Say yes to whatever gets you where you need to go. Say no to a voucher you don’t want. Under U.S. rules, if an airline cancels your flight or delays it 3 or more hours domestically (6 internationally) and you choose not to fly, the refund is yours, even on a nonrefundable ticket or a weather cancellation.
By Wayne Hassay, managing partner of Maguire Schneider Hassay, LLP, a LegalShield provider law firm in Columbus, Ohio
Thanksgiving and Christmas are some of the busiest travel weeks of the year. And for flights starting Jan. 1, 2027, the U.S. Department of Transportation will count more kinds of disruption, including some maintenance problems, as outside the airline’s control. That can change whether an airline covers your meals and hotel.
Sometimes it’s an app alert before you even leave the house. Sometimes you’ve already waited in a line 40 or 60 people deep, with the kids, the bags and the car seat, and everybody’s crying. You finally reach the counter, your flight is canceled, and the agent hands you a voucher like it’s a gift.
Whatever can go wrong will go wrong over the holidays, and it’s happened to me more than once. I’ve stood there flipping through my phone, trying to find what I needed to protect what I paid for.
A lot of people never hear their options at that counter. In a LegalShield survey of 1,531 U.S. adults, taken online Oct. 26 to 28, 2026, only 31% of people whose flight was canceled or significantly changed in the past year said the airline told them up front they could get their money back. And 27% said they asked for a refund and were turned down or never heard back. You don’t have to accept that voucher.
It depends on whether you still need to get there. The biggest mistake I see is grabbing the refund too fast.
You’ve heard you have a right to your money back, so in the chaos you cancel and take it. Then you realize the money’s back in your pocket, but you still can’t get to grandma’s house, or home from it. Over the holidays, the next open seat may be gone, or cost more. Decide whether you still need to travel before you decide anything else.
If you still need to go, the new flight may be the better deal. If you’ve found another way or decided to stay home, take the refund.
Check the airline’s app and get in the line anyway. Do both at once.
Ask the agent why the flight was canceled. The reason matters for meals and hotels, which I’ll get to below. Then look at every option before you decide anything. Take your time.
The voucher is the one most people say yes to without thinking. An airline can’t make you take a voucher instead of a refund.
When an airline cancels your flight or delays it 3 or more hours domestically, or 6 hours internationally, you’re entitled to your money back if you choose not to travel. That’s true on a nonrefundable ticket, and it’s true when the cause is weather. A canceled flight is a canceled flight. These are U.S. rules. They cover flights within the United States and flights to or from it. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s automatic refund rule has required this since October 2024. The refund covers your fare plus taxes and airline fees, and it goes back the way you paid.
The airline can also offer you a new flight or a travel credit. You don’t have to accept either one. If the airline offers a voucher in place of a refund you’re owed, federal rules say it has to stay good for at least five years. Sometimes that’s a fine deal. It’s your call.
If you want your money back, here’s the whole speech. “I choose a refund. I do not choose rebooking. I do not choose a voucher.”
Then put it in writing. Federal rules say the refund should be automatic, but I always tell people to state their choice anyway. Send it by email, text or the airline’s chat, and screenshot it. If I’ve seen it once as an attorney, I’ve seen it a thousand times. Those screenshots can make or break you.
If your flight is canceled or significantly delayed and you do nothing, you’re still owed your refund. Under federal rules, when you don’t respond to the rebooking offer and that new flight leaves without you, the refund is supposed to be automatic.
This only applies to canceled or significantly delayed flights. Some folks believe they’re owed a refund any time their plans change, and that isn’t how it works. And once you say yes to a voucher or a new flight, that’s a new deal. The refund is off the table, unless that new flight gets canceled or significantly changed too.
Sometimes. It depends on whether the airline caused the problem.
A lot of people believe that when they’re stuck overnight, they automatically get a meal voucher and a hotel room. That isn’t necessarily the case.
Airlines sort disruptions into two buckets. A controllable delay is one the airline caused, like a crew problem or a lot of mechanical issues. Starting with flights on Jan. 1, 2027, some surprise repairs that have to be fixed before takeoff will count as outside the airline’s control. An uncontrollable delay is something the airline can’t control, like weather or air traffic control. For controllable problems, most large airlines promise a meal voucher for a long delay and a room if you’re stuck overnight. Their customer service plans spell it out. For weather, you’re usually on your own, which is why you ask the agent what caused the cancellation.
File a report with the airline before you walk out the door. Forget that step and the rest can fall apart.
Once your report is filed, the clock matters. If your checked bag arrives more than 12 hours late on a domestic trip, or 15 to 30 hours late on an international one depending on flight length, the airline owes you your bag fee back. The same goes for extras you paid for and didn’t get, like extra legroom, Wi-Fi or a snack box.
It’s the scam I hear about most these days. Scammers send texts and emails by the millions, betting a few will reach someone sitting in an airport with a canceled flight. The message tells you to click a link to get your refund. Never click it. Open the airline’s official app or website, put in your confirmation number and see what’s really there.
A real refund never costs you a dime. If a text or caller wants a fee, your card number or your Social Security number to send your refund, treat it as a scam.
If you already clicked and gave a card number, call your credit card company right away. Card fraud has hit me more times than I can count, and I’m careful about it. Then go back to the airline through its official site and undo whatever you can. Card companies have deadlines and expect you to keep an eye on your statements, so report anything strange immediately.
The first is leaving the airport with nothing in writing. Screenshot the cancellation notice, the chat where you declined the rebooking and every receipt. That’s the record you’ll need if your refund stalls. If a week goes by and your money hasn’t shown up, I’d give it a couple more days, then follow up with the airline in writing.
The second is taking the first new flight you’re offered. A busy gate agent might not check partner airlines or a different airport unless you ask. Make sure you’ve heard every option before you say yes.
Put two things on your phone before you leave the house.
The first is the airline’s weather waiver, if a storm’s in the forecast. Don’t panic, because the weatherman’s wrong plenty. Check your flight on the airline’s own app or website. A weather waiver is a temporary break from the airline’s usual change rules when a big storm is coming. Read the dates and airports so you know whether you qualify, and whether it drops the change fee and any difference in fare.
The second is the airline’s customer service plan. A customer service plan is the airline’s own written promise about what it does for you when things go wrong. It reads like small print, but it spells out your rights. If you want to be a good student of this, have a copy with you. You can even compare a couple of airlines’ plans before you buy the ticket.
Save your booking number and the airline’s official phone number too, and keep your medications in your carry-on.
It really is a know-before-you-go situation. If your flight takes off on time, no skin off your back. If it doesn’t, you’re prepared.
If the airline still won’t budge and you’re worried about losing money, talk with an attorney about your situation. That can be a LegalShield provider attorney or your own attorney.
Wayne Hassay is the managing partner of Maguire Schneider Hassay, LLP, a LegalShield provider law firm. He has practiced law for more than 30 years and is licensed in Ohio.
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