Rules guide

U.S. airline refund rules, in plain English

This page summarizes the U.S. Department of Transportation rule on refunds of airline fares and optional fees, 14 CFR Part 260, plus a few related DOT consumer rules. It is a reading aid. The regulation and DOT’s own pages control.

Last verified: November 10, 2026.

Cancelled flights

14 CFR 260.2 defines a cancelled flight as a covered flight, with a specific flight number, scheduled between a specific origin-destination city pair, that was in the carrier’s computer reservation system when the ticket was sold and that the carrier did not operate.

14 CFR 260.6 says a covered carrier that is the merchant of record must provide a full refund of the airfare, including taxes and ancillary fees, to a consumer with a ticket — including a nonrefundable ticket — on a scheduled flight to, from, or within the United States when the flight is cancelled or significantly delayed or changed and the consumer does not:

• fly on the significantly delayed or changed flight, or accept rebooking on an alternative flight; or
• accept a voucher, credit, or other compensation the carrier offers under that section.

DOT’s Refunds page states the same idea in consumer language: if the airline cancelled the flight, regardless of the reason, and you choose not to travel and not to accept a credit, voucher, or other compensation, you are entitled to a refund. Read that page for DOT’s wording: transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/refunds.

A full refund can also be due without you sending a separate request. Section 260.6(a)(2) lists three situations:

1. The flight is cancelled and you are not offered an alternative flight or a voucher, credit, or other compensation.
2. You reject the significantly changed flight, a rebooking, or the voucher, credit, or other compensation.
3. You do not respond to an offer of a changed or alternative flight and that flight leaves without you, or you do not respond to a voucher, credit, or other compensation by the departure date described in that paragraph.

14 CFR 260.7 says the carrier may not treat you as having accepted a credit, voucher, or other compensation unless you affirmatively agree.

Significant changes and delays

“Significant” is defined. Under 14 CFR 260.2, a significantly delayed or changed flight is a covered itinerary with a delay or change made by a covered carrier that has any of these results:

1. You are scheduled to depart the origin airport three hours or more (domestic itineraries) or six hours or more (international itineraries) earlier than the original departure time.
2. You are scheduled to arrive at the destination airport three or more hours (domestic) or six or more hours (international) after the original arrival time.
3. You are scheduled to depart from a different origin airport or arrive at a different destination airport.
4. You are scheduled to travel with more connection points than the original itinerary.
5. You are downgraded to a lower class of service.
6. You are a person with a disability and are scheduled through one or more different connecting airports.
7. You are a person with a disability and are scheduled on a substitute aircraft that lacks one or more accessibility features you need.

The rule uses the words “domestic itineraries” and “international itineraries” for those hour lines. It does not add a separate definition of those two words in the definition section. DOT’s Refunds page restates the hour lines as 3 hours or more and 6 hours or more. Use the regulation’s list when you compare your itinerary.

If you choose to take the significantly changed flight or an alternative flight, DOT’s Refunds page says you are not entitled to a refund of the ticket under these rules. Section 260.6’s full-refund duty is written for the consumer who does not accept the changed flight, the rebooking, or the substitute compensation.

If you are downgraded and still fly

DOT’s Refunds page says that if you were involuntarily moved to a lower class of service and you decide not to travel, you are entitled to a refund. The same page says that if you continue to travel, you are not entitled to a refund of the full airfare, but the airline must refund the difference between the original fare and the downgraded fare. That fare-difference sentence is DOT’s consumer explanation. The full-refund text in § 260.6 is the “you do not accept the changed flight” path. Read both before you describe your own trip.

Travelers with disabilities

14 CFR 260.6(b) requires a full refund, after the traveler says they do not want to continue, when a passenger with a disability is downgraded and loses an accessibility feature they need, is routed through a different connecting airport, or is put on a substitute aircraft that lacks an accessibility feature they need. People on the same reservation who do not want to continue without that traveler are included.

Cash, original payment, and vouchers

A voucher is not the refund the rule requires, unless you agree to it. Section 260.6(c) allows a carrier to offer a voucher, credit, or other compensation as an explicit alternative only if the offer clearly says you have a right to a full refund, states the terms, and meets the other conditions in that paragraph. One of those conditions: the voucher, credit, or other compensation stays valid and redeemable for at least five years from the date it is issued, and the carrier tells you the expiration date.

14 CFR 260.8 says material restrictions have to be disclosed no later than the offer. Examples in the section include the validity period, advance-purchase rules, capacity limits, and blackout dates.

14 CFR 260.10 says a refund that is due goes back in the original form of payment — the method you used, such as a check, credit card, debit card, cash, or airline miles — unless you agree to a different form of payment that is a “cash equivalent.” Section 260.2 defines cash equivalent to include things like a check, a prepaid card, a bank transfer, a widely accepted digital payment, or a widely accepted gift card. It is not a cash equivalent if you bear transaction, maintenance, or usage fees. The carrier may not keep a processing fee for a refund that is due.

How fast is “prompt”?

14 CFR 260.2 defines a prompt refund as:

• 7 business days for credit-card purchases, cross-referencing 14 CFR 374.3; and
• 20 calendar days for cash, check, debit card, or other forms of payment.

“Business days” in that section means Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays in the United States. The definition measures those periods from the earliest date set out in § 260.6(a)(2), which includes the automatic-refund situations above, not only a letter you choose to send.

DOT’s December 2024 small-entity guide says the cancellation and significant-change refund duties apply when the cancellation or significant delay occurs on or after May 16, 2024, including for tickets bought earlier, and that bag-fee and other ancillary-fee duties in the rule that are not in the statute apply to events on or after October 28, 2024. The guide says it is not a regulation and that the final rule prevails if they differ. The guide is linked in the source list.

Checked bag delays and lost bags

Part 260 refunds the fee you paid to transport the bag. It is not a schedule of cash compensation for clothes or other expenses. DOT’s baggage page and 14 CFR 259.5(b)(3) point to separate rules, including 14 CFR Part 254 and international treaties, for delayed, lost, damaged, or pilfered baggage expenses. This guide does not restate those dollar limits.

A checked bag in § 260.2 includes a gate-checked bag and a valet bag, and it includes a special item such as a musical instrument or a pet, or sports equipment, that was given to the carrier to go in the cargo compartment.

A significantly delayed checked bag, in § 260.2, is a bag that is not delivered to you, or picked up by you or someone you authorize, within:

• 12 hours of the last flight segment’s arrival, for domestic itineraries;
• 15 hours of the last flight segment’s arrival, for international itineraries with a non-stop flight segment between the United States and a foreign point that is 12 hours or less; or
• 30 hours of the last flight segment’s arrival, for international itineraries with a non-stop flight segment between the United States and a foreign point that is more than 12 hours.

The same definition says the 15-hour and 30-hour standards apply to domestic segments of international itineraries.

14 CFR 260.5(a) starts that clock when you are given the chance to get off the aircraft at your final destination airport. It ends when the carrier delivers the bag to a place you and the carrier agreed (for example, a home or hotel), or when you or someone acting for you pick the bag up at that final airport.

You need a mishandled baggage report. Section 260.5(b) says the carrier does not have to refund the bag fee unless a passenger files that report with the carrier that operated the flight or, on a multi-carrier trip, the carrier that operated the last segment. DOT’s Refunds page encourages filing as soon as you learn the bag did not arrive with you. Once the report is filed and the delay meets the definition, § 260.5(d) calls the fee refund automatic.

DOT’s Refunds page says airlines use their own policies for when a bag is officially “lost,” that most will declare a bag lost between five and fourteen days after the flight, and that this varies. That range is DOT’s description of airline practice, not a single deadline in § 260.2. The hour lines above are the rule’s test for a significantly delayed bag.

Section 260.5(e) says the refund must be at least the bag fee you paid. Two special cases:

• If the airline charges more for each extra bag and cannot tie the delayed or lost bag to a specific fee, it refunds the highest per-bag fee or fees charged.
• If you paid a bag-fee subscription, the refund is the lowest bag fee the airline charges another passenger of similar frequent-flyer status, in the same class of service, who does not have the subscription.

Section 260.5(f) says a carrier does not have to refund the fee for a significantly delayed bag when the delay came from:

• your failure to pick up and recheck the bag at the first U.S. entry point when U.S. Customs and Border Protection requires it;
• your failure to pick up a bag that arrived on time at your ticketed final destination, if the carrier documents that it was your fault; or
• your voluntary agreement to travel without the bag on that flight, as described in § 260.5(g), for a late check-in or a standby passenger, with a new delivery date and place.

In the voluntary-separation case, § 260.5(g) says the carrier must not make you waive a bag-fee refund if the bag is lost, compensation for a damaged, lost, or pilfered bag, or reimbursement of incidental expenses from a delay beyond the agreed delivery date. DOT’s baggage page repeats that limit: transportation.gov/lost-delayed-or-damaged-baggage.

If the airline is the merchant of record, it refunds the bag fee. If a ticket agent charged you, § 260.5 puts the refund on the carrier that operated the flight, or the carrier that operated the last segment of a multi-carrier itinerary. DOT’s Refunds page says to ask the airline for a bag-fee refund even when a ticket agent is the merchant of record.

Optional services you paid for and did not get

An ancillary service, in § 260.2, is any optional service related to air travel that a covered carrier provides for a fee, beyond the transportation itself. The section’s examples include transport of checked or carry-on baggage, advance seat selection, in-flight entertainment or Wi-Fi, drinks, snacks, meals, pillows and blankets, seat upgrades, and lounge access. The list says “may include, but are not limited to.”

14 CFR 260.4 says a covered carrier that is the merchant of record provides a prompt refund of fees it collected for an ancillary service that was not provided, when that was not your fault. The section’s examples include a prepaid service you could not use because of a cancellation, a significant change, or an oversale, and a service missing because of an aircraft substitution or an equipment malfunction.

If the service is unavailable for everyone who paid (the section uses Wi-Fi that does not work for the cabin, or lounge access unavailable that day), the refund duty starts when the operating carrier knows. If it fails only for you, or for a few people, § 260.4(c) says the duty starts when you tell the operating carrier and that notice is confirmed. The section says your notice counts as a refund request.

If a ticket agent charged the fee, § 260.4 says the operating carrier that failed to provide the service is the one that refunds it. Checked-bag fees are handled under § 260.5 instead.

Tickets bought through a ticket agent

For the airfare itself, DOT’s Refunds page says a ticket agent that is the merchant of record has to make a proper refund when a flight to, from, or within the United States is cancelled or significantly changed. Section 260.6(d) and (e) describe the airline’s side of that: tell the ticket agent, without delay, whether you are eligible, and transfer your funds to the ticket agent when the agent has to refund you and does not hold the money. The cross-reference in § 260.6(e) is 14 CFR 399.80(l). Read that section for the ticket agent’s own duty. This page does not restate it.

DOT’s Refunds page says ticket agents are not the ones who refund optional-service fees or bag fees. Ask the airline, as described above.

A different rule: 24 hours after you book

Cancelling a new booking the same day is not the Part 260 cancellation rule. 14 CFR 259.5(b)(4) says each customer service plan must allow a reservation to be held at the quoted fare without payment, or cancelled without penalty, for at least 24 hours after the reservation is made, if the reservation is made one week or more before departure. The carrier does not have to offer both a hold and a refund. Part 259 applies to the carriers described in 14 CFR 259.2, generally those operating aircraft originally designed for 30 or more seats.

DOT’s Refunds page says this 24-hour airline requirement does not apply to tickets booked through an online travel agency or other third party, and that those agents may still offer something similar. If that is how you booked, DOT says to contact the agent.

When these sections do not refund the fare

DOT’s Refunds page says you are not entitled to a ticket refund in these situations, except in the limited cases that page describes:

• You chose to take the significantly delayed or changed flight, or an alternative flight the airline offered.
• You bought a nonrefundable ticket, the flight operates as scheduled, and you decide not to travel or you arrive late.
• You took the flight and the problem is bad customer service.

A contract of carriage cannot contradict Part 260. 14 CFR 260.11 says terms that are inconsistent with the carrier’s duties in this part are an unfair and deceptive practice under 49 U.S.C. 41712.

What this page does not cover

• Involuntary denied boarding compensation. That is a different subject. DOT’s page is transportation.gov/airconsumer/oversales. This site does not state bumping amounts.
• Travel credits tied to a serious communicable disease. They are part of the broader refund rulemaking. Read them on DOT’s Refunds page and in Part 260 rather than here.
• Meal, hotel, or other delay amenities an airline offers in its customer service plan. DOT’s Refunds page points you to the airline’s plan for that, separate from the refund.

Sources

Last verified: November 10, 2026.

• 14 CFR Part 260 — Refunds for Airline Fare and Ancillary Service Fees
  The rule this guide summarizes, including §§ 260.1 through 260.11.
• 14 CFR 260.2 — Definitions
  Significant change, significantly delayed checked bag, prompt refund, merchant of record, ancillary service, and related definitions.
• 14 CFR 260.4 — Ancillary service fees
  Refunds of fees for optional services that were not provided.
• 14 CFR 260.5 — Checked bag fees
  Lost or significantly delayed checked bags, mishandled baggage reports, and the listed exceptions.
• 14 CFR 260.6 — Cancelled or significantly changed flights
  Airfare refunds, including when a refund is due without a separate request, and the voucher alternative.
• 14 CFR 260.7 — Affirmative acceptance
  A carrier may not treat silence as a yes to a voucher or credit in place of a refund.
• 14 CFR 260.8 and 260.9 — Voucher limits and notices
  Material limits on a voucher must be disclosed. Section 260.9 covers notice of a cancellation or significant change.
• 14 CFR 260.9 — Notification to consumers
  Notice of the cancellation or significant change and of the right to a refund when one is owed.
• 14 CFR 260.10 — Prompt refunds, original form of payment
  Original form of payment unless you agree to a cash equivalent. No processing fee kept on a refund that is due.
• 14 CFR 374.3 — Credit-card refund timing cross-reference
  Cited by the Part 260 definition of a prompt refund for credit-card purchases. Read it together with § 260.2.
• DOT — Refunds
  DOT's consumer explanation. Archive copy used for this check: https://web.archive.org/web/20261102153459/https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/refunds
• DOT — Lost, delayed, or damaged baggage
  DOT's consumer page on bag-fee refunds. Use this beside § 260.5.
• Federal Register — Refunds and Other Consumer Protections (April 26, 2024)
  Final rule, 89 FR 32832.
• Federal Register — Refunds and Other Consumer Protections, 2024 FAA reauthorization (August 12, 2024)
  Later amendments reflected in the eCFR source notes, including 89 FR 65536.
• DOT small-entity compliance guide (December 2024)
  DOT says this guide is not itself a regulation. If it differs from the final rule, the rule prevails.

Related official pages cited above

• 14 CFR 259.5 — Customer service plan, including the 24-hour reservation rule
  Section 259.5(b)(4) is the 24-hour hold-or-cancel standard. It applies to the carriers described in 14 CFR 259.2, not to every aircraft.
• 14 CFR 259.2 — Which carriers Part 259 covers
  Part 259's customer-service duties are aimed at carriers operating aircraft designed for 30 or more seats.
• 14 CFR 259.7 — Response to consumer problems
  Written complaint acknowledgment within 30 days and a substantive written response within 60 days, for the carriers that section covers.
• DOT — File a consumer complaint
  Start here to complain to DOT. Archive copy used for this check: https://web.archive.org/web/20260508100756/https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/file-consumer-complaint
• DOT — Air travel complaints
  How DOT handles service complaints, and the link DOT labels as its online form. Archive copy used for this check: https://web.archive.org/web/20260508095521/https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/complaint-process
• DOT online complaint form
  The form linked from the DOT complaint-process page in the May 8, 2026 archive capture. If it does not open, use the File a Consumer Complaint page.
• DOT — Oversales
  Involuntary denied boarding is a different rule. This site does not explain bumping compensation.
• CFPB — How do I dispute a charge on my credit card bill?
  General credit-card billing-error steps. This is not a DOT process.
• 12 CFR 1026.13 — Billing-error resolution
  Regulation Z. One listed billing error is a charge for property or services not accepted, or not delivered as agreed.