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.

How long does an airline have to refund you? 7 business days or 20 days

Credit card refunds are due in 7 business days; other payments in 20 calendar days.

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

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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" }
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}

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.