If you're flying in the U.S., the Department of Transportation requires an automatic refund when your flight is canceled or significantly delayed and you decline the alternative, but it doesn't require airlines to pay cash compensation for a delay. Fixed cash compensation exists on flights covered by EU rules, from EUR 250 to EUR 600 for a delay of more than three hours.
So the answer depends on where you're flying and why the flight went wrong. Here's what each set of rules gives you and what to do next.
What the U.S. Rules Require
DOT's refund rule covers any flight the airline cancels or significantly changes. A significant delay or change is a departure or arrival moved by three hours or more on a domestic itinerary and six hours or more on an international one.
If you decline the new flight or credit the airline offers, you're owed a refund of your ticket and any fees for services you didn't get. The airline has to issue it automatically, within seven business days for a card payment and 20 calendar days for other payment types. DOT's refund page is the place to check the current details, because the rules have been under review.
What DOT doesn't require is cash on top of the refund for a delay. Many airlines do promise a meal or meal voucher, a hotel or rebooking when they caused the problem, and each airline's customer service plan spells out what it offers. Our guide on what to do when your flight is canceled or delayed walks through claiming it, and our report on DOT's delay cause rule explains why some of those perks may shrink.
How to File a Claim with the Airline
Check the airline's policy for your situation first, because meals, hotels and rebooking depend on the cause of the delay.
Then file the claim with your flight date and number, the origin and destination, and a clear statement of what you're asking for. Keep your ticket or itinerary, boarding pass and every receipt. Be firm but polite, since the first answer is often a voucher, and ask for the refund in writing if you don't want one.
If you and the airline can't agree, you can file a complaint with DOT's Aviation Consumer Protection Division.
If Your Flight Falls Under EU Rules
Under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, a delay of more than three hours at your final destination entitles you to fixed compensation set by distance: EUR 250 for flights of 1,500 kilometers or less, EUR 400 for intra-EU flights over 1,500 kilometers and other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometers, and EUR 600 for everything longer. The rules apply to flights departing from an EU airport and, on an EU airline, to flights arriving in the EU. The airline can refuse when the cause was an extraordinary circumstance such as severe weather.
Once a delay reaches five hours you can instead claim your fare back. If your flight is canceled, you're entitled to a refund or re-routing to your destination.
What Credit Cards Cover
When the airline owes you little, the card you paid with may pay. Chase's pages list these trip delay benefits:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred: meals and lodging up to $500 per covered traveler when travel is delayed more than 12 hours or needs an overnight stay.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve: the same $500 per covered traveler after a delay of more than 6 hours or an overnight stay.
The American Express Platinum Card also lists trip delay and trip cancellation coverage. Terms differ by card and exclusions apply, so find the guide to benefits for your card, or call the number on the back, and look for "travel insurance." Pay for the whole trip with the card and keep your receipts.
A claim goes to the benefits administrator, and a paid claim usually arrives as a statement credit or a deposit. For a closer look at when a card's coverage beats a separate policy, see our comparison of a premium credit card vs. travel insurance.
What to Do Next
Start with the refund if the flight was canceled or delayed by three hours or more on a domestic itinerary or six hours or more on an international one, ask the airline in writing for what it promised, and file with your card's benefits administrator if you spent money on meals or a hotel. If the flight was in the EU, claim the fixed payout from the airline too.
Updated October 17, 2026: refund and claim rules.
