Information, not legal advice. RefundRules summarizes US DOT rules from 14 CFR Part 260. It does not know your ticket, the airline's records, or facts you leave out. Confirm with the airline and the DOT before relying on it.

Flight cancelled? When US airlines owe you a cash refund

If a US airline cancels your flight and you do not accept rebooking or a voucher, you are owed a full refund.

Cancelled flight

A cancelled flight is a scheduled flight number and city pair published at the time of sale but not operated. The carrier that is merchant of record must refund the full fare, taxes and ancillary fees if the consumer does not accept rebooking, the changed flight, or a voucher, credit or other compensation.

14 CFR 260.2 (Cancelled flight); 14 CFR 260.6(a)

When the refund is automatic

Refund is due when (i) the flight is cancelled and no alternative is offered, (ii) the consumer rejects the changed flight, rebooking, or compensation, or (iii) the consumer does not respond and the flight departs without them, or does not respond to a voucher offer by the original departure date.

14 CFR 260.6(a)(2)

Accepting an alternative ends the refund right

If the consumer flies the changed flight, accepts rebooking, or affirmatively accepts a voucher, credit or other compensation, no fare refund is owed under 260.6.

14 CFR 260.6(a)(1); 14 CFR 260.7

Refund deadline

7 business days for credit card purchases; 20 calendar days for cash, check, debit card and other forms of payment. Note: the DOT consumer page says 20 business days; the regulation text says 20 calendar days.

14 CFR 260.2 (Prompt refund); 14 CFR 374.3

Form of refund

Refunds go back in the original form of payment unless the consumer agrees to a cash equivalent. No processing fee may be kept.

14 CFR 260.10

Check your case with an AI agent

Add RefundRules as a remote MCP server and describe what happened. It returns a verdict with citations.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "refundrules": { "url": "https://refundrules.pages.dev/mcp" }
  }
}

Official sources: DOT refunds, DOT automatic refund rule, file a DOT complaint.

Rules from 14 CFR Part 260 (eCFR Title 14 Part 260, up to date as of 2026-10-16). Retrieved 2026-10-20.