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As of October 28, U.S. travelers are entitled to compensation from airlines for canceled or significantly delayed flights due to new rules from the U.S. Department of Transportation. These regulations, developed under the Biden administration and announced in April, are now fully in effect.
The final rules mandate that airlines automatically refund passengers when their flights are canceled or significantly changed, checked bags are significantly delayed, or when airlines fail to provide extra services as purchased. However, these rules do not apply if travelers accept an airline's offer to rebook them on a later flight after a cancellation or significant delay. They also exclude compensation for delays and cancellations beyond the airline's control, though such legislation has been proposed.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) defines "significant changes" as instances where a domestic itinerary's departure or arrival is delayed by three or more hours, an international flight's departure or arrival is delayed by six or more hours, an itinerary is moved up by over six hours, a traveler's origin or destination is altered, additional connections are added, a traveler is downgraded to a lower class of service, travelers with disabilities face different connecting airports than originally planned, or they must fly on less accessible aircraft than initially scheduled.
