If your flight is canceled or significantly changed and you turn down the new itinerary, a US airline owes you a full refund of the fare, taxes and fees. Cash compensation on top of that comes only from the EU, UK or Canadian rules, and only when the flight is covered and the airline caused the problem.
A refund returns what you paid. Compensation pays for the disruption itself, and card trip delay coverage pays your out-of-pocket costs on top of both. This guide walks through each layer for flights touching the US, the EU, the UK and Canada. If you're standing at a gate right now, start with our steps for a canceled flight.
Quick Answer
On a US flight that's canceled or significantly changed, the refund is automatic once you decline the alternative. You don't file a claim form, and the airline must return the money to your original form of payment. Compensation beyond the refund isn't part of the US rules for ordinary delays. It comes from EU261, UK261 or Canada's APPR when they apply.
The US Refund Rule
The Department of Transportation finalized its refund rules in April 2024, and they now sit in 14 CFR Part 260. An airline must refund a nonrefundable ticket, including taxes and ancillary fees, when it cancels a flight or makes a significant change and you decline the alternative, the rebooking and any voucher. The rule applies whatever the cause, so weather, a mechanical problem and a crew shortage all trigger it.
The refund must reach you within 7 business days for a credit card purchase and within 20 calendar days for cash, check, debit or other payment. Airlines can't charge a processing fee. If you paid for a service you didn't get, such as a checked bag or a seat, the airline must refund that fee too.
An airline can offer a voucher instead, but only if the offer clearly states your right to a full refund, you affirmatively accept it, and the voucher stays valid for at least five years. Silence doesn't count as acceptance.
One wrinkle: in July 2026, DOT extended its decision not to enforce the refund requirement for a flight that has only been given a new flight number, as long as you're rebooked on it and it runs without a significant change or delay.
What Counts as a Significant Change
Your itinerary is significantly changed when any of these happen:
- The new schedule departs 3 or more hours earlier, or arrives 3 or more hours later, than planned on a domestic itinerary. For international itineraries the threshold is 6 hours.
- The departure or arrival airport changes.
- You get more connections than your original itinerary had.
- You're moved to a lower class of service.
Travelers with disabilities get extra protection when a change routes them through different connecting airports or onto an aircraft missing an accessibility feature they need.
If you accept the new itinerary, no refund is owed for that flight. The refund for services you didn't receive still applies.
What You're Not Owed Under US Rules
Three things are often confused with the refund, and none of them is part of it. Hotels and meals during a weather or air traffic delay are up to the airline, and DOT's dashboard shows which carriers commit to amenities for delays within their control. From October 19, 2026, a DOT reporting rule moves ten kinds of events out of the category airlines report as within their control, so fewer delays may count as controllable. Our news piece on that rule lists them.
Cash compensation beyond the ticket value isn't required for an ordinary delay. And the 24-hour rule is a separate protection: for a reservation made a week or more before departure, a covered airline must let you hold the fare or cancel without penalty for at least 24 hours.
If You're Bumped From an Oversold Flight
The refund rule doesn't change the separate rules for involuntary denied boarding. On a domestic flight, if the airline gets you to your destination within an hour of your original arrival, no compensation is owed. If you arrive more than 1 but less than 2 hours late, the airline owes 200% of your one-way fare, up to $1,075. At 2 hours or more, or if no replacement is offered, it owes 400%, up to $2,150.
For international flights leaving a US airport, the second threshold is 4 hours instead of 2. An airline can offer free or reduced-price travel in place of cash only if it's worth at least as much, and it has to tell you about the cash option and any restrictions. The dollar caps are adjusted for inflation, so confirm the current figures before you sign anything.
EU261: Cash Compensation on Covered Flights
EU Regulation 261/2004 covers flights within the EU on any airline, flights leaving an EU airport on any airline, and flights into the EU on an EU airline. It also reaches Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. Your nationality doesn't matter.
If you arrive 3 or more hours late, you're owed fixed cash compensation unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances. It's €250 for flights up to 1,500 kilometers. It's €400 for flights over 1,500 kilometers within the EU and for other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometers. On flights over 3,500 kilometers between the EU and a non-EU country, it's €300 if you arrive 3 to 4 hours late and €600 at 4 hours or more.
A US citizen on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Chicago that lands more than four hours late is owed €600 if the cause was within the airline's control. Weather and air traffic control restrictions usually count as outside it. Routine mechanical faults and scheduling failures usually don't. A US airline flying into the EU is covered only on the leg leaving the EU.
UK261
The UK kept its own version after Brexit, and it covers flights leaving UK airports and the other flights the UK rules reach. The amounts are £220 for flights under 1,500 kilometers and £350 for 1,500 to 3,500 kilometers. On longer flights it's £260 if you arrive 3 to 4 hours late and £520 if you arrive more than 4 hours late.
The Civil Aviation Authority is clear that compensation isn't paid automatically. You claim it from the airline, and the airline can refuse when the delay came from extraordinary circumstances.
Canada APPR
Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations cover flights to, from and within Canada, connecting flights included. Compensation is owed only when the disruption was within the airline's control and not required for safety, and when the airline told you 14 days or less before departure.
On a large airline, it's CAD $400 for an arrival 3 to under 6 hours late, $700 for 6 to under 9 hours, and $1,000 for 9 hours or more. Small airlines pay $125, $250 and $500. If you take a refund instead of alternate travel after a within-control disruption, you're still owed $400 from a large airline or $125 from a small one.
How to Claim
For a US refund, tell the airline in writing that you're declining the alternative and want a refund under DOT's rules. If the money doesn't arrive within the deadline above, file a complaint with DOT's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection.
For EU261 and UK261, file with the operating airline through its compensation form, not with the booking agency. Most airlines deny first-pass claims, so if the denial cites extraordinary circumstances, ask for the documentation. After that, escalate to the national enforcement body in the country of departure, or in the UK to an alternative dispute resolution provider or the CAA if the airline takes more than eight weeks. Flight-claim services will handle the paperwork for a share of the award.
For Canada, file with the airline within a year of the disruption. It then has 30 days to pay or explain why it won't, and you can take the claim to the Canadian Transportation Agency if it refuses.
The Card-Coverage Stack
Card trip delay coverage is separate from airline compensation and pays for different costs. The Chase Sapphire Reserve pays up to $500 per covered traveler for meals, lodging and similar costs when travel is delayed more than 6 hours or requires an overnight stay. The Chase Sapphire Preferred pays the same $500 but only after a delay of more than 12 hours or one that requires an overnight stay.
The Amex Platinum's trip delay insurance is reported at up to $500 per trip after a delay of at least six hours, with two claims allowed every 12 months. The Capital One Venture X's guide to benefits lists up to $500 per ticket when a delay passes six hours or forces an overnight stay. Read your current Guide to Benefits before you rely on any of these, because terms change and exclusions apply.
The airline refund pays for the ticket. The card pays for the hotel, the takeout dinner and the toothbrush you bought at the airport pharmacy. Card claims need receipts for actual out-of-pocket expenses and the airline's delay confirmation, so file the refund first and the card claim separately.
Say a United flight from Newark to London is delayed nine hours by a mechanical problem. Neither EU261 nor UK261 applies, because the flight leaves the US on a US airline. If you decline to fly, DOT's rules owe you a refund, since nine hours is past the six-hour international threshold. If you fly anyway, card coverage can pay the documented hotel and meal costs up to the card's cap. The two payouts don't offset each other.
Documentation That Wins Claims
The pattern across DOT, EU261, UK261, APPR and card claims is the same. Save the booking confirmation, the cancellation or rebooking notice, photos of the departure board and every text or app alert from the airline. Keep itemized receipts for every expense. For a contested EU261 claim, save anything that shows the cause was within the airline's control, such as crew memos, staffing statements and weather data showing the destination was operating.
Ask the airline in writing for the reason it recorded for the delay. If the rebooking email said "operational" and the denial says "weather", that contradiction is your case.
Common Mistakes
Three failures show up across every passenger-rights forum. People accept a gate voucher when the rules owe them a cash refund. They file an EU261 claim with the booking agency instead of the operating airline, which slows it by months. And they skip the card claim because the airline already paid the refund, missing the second payout for the same delay.
What to File, in Order
Ask for the refund first, because it's automatic once you decline the alternative. Then file the EU261, UK261 or APPR claim if your flight is covered, and finish with the card claim and its receipts. All three can be paid for the same trip.
Updated October 17, 2026: refund rules.
