Your flight was cancelled. The airline’s app is offering you a travel credit “for your convenience,” or a rebooking on a flight you don’t want. Before you tap anything, know this: under US federal rules, you are owed an automatic cash refund — not a voucher, not a credit, cash back to the payment method you used. The catch is that tapping the wrong button can waive it.
This post gives you the rule, the exact steps, and the exact words to say, so you get your money back instead of a voucher you’ll forget to use.
The rule in 30 seconds
Since October 28, 2024, the US Department of Transportation’s automatic refund rule (14 CFR Part 260) has required airlines to issue automatic cash refunds when they cancel or significantly change a flight to, from, or within the United States, and you don’t accept the alternative they offer. It applies to US and foreign airlines alike, and to nonrefundable tickets too.
Four things make this rule powerful:
- Cash is the default. The refund goes to your original form of payment. A voucher or travel credit is only allowed if you affirmatively choose it.
- It’s automatic. In theory, you don’t even have to ask — the airline must issue it on its own once you decline the alternatives.
- It’s fast, by law. Refunds are due within 7 business days for credit card purchases and 20 calendar days for other payment methods.
- No processing fee. The airline cannot charge you a fee for issuing a refund it owes you.
The airline must also tell you that you are entitled to a refund before it offers you rebooking, credits, or vouchers instead. If it skips that disclosure, it is not in compliance. You can read the rule in DOT’s own words here: What Airline Passengers Need to Know About DOT’s Automatic Refund Rule.
When you qualify: the triggers
You qualify for a full cash refund when any of these happen and you do not accept the airline’s alternative:
- Your flight is cancelled, for any reason. Weather, mechanical problems, crew shortages — the reason does not matter. If the airline cancels and you decline rebooking, the cash refund is owed.
- Your flight is “significantly changed.” The rule finally put numbers on that phrase. A significant change means any of these: a domestic flight departing 3 or more hours earlier or arriving 3 or more hours later than scheduled; an international flight departing 6 or more hours earlier or arriving 6 or more hours later; a change of departure or arrival airport; more connections added to your itinerary; a downgrade to a lower class of service; or, for travelers with a disability, a different connecting airport or a substitute aircraft without an accessibility feature you need.
- Your checked bag fee, when your bag is significantly delayed. File a mishandled baggage report, and if the bag is not delivered within 12 hours of a domestic flight arriving at the gate, or within 15 hours (for flights of 12 hours or less) or 30 hours (for longer flights) internationally, the bag fee comes back.
- A service you paid for but never received. Wi-Fi that never worked, a seat selection the airline couldn’t honor, inflight entertainment that was broken — the fee for it is refundable.
One important nuance: if you are downgraded to a lower cabin and you still fly, you are owed the fare difference between the two cabins, even though you traveled.
When you do NOT qualify
The rule is strong, but it has edges. You generally do not qualify when:
- You cancel voluntarily and the flight operates as scheduled. A nonrefundable ticket on a flight that still flies is the airline’s fare rules, not the DOT rule. Being nervous about weather that never actually cancels your flight does not trigger a refund.
- You accept the rebooking or the voucher. Once you accept an alternative, you have chosen it instead of the refund.
- You fly the changed itinerary. If you take the rebooked or rescheduled flight, you are not owed a fare refund for it (though a downgrade fare difference still applies, as above).
- You already flew part of the trip and accept an alternative for the rest. In that case only the unused portion is in play, and only if you decline the alternative for it.
The voucher trap
This is where most people lose their refund. When a flight is cancelled, the airline’s app usually pushes two buttons at you within minutes: rebook, or accept a travel credit. Both are designed to be tapped quickly, and both waive your cash refund if you accept them.
A travel credit is not the same as cash. It usually expires, it usually only works on that airline, and you cannot use it to rebook on a competitor that actually has a seat today. The airline knows this. That is why the credit is offered first and the refund is buried.
The rule is on your side here: the airline may only substitute a voucher if you affirmatively choose it. So don’t choose it by accident. Decline first, in writing, and let the refund process start. If you genuinely prefer a credit — say you fly that airline every week — you can always accept one later, on purpose.
How to get it, step by step
Step 1: Don’t tap anything yet. When the cancellation notice arrives, do not accept rebooking and do not accept a credit. Close the offer screens. You lose nothing by waiting an hour; you can lose the refund by tapping fast.
Step 2: Decline in writing. Use the airline’s app chat, website form, or email — not just a phone call — and decline both the rebooking and any voucher or credit, and request a full refund to your original payment method. Written means provable. Save a screenshot of everything you send and everything they reply.
Step 3: Wait for the automatic refund. Once you have declined, the refund is due without further chasing: 7 business days for credit card purchases, 20 calendar days for other payment methods. Watch your original payment method, not your airline account — a travel credit appearing in your airline wallet is not a refund.
Step 4: If the deadline passes, complain to the airline in writing. Reference the rule, the date you declined, and the deadline they missed. Ask for a written response. Airlines must acknowledge consumer complaints within 30 days and send a written response within 60 days.
Step 5: If the airline still refuses, file a DOT complaint. This is free, and it is the step airlines take seriously, because the DOT tracks complaint patterns and can investigate. Details are in the section below.
Step 6: As a final lever, a card chargeback. If you paid by card, the service was not provided, and the airline refuses after the steps above, a chargeback through your card issuer is the last resort. Keep your full paper trail — it is what makes the dispute succeed.
What to say: the exact script
Copy, paste, and fill in the blanks. Use it in the app chat, the website form, or email:
My flight [flight number] on [date] from [origin] to [destination] was cancelled [or: significantly changed — new arrival is more than 3 hours later than scheduled for a domestic flight / 6 hours later for an international flight]. Under the DOT automatic refund rule, 14 CFR Part 260, I am declining rebooking and declining any voucher or travel credit. I am requesting a full refund to my original payment method. Please confirm this in writing.
Two notes on the script. First, name the rule and the part number — it signals you know what you are owed, and it gets your case out of the generic voucher queue. Second, “please confirm in writing” matters: a written confirmation is your proof if the refund doesn’t arrive on time.
Booked through Expedia, Kayak, or another travel site?
The refund still exists, but the path has one extra step: contact whoever charged your card first. Under DOT rules, the company that took your payment — the “merchant of record,” the name on your card statement — is the one responsible for issuing the refund. If the travel site charged your card, start with the travel site, not the airline. If the airline charged your card (which happens often even on third-party bookings), go straight to the airline.
Two exceptions to know. First, refunds for ancillary fees — checked bag fees, seat selections the airline couldn’t honor — fall on the airline that operated the flight, even when a travel site is the merchant of record. Second, in practice, refunds through travel sites are slower than direct bookings, because the money passes through two companies. The DOT deadlines still apply, but if weeks pass with no refund, escalate in writing and then file the DOT complaint — don’t wait silently.
The separate 24-hour rule (don’t confuse the two)
There is a second, different rule travelers mix up with the refund rule. Under 14 CFR § 259.5, airlines must either let you cancel a booking within 24 hours of purchase for a full refund, or let you hold the fare at the quoted price for 24 hours without paying. It applies when you booked at least 7 days before departure, it applies even to basic economy and nonrefundable fares, and it does not cover changes — only cancelling (or holding).
Two limits people miss: the 24-hour rule binds airlines, not travel sites, so it does not apply to bookings made through an online travel agency (though some agencies voluntarily offer something similar). And the clock is 24 literal hours from purchase, not until midnight — book at 8:15 PM Monday and your window ends 8:15 PM Tuesday.
If the airline still refuses: the DOT complaint
File it at the DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection page: transportation.gov/airconsumer. It is free and you don’t need a lawyer. Include your booking confirmation, the flight details, the date you declined the alternative, the deadline the airline missed, and every written exchange you have.
What happens next: the DOT forwards your complaint to the airline, which must acknowledge it within 30 days and send a written response within 60 days. Be honest about what a complaint does: the DOT does not order a refund in every individual case. But it creates a federal paper trail, it forces a written response from the airline, and complaint volumes drive enforcement scrutiny — which is why many refunds suddenly appear after a complaint is filed.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, if the airline cancels and you decline the alternative. The reason for the cancellation does not matter for the refund right. What matters is who cancelled: if the airline cancels, you qualify; if the flight operates and you choose not to go, you don’t.
Yes. The automatic refund rule applies regardless of fare type, including basic economy and nonrefundable tickets. “Nonrefundable” describes what happens when you cancel voluntarily — it does not describe what happens when the airline cancels on you.
Usually not, and be honest with yourself about this one. If you affirmatively accepted a voucher in place of a refund, that was your choice under the rule, and it is hard to reverse. Contact the airline immediately and ask — some will convert it back if you act fast — but don’t count on it. This is exactly why step one is “don’t tap anything yet.”
By law, 7 business days for credit card purchases and 20 calendar days for other payment methods, counted from when the refund became due. Direct bookings usually land inside that window. Travel-site bookings often take longer in practice, because two companies handle the money.
Yes, if the flight is to, from, or within the United States, including on foreign airlines. The only difference is the “significant change” threshold: 6 hours instead of 3.
Yes — an added connection is itself a “significant change” under the rule. If you don’t want that itinerary, decline it and the refund right applies. And if you do decide to take a connecting replacement, here is how to judge whether a connecting flight is worth it.
Rebooking after your refund
Once the cash is back on your card, you are free to rebook anywhere — including on a competitor, which is exactly what a voucher would have prevented. Two things help at this point. First, fares may have moved since you originally booked, and why flight prices change every day explains what drives that. Second, if your dates are flexible, rebooking in a cheaper window can save real money — see the best time to book flights for the windows that actually work.
Search replacement flights below, and if your plans changed completely, you now have the cash to book the trip you actually want — not the credit the airline wanted you to take.
