels or delays your flight for several hours and rebooks your flight to another time and you agree, can you still request a refund or travel voucher? Is it that, you have to accept one and forfeit the other? Or can you accept being rebooked to a new flight at a later time and still demand a refund or travel voucher? I would be happy if you could clarify.