What you get during a delay depends heavily on which airline you are flying. Every US airline publishes what it will do. Five minutes reading it before you travel means you can ask for the right things at the gate, instead of finding out afterwards what you could have had.
Two layers of protection
Federal rules apply to every airline. They cover refunds for cancellations and significant delays (three hours or more domestic, six international), compensation for involuntary bumping, and tarmac delay limits. See US passenger rights.
The airline's own commitments go further, and they differ from airline to airline. There is no federal rule requiring meals or hotels during a delay. Those come from what each airline has promised in writing.
Where to find them
- Customer Service Plan. Every US airline has to publish one. It is the plain-language summary of what the airline commits to for delays, cancellations, refunds and baggage. Start here.
- Contract of Carriage. The legal terms of your ticket, including how rebooking and refunds work in detail. Longer, but the final word.
- Tarmac Delay Contingency Plan. What the airline does if you are held on the aircraft.
- The DOT's Airline Customer Service Dashboard compares the main commitments of the largest airlines side by side. It is a quick way to compare, but the airline's own plan is the document to quote.
Search for your airline's name plus "customer service plan". Most link to it from the footer of their website.
What to look for
- Controllable or not. Almost every commitment applies only to delays and cancellations within the airline's control, such as maintenance or crew problems, not weather or air traffic control. See how the airline defines it, and our explainer on controllable vs. uncontrollable delays.
- Meals. Whether it provides a meal voucher or credit, and after how long. Three hours is a common trigger.
- Hotel. Whether it provides a hotel and transport to it when you are stuck overnight.
- Rebooking. Whether it will rebook you only on its own flights, or also on a partner or another airline.
- Extra compensation. Some airlines offer miles, credit or vouchers for long controllable delays.
- How to claim. Whether you get vouchers at the airport or have to pay and submit receipts afterwards.
Low-cost and full-service airlines differ
Large network airlines tend to make the broadest commitments. Low-cost and ultra-low-cost airlines often commit to less, particularly on rebooking with other carriers. If a disruption would be expensive for you, it is worth comparing before you book, not just before you fly. Our airline policy guides summarize the differences.
Make it usable at the gate
- Screenshot the relevant lines of the Customer Service Plan, with the airline's name and the date visible.
- If your flight is delayed, ask for what the plan says, by name (more scripts in what to say to the gate agent): "Your customer service plan commits to a meal voucher for a controllable delay over three hours."
- If staff decline, ask them to note it, and keep your records for a written complaint later. See what to do when your flight is delayed.
Plans change
Airlines update these documents from time to time, so check the version that is current when you travel. LateGate shows the commitments of the airline you are flying, alongside your flight.
The rest of what to do before a trip is in the pre-trip checklist. If a long delay is not the airline's fault, your own trip delay cover may help instead.
This guide is general information for US travelers, not legal advice. Rules and airline commitments change; check with your airline or the US Department of Transportation for your specific situation.