If your flight is canceled or badly delayed, three things decide what you can get back: US rules on refunds, the European and UK rules on compensation, and the trip delay coverage on the card you paid with. In the US, if your flight is canceled or significantly delayed and you turn down the alternative, the airline owes you a full refund. If your flight is covered by the EU or UK rules, you may also be owed a fixed cash payment. And if you paid with the right card, it can reimburse your meals and hotel regardless of whose fault the delay was.
This guide takes you through what to do in the first hour, then what each set of rules gives you and how to claim it. Everything below comes from the US Department of Transportation's regulations, the EU's Your Europe passenger rights page, the UK Civil Aviation Authority and Chase's card benefit pages, all read on September 29, 2026.
What to Do in the First Hour
Start by getting evidence and options at the same time.
- Screenshot the delay or cancellation in the airline's app, with the time showing. Save every email or text the airline sends about it.
- Get in line and on the phone. Join the queue at the gate or service desk while you call the airline or use its app. Whoever reaches you first can rebook you.
- Ask about other airlines. DOT's Fly Rights guide suggests that if a cancellation means a significant delay, you find out whether another carrier has space and ask the first airline to endorse your ticket to it.
- Decide: rebook or refund. If the airline's alternative still works for your trip, take it. If it doesn't, you can turn it down, and in the cases below that's what triggers a refund.
- Keep every receipt from this point on, for meals, a hotel, a taxi or anything else you buy because of the delay.
If you booked with points, the steps differ, and our guide to fixing a canceled award flight covers the award-specific options.
Your US Refund Rights
The Department of Transportation's refund rules (14 CFR Part 260) apply to flights to, from or within the United States. They say a carrier "must provide a full and prompt refund of the airfare, including any taxes and ancillary fees" when your flight is canceled or significantly delayed or changed and you choose not to fly it, not to accept rebooking and not to accept a voucher or other compensation.
What Counts As a Significant Delay or Change
The regulation defines it. Your flight counts as significantly delayed or changed if you're now scheduled to arrive 3 or more hours late on a domestic itinerary or 6 or more hours late on an international one, or to depart that much earlier than planned.
It also counts if you're moved to a different departure or arrival airport, given more connections than your original itinerary, or downgraded to a lower class of service.
There are extra protections for travelers with disabilities if a change routes them through different connecting airports or onto an aircraft missing an accessibility feature they need.
How the Refund Works
The rule calls this an automatic refund: it's due once you reject the alternative, or if the airline offers you no alternative at all. It goes back to your original form of payment, whether that's a credit card, debit card, cash or airline miles, unless you agree to something else that's a cash equivalent. Airlines can't keep a processing fee.
The timing depends on how you paid: the rules require the refund within 7 business days for credit card purchases and within 20 calendar days for cash, check, debit card or other payment.
One recent wrinkle: in notices published December 5, 2025 and July 7, 2026, DOT said it won't enforce the refund rule for a flight that's only been given a new flight number, as long as you're rebooked on it and it operates without a significant change or delay.
What US Airlines Don't Have to Give You
This is where US rules stop. DOT's Fly Rights guide says that for delayed passengers waiting at the airport, "Each airline has its own policies about what it will do... there are no federal requirements." So meals and hotels during a US delay depend on the airline, which is why the card coverage below matters.
If you're stuck on the tarmac, DOT rules require most US airlines to provide food and water no later than two hours into a tarmac delay, and they generally can't keep a domestic flight on the tarmac for more than three hours.
For how the US rules compare with other countries' compensation, our flight compensation guide goes region by region.
If You Were Bumped Instead
Being bumped from an oversold flight is a different situation with its own US rules. DOT requires airlines to ask for volunteers first, and passengers bumped against their will are, "with a few exceptions, entitled to compensation."
The Fly Rights guide says there's no compensation if the airline gets you to your final destination within one hour of your original arrival time. Above that, the minimum depends on your fare and how late you arrive, and on the longest delays it doubles to 400% of your one-way fare or $2,150, whichever is lower. You keep your original ticket, and you can insist on a check instead of a travel voucher. Once you cash the check or accept the free flight, "you will probably lose the ability to pursue more money from the airline later on."
If Your Flight Is Covered by EU Rules
EU passenger rights are much stronger, and they cover more flights than people expect. The EU's Your Europe page says they apply to flights within the EU on any airline, flights from the EU to anywhere on any airline, and flights into the EU on an EU airline. They also apply to flights to and from Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
Compensation for Delays
If you reach your final destination 3 or more hours late, you're entitled to compensation, "unless the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances," and the airline has to prove those. The amount depends on distance:
- €250 for flights of 1,500 km or less.
- €400 for flights over 1,500 km within the EU, and all other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km.
- €300 for flights over 3,500 km between the EU and a non-EU country when you arrive at least 3 hours but less than 4 hours late, and €600 when you arrive 4 or more hours late.
Cancellations
If your flight is canceled, the airline must offer you a choice of a refund, re-routing as soon as possible, or re-routing later at your convenience. You also have a right to compensation, €250, €400 or €600 depending on distance, if you were told about the cancellation less than 14 days before departure, again unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances.
Meals and Hotels
While you wait, EU rules give you assistance: refreshments, food, two phone calls or emails, and a hotel with transport if you're rebooked to travel the next day. For delays at departure, this starts at 2 hours for flights of 1,500 km or less, 3 hours for longer flights within the EU and other flights of 1,500 to 3,000 km, and 4 hours for all other flights.
If the airline doesn't provide it and you pay yourself, the Your Europe page says the airline "should reimburse you, provided the expenses were necessary, reasonable and appropriate." Keep the receipts.
If your flight is delayed at least 5 hours at departure, you can also choose not to travel and get your ticket reimbursed.
Connections and Re-Routing
For connecting flights on one booking, the EU page says that if you miss a connection and arrive at your final destination more than 3 hours late, you're entitled to compensation based on the delay and the distance to your final destination. The UK CAA adds that on separate bookings, sometimes called self-transfer, you have no statutory right to care, compensation or onward transport if a delay makes you miss a later flight.
If the airline re-routes you and you still arrive late but within a set window, EU compensation may be cut in half: to €125 if you arrive within 2 hours on flights of 1,500 km or less, €200 within 3 hours on the middle band, and €300 within 4 hours on flights over 3,500 km.
If Your Flight Is Covered by UK Rules
The UK kept its own version, known as UK261. The Civil Aviation Authority says that where UK261 applies, you're entitled to care from 2, 3 or 4 hours depending on distance, and to compensation if you arrive more than 3 hours late. The amounts are £220 for flights under 1,500 km, £350 for flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km, and for flights over 3,500 km, £260 if you're three to four hours late or £520 if you're more than four hours late.
The CAA is clear that "Compensation is not paid automatically," so you have to claim it from the airline, and airlines don't have to pay it for delays they consider caused by "extraordinary circumstances." Like the EU, if the delay is more than five hours, you can choose not to travel and get a refund.
How Your Credit Card Can Help
Card trip delay coverage pays for your out-of-pocket costs regardless of whose fault the delay was, as long as you paid for the trip with the card. Two examples from Chase's own benefit pages:
The Chase Sapphire Reserve covers unreimbursed expenses such as meals and lodging "up to $500 per covered traveler" when your common carrier travel is delayed more than 6 hours or requires an overnight stay. It also has trip cancellation and interruption insurance up to $10,000 per covered traveler and $20,000 per trip for prepaid, nonrefundable travel expenses when a covered reason cancels or cuts short your trip.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred has the same $500 per covered traveler, but only after a delay of more than 12 hours or one that requires an overnight stay.
Both Sapphire cards also include baggage delay insurance, which Chase says reimburses "up to $100 a day for up to 5 days for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing when baggage is delayed over 6 hours." That's useful when a cancellation separates you from a checked bag.
Each card's guide to benefits sets out the full terms and what counts as a covered traveler, so read it before you file. Our credit card trip cancellation insurance guide compares the coverage on more cards.
How to Claim What You're Owed
For a US refund, tell the airline in writing that you're declining the alternative and want a refund under DOT's refund rules. Keep the confirmation. If it doesn't arrive in the deadline above, you can complain to DOT's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection.
For EU or UK compensation, file with the airline first, using its compensation claim form if it has one, and include your booking reference, the flight number and date, and how late you arrived. Claim meal and hotel costs separately with receipts. If an EU airline refuses, the Your Europe page lists complaining to the national enforcement body, alternative dispute resolution and court as next steps.
For card coverage, file with the card's benefits administrator after the trip, with your receipts, the airline's delay notice and proof you paid with the card.
What I'd Do Next Time
Book with a card that has trip delay coverage, so the meal and hotel question is settled before anything goes wrong. When a delay hits, screenshot it, get in line and on the phone at once, and decide quickly between rebooking and a refund. If your flight touches the EU or the UK, file for compensation as soon as you're home; the UK CAA says it isn't paid automatically.
Updated September 29, 2026: Rewritten to cover canceled flights as well as delays, with every refund, compensation and card coverage rule re-checked against DOT, EU, UK CAA and Chase sources.
Sources
- US DOT, 14 CFR Part 260, Refunds for Airline Fare and Ancillary Service Fees (eCFR, read 2026-09-29): full refund including taxes and ancillary fees for canceled or significantly delayed or changed flights when the consumer declines alternatives, definition of significant change (3 hours domestic, 6 hours international, airport, connections, downgrade), automatic refunds, original form of payment, 7 business days for credit cards and 20 calendar days otherwise, no processing fee
- US DOT, Notification of Enforcement Discretion on renumbered flights (Federal Register, July 7, 2026, extending December 5, 2025; read 2026-09-29)
- US DOT, Fly Rights (read 2026-09-29): ask the airline to endorse your ticket to another carrier, no federal requirements for amenities during delays, tarmac delay food and water at two hours and three-hour domestic limit, denied boarding compensation rules
- European Union, Your Europe air passenger rights page (read 2026-09-29): scope, delay and cancellation compensation amounts, 14-day cancellation rule, assistance thresholds, reimbursement after 5-hour delay, connections, re-routing reductions, complaint routes
- UK Civil Aviation Authority, Delays page (read 2026-09-29): UK261 care thresholds, compensation of £220, £350, £260 and £520, not paid automatically, extraordinary circumstances, refund after five hours, self-transfer bookings
- Chase, Sapphire Reserve benefits page (read 2026-09-29): trip delay over 6 hours or overnight up to $500 per covered traveler, trip cancellation and interruption up to $10,000 per traveler and $20,000 per trip, baggage delay $100 a day for 5 days
- Chase, Sapphire Preferred benefits page (read 2026-09-29): trip delay over 12 hours or overnight up to $500 per covered traveler, baggage delay $100 a day for 5 days
