Airline Passenger Rights: Flight Cancellation & Delay Compensation
Key Takeaways
- If your flight is significantly delayed or cancelled, you are legally entitled to a refund from your airline regardless of the cause, thanks to the passenger bill of rights passed by the U.S. Department of Transportation in October 2024.
- Despite major repeals of overarching DOT laws by the current administration, cancellation protection still remains.
- Airlines are not always required to pay out for other scenarios, so you may be stuck paying if you incur other expenses while you are delayed.
- Comprehensive flight insurance can fill the void by offering protection for expenses that your airline may not cover.
- Flight cancellations and delays are becoming increasingly common for American travelers both at home and abroad, brought on by major world events, such as a government shutdown, the Venezuela conflict’s impact on Caribbean Airspace, and severe weather.
What Do Airline Passenger Rights Actually Cover?
Despite recent rollbacks of the passenger bill of rights, under the rules passed by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in October 2024, passengers are still entitled to a timely and automatic refund from their airline if their itinerary experiences a significant change.
This should be top of mind for travelers in the coming year, as major disruptions caused by events like the recent government shutdown, mandatory airspace closure in the Caribbean, and severe weather caused by the latest winter storm are becoming a frequent occurrence.
These DOT refund rules were established to offer protection against significant, involuntary itinerary changes.
According to DOT’s passenger rights, you are entitled to a refund from your airline if any of the following situations apply:
- A delay in your departure or arrival time of more than 3 hours for domestic flights or 6 hours for international flights
- A route change that has you departing or arriving through a different airport
- An increased number of connecting flights to reach your destination
- A downgrade in flight class
- A flight or airport change that is less accommodating for travelers with a disability
However, to be eligible for compensation for delayed flights or cancelled flights, you must decline any alternative flights or travel credits offered by your airline. If you accept either of these offers, you lose your right to an automatic refund.
What Are Airlines Not Required To Pay For?
While the DOT rules provide travelers with better protection than before, there are still gaps that could leave you stuck with financial losses.
The DOT’s ruling covers refunds for the cost of your airline ticket. However, it does not require airlines to offer additional compensation, inconvenience payments, or reimbursement for expenses.
Below is a closer look at several of the most common scenarios where passenger rights may fall short.
Compensation for “Uncontrollable” Delays
The majority of flight disruptions are completely out of the airline’s control, such as severe weather grounding flights. In these cases of “uncontrollable” delays, if you meet the aforementioned criteria, you should be eligible for a refund of your ticket.
For example, as recently as January 2026, the largest winter storm of the season impacted thousands of flights across the U.S., and in this case, customers were entitled to a complete flight refund under the current DOT regulations.
However, if your delay hits you mid-travel and you end up having to pay for meals while you’re delayed, or even a night at a hotel, there are no flight delay compensation regulations requiring the airline to reimburse you for these expenses.
During “uncontrollable” delays or cancellations like this, it’s completely up to the airline’s customer service team to decide how they treat passengers, and in many cases, they will not pay these additional costs.
Compensation for “Controllable” Delays
Other delays, such as maintenance issues, airline staffing shortages, or tech outages, are generally considered “controllable” by the airline.
A 2024 proposed rule would have provided travelers with a cash payment as restitution for controllable flight delays and cancellations, but this proposal was recently dropped in November 2025. The removal of this proposal, which was separate from the automatic refund rules airlines are required to follow, means that airlines are not required to provide additional cash compensation to passengers for “controllable” flight disruptions caused by the common carrier.
Although airlines are still not required to provide cash compensation, most major airlines will provide some form of coverage for meals, hotel accommodations, and ground transportation to and from the hotel if you’re delayed more than 3 hours.
In these situations, they typically are more open to covering added incidentals, typically via vouchers, than if the delay or cancellation was due to “uncontrollable” reasons.
Compensation for Cancellations
Similar to delays, beyond the refund they are required to provide based on the DOT’s ruling, your airline is not required to offer you additional cash compensation for flight cancellations.
With that said, cancelled flights are generally treated the same as controllable delays. Most major airlines will cover meals, hotels, and ground transportation when they are considered responsible for the cancellation. Disruptions caused by weather or air traffic control issues, for example, still would not apply here.
How Travel Insurance Fills the Void
Essentially, the DOT regulations protect the cost of your flight and mean you are ensured a refund if you run into flight troubles beyond your control, but that is not always the best solution to a travel disruption.
Sometimes, selecting a refund could leave you stranded and needing to opt for more expensive same-day alternative options out-of-pocket.
Other times, you may not want to cancel your flight, but could still face heavy out-of-pocket costs for extra hotel days, food, ground transportation, clothes, and more.
All of these reasons are why travel insurance is an important tool to have when traveling.
Trip Delay Coverage
The most common travel delays are weather-related and are considered outside the airline’s control, which, due to the current regulations, means you are responsible for any additional expenses during the delay.
If you are left wondering how to get compensation for delayed flights, Travel Delay coverage can reimburse meals, hotels, transportation, and other essential expenses during a significant delay. The most generous plans cover any delay of a common carrier, meaning you can be covered regardless of the cause of the delay. Most travel insurance plans also include Missed Connection coverage, which can cover the extra costs you incur to catch up to your itinerary if a delay causes you to miss a connecting flight, train, bus, etc.
Trip Cancellation & Interruption Coverage
Even if your airline covers your meals and hotel while you wait for your new flight, if you experience a major delay in reaching your destination, you’ll likely be stuck paying for unused bookings at your destination.
This could mean missing out on your pre-booked hotel, or other events and tours you prepaid for. This can be an even bigger concern if you’re taking a cruise and don’t reach the port in time to catch the ship.
Comprehensive travel insurance includes benefits to protect you from these out-of-pocket losses. This includes the following core coverages:
Trip Cancellation Coverage
If your delay is significant enough and you need to cancel your trip altogether, Trip Cancellation can reimburse you for 100% of your prepaid, non-refundable trip expenses. This coverage goes many steps further than the DOT’s flight rights, which only refunds your ticket price, and can reimburse the entire cost of your trip, including hotels, rental cars, tours, and more.
Trip Interruption Coverage
If you are still able to travel but missed a portion of your trip, Trip Interruption can reimburse the unused trip expenses, plus additional transportation expenses to catch up to your itinerary. It can also allow you to cancel your trip altogether and return home while reimbursing you for unused portions of your pre-booked trip.
Cancel For Any Reason Coverage
Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage offers the most flexible cancellation protection available and is an optional add-on available with certain comprehensive policies.
If you’re concerned about ongoing events impacting an upcoming trip and decide you’d rather cancel ahead of time than risk a last-minute flight disruption, Cancel For Any Reason can cover 50-75% of your trip expenses, including flights, hotels, and others. It’s important to note that you must cancel at least 2-3 days before your trip to be eligible for coverage through CFAR.
Required airline refunds don’t leave you completely unprotected, but they only cover a portion of the expenses that travel insurance covers. A comprehensive travel insurance plan will cost between 4% and 10% of your total trip cost, and can cover 100% of your expenses. Combined with the limited protection you already have from your airline, this can provide complete peace of mind against flight-related travel disruptions.