When your flight is cancelled, you can take the airline's new flight or take your money back. You cannot have both. Here is how to decide, and how to make sure a refund really is a refund.
Your two options
- Rebooking. The airline puts you on another flight to your destination at no extra charge, usually its next available one.
- A refund. If you choose not to travel and do not accept the alternative, you are entitled to your money back, to your original form of payment. That includes non-refundable tickets, and it applies whatever caused the cancellation, including weather. Fees for extras you could not use, such as seat selection or checked bags, should be refunded too.
Once you accept a rebooking and fly, you are not also owed a refund for the cancelled flight. Choose deliberately.
Take the rebooking when
- The new flight gets you there in time to be worth going.
- Buying a new ticket yourself would cost much more than you paid. Last-minute fares often do.
- Your trip has fixed bookings at the other end, such as a hotel, a cruise or an event, that you cannot move.
- You are partway through your journey. It is usually simplest to let the airline get you the rest of the way.
Take the refund when
- The trip no longer makes sense: the meeting is over, or the weekend away has shrunk to a day.
- The airline's next available flight is days away.
- You have found a better option yourself on another airline, or from a nearby airport, and the price is acceptable.
Before you buy a new ticket elsewhere, ask whether your airline will move you to that flight itself. Some will, at no cost to you. See can you be rebooked on another airline?
Refund, not credit
Airlines often offer a travel credit or voucher first. You do not have to accept it. If you want your money back, say so clearly:
"I am not going to travel, so I would like a refund to my original form of payment, please, not a travel credit."
A credit can make sense if you will definitely fly with that airline again before it expires, but it is your choice. See travel credit or cash refund and the DOT refund rule.
How to request the refund
- Use the airline's app or website. Many show a "request refund" option once a flight is cancelled.
- If you booked through a travel agent or booking site, you may need to request it through them.
- Refunds should be issued promptly: within seven business days for credit card purchases, and within 20 days for other forms of payment.
- Keep the cancellation notice and your refund request. If the money does not arrive, follow up with the airline, then complain to the DOT (here is how to file one).
What about the rest of the trip?
If the cancelled flight was one leg of a longer journey or a round trip, ask what happens to the other flights on the booking if you take a refund. If the cancellation makes the rest of the trip pointless, ask for the whole booking to be refunded. Get the answer in writing.
Delayed rather than cancelled?
The same choice applies when a flight is significantly delayed: three hours or more on a domestic flight, six on an international one. See what you are actually owed.
For the full sequence of steps after a cancellation, see what to do when your flight is cancelled.
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.