When a flight is cancelled, everyone on it is chasing the same few empty seats. The passengers who get them are usually the ones who act in the first ten minutes, and who use the app and the phone while everyone else queues. Here is the order to do things in.
1. Check what the airline has already done
Open the airline's app or your email. Airlines often rebook cancelled passengers automatically, sometimes before the announcement at the gate. Look at what you have been given. You do not have to accept it: if the new flight does not work, you can ask for a different one, or for a refund.
2. Find out why
Ask, or check the notification. A cancellation caused by the airline, such as a maintenance or crew problem, usually comes with more help than one caused by weather or air traffic control. See controllable vs. uncontrollable and, if you are told it is weather, how to check.
3. Decide: travel or refund
If your flight is cancelled and you choose not to travel, you are entitled to a refund to your original form of payment, including on a non-refundable ticket and whatever the cause. You do not have to accept a travel credit. If the trip no longer makes sense, or you can find a better option yourself, the refund may be the right call. See refund or rebooking: which to choose.
4. Pick your alternative before you ask for it
Agents can help fastest when you name a specific flight. Look for:
- Later flights on your airline, including to other airports near your destination.
- Flights on partner airlines and competitors. Some airlines will move you to another carrier, especially when the cancellation was their fault. See can you be rebooked on another airline?
- Other airports you could drive to. See flying from a nearby airport and the airport pages.
5. Use every channel at once
Join the line at the desk, call the airline, and try the app or chat at the same time. Whichever answers first can rebook you. If you have status with the airline, use the elite phone line. Here is what to say to the gate agent.
6. Sort out tonight, if you are stuck
If the next flight is tomorrow and the cancellation was within the airline's control, most large US airlines commit to a hotel room and transport to it, plus meals. Ask early: rooms near the airport go fast during a big disruption. See hotel and meals after a cancelled flight.
7. Protect the rest of your trip
- Connections. If both flights are on one ticket, the airline rebooks the whole journey. Make sure the onward flight has been changed too. On separate tickets, contact the second airline yourself. See missed connection on separate tickets.
- Your return flight. Check it is still on your booking after any changes.
- Hotels, cars and plans at the other end. Let them know you will be late, before any no-show charges kick in.
8. Ask about your bags
Checked bags usually stay with the airline and follow you on your new flight. If you are staying overnight or taking a refund, ask whether you can get your bag back and where to collect it. This is why your carry-on matters.
9. Keep a record
Screenshot the cancellation notice and the reason given, keep receipts, and note who you spoke to. If the airline does not provide what it has committed to, or a refund you are owed, complain to the airline in writing first, then to the DOT (here is how to file one). See how to claim.
Flying soon?
Most of this is easier if you have done it in advance: knowing your backup flights, your airline's commitments and what to keep in your carry-on. The pre-trip checklist takes a few minutes.
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.