Why this matters
For years, the rules on airline refunds in the United States were a mix of long-standing DOT policy and each airline's own conditions of carriage. In 2024 the Department of Transportation turned much of that into a formal regulation, now found in 14 CFR Part 260. It covers flights to, from, and within the United States and sets out when a refund is owed, what counts as a significant change, and how fast the money has to come back.
The practical change is that you no longer have to reconstruct the policy from a customer-service script. You can point at a regulation, decline a voucher, and ask for the original form of payment. That still requires a clear record. A verbal 'we will take care of you' at a gate podium is harder to use later than the email that shows the new arrival time.
Cancellations and significant changes
If an airline cancels your flight or makes a significant change and you decide not to travel, you are entitled to a refund of the fare, including taxes and fees for extras you paid for, even on a nonrefundable ticket. You have to decline the changed flight, the rebooking, and any voucher or credit the airline offers in place of the refund. The airline cannot treat you as having accepted a voucher unless you actively agree to it.
The regulation defines a significant change. It includes a departure moved three hours or more earlier, or an arrival three hours or more later, on domestic itineraries; for international itineraries the threshold is six hours. It also includes being moved to a different departure or arrival airport, being given more connections than the original itinerary, and being downgraded to a lower class of service. There are additional protections for travelers with disabilities, such as a change to a different connecting airport or to an aircraft without the accessibility features they need.
A change that falls short of those thresholds can still be inconvenient. A two-hour domestic delay may ruin a meeting and still not be a 'significant change' under the definition above. In that case the fare rules you bought, and the airline's customer service plan, are what you have. Do not cite Part 260 for a delay the regulation does not call significant. Save the argument for the cases that match the text.
Saying no to the new itinerary
Refund rights in this situation depend on you not accepting the alternative. If you fly the rebooked itinerary, you have accepted travel. If you want the money back, say so in writing before you take the new flights: booking reference, original times, new times, and a sentence that you decline the change and request a refund to the original form of payment. Keep that message. Silence plus boarding the new flight is a weak claim.
How fast the refund has to arrive
The rule requires prompt refunds. For credit card purchases that means within seven business days; for cash, check, debit card, and other forms of payment it means within 20 calendar days. Refunds go back to the original form of payment unless you agree to something else. If you paid with miles, the miles are the original form of payment.
In many cases the refund is supposed to be automatic. If the airline cancels and offers no alternative, or you reject the alternatives, you should not have to fight for the money. In practice it still helps to reply to the airline in writing so there is a clear record that you declined the change. Calendar the seventh business day or the twentieth calendar day, whichever applies, and follow up the morning after if the credit is missing. Business days skip weekends and federal holidays, so a Friday cancellation does not make the following Friday day seven.
Delayed bags and extras you did not get
If you paid to check a bag and it is significantly delayed, the fee must be refunded. The regulation sets the delay thresholds: 12 hours after arrival for domestic itineraries, 15 hours for international itineraries where the long-haul nonstop segment is 12 hours or less, and 30 hours where that segment is longer than 12 hours. File a mishandled baggage report at the airport before you leave; it creates the record the airline uses to process the refund. How those fees fit into the price you compared is covered in bag fees and the true cost of a fare.
The same principle applies to extras you paid for and did not receive through no fault of your own, for example a seat assignment you lost after an aircraft swap or Wi-Fi that did not work. The airline that took payment owes you that fee back. If a travel agency sold you the ticket, the rule assigns responsibility for certain refunds to the operating carrier, so it is worth asking both. Keep the receipt that shows which company charged the seat or the bag.
What the rules do not promise
A refund is not the same as compensation. U.S. rules do not generally require airlines to pay you extra cash for a delay or a cancellation, in contrast to Europe's EU261 rules, which we explain in when a delayed European flight pays compensation. Many airlines make their own commitments, such as meal vouchers or hotel rooms when a cancellation is within their control, and those commitments are published in each airline's customer service plan. Read those plans; they can be more generous than the minimum.
The rules also do not turn a nonrefundable ticket into a refundable one if you simply change your mind. If the flight operates as scheduled and you choose not to go, the fare conditions you bought apply. The separate 24-hour cancellation window is only for a new booking made at least a week before departure, not for a change of heart the week of the trip.
How to ask for a refund that is owed
Keep it short and factual. Give the booking reference, the original and changed flight times, and a clear sentence saying that you decline the change and request a refund to the original form of payment under 14 CFR Part 260. Save screenshots of the schedule change notification. If the airline offers a credit, you can say no. A credit can be useful if you will fly that airline again soon and the terms are generous, but it is a choice, not the default the regulation forces on you.
If the refund does not arrive within the required time, you can file a complaint with the DOT's aviation consumer protection office. The complaint form is on the DOT website, and airlines are required to respond. Many problems are resolved faster once a complaint is on file. Include the same facts you already sent the airline so the file is consistent. Our contact page is for questions about this website, not for airline refunds; the airline and then the DOT are the right desks.
What to attach
Attach the original confirmation, the schedule-change email or a photo of the app screen, the written refusal of the voucher, and the baggage report if the claim is about a bag fee. You do not need a narrative about the holiday that was ruined. The regulation is triggered by times, airports, and whether you declined the alternative. Extra emotion does not change the clock.
A habit for every trip
Check your booking a day or two before departure and again on the morning of the flight. Schedule changes are often sent by email and are easy to miss if they land in a promotions tab. If you notice a significant change early, you have more options: accept it, rebook onto something better, or take the refund and book elsewhere while fares are still reasonable. Waiting until you are at the airport shrinks all three.
If you are comparing a new ticket after a refund, price the whole trip again, including bags and the airport you will actually use. A refund that looks complete can still leave you short if the replacement flight is into a different field and you have a nonrefundable hotel near the original one. The hotel shortlist is a useful companion when the lodging side cannot move as fast as the airfare.
Sources
This article explains published U.S. refund rules in everyday language. It is not legal advice, and the eCFR text controls if a detail here and the regulation ever disagree.
