New U.S. federal regulations went into effect this week making it easier to get refunds when things go wrong during airline travel:
- The airlines must automatically issue a refund for flights which were significantly delayed. When a domestic flight is delayed for 3 hours or an international flight for 6 hours for international flights, the airline must issue a refund without the need for the consumer to request. (This is obviously referring to when the customer decided not to take the long-delayed flight. I’m not sure if the customer has to cancel the flight manually in order to be eligible.)
- A customer is entitled to a refund on any baggage fees they paid if the baggage delivery was significantly delayed. It’s considered significantly delayed after 12 hours for domestic flights, and either 15 or 30 hours for international flights, depending on flight distance. (This refund is not automatic and needs to be requested.)
- A customer is entitled to a refund when they paid for wifi or another ancillary service and the service was not provided. (This refund is not automatic and needs to be requested.)
Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them—without headaches or haggling. Today, our automatic refund rule goes into full effect. Airlines are required to provide prompt cash refunds without passengers having to ask. pic.twitter.com/otIvRaGJxC
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) October 28, 2024
Good to see these consumer-friendly rules go into effect.