All US airlines have now caught up on a policy change that was due a long time ago. There is nothing worse than having your flight be delayed or cancelled, which many frequent flyers or people who have traveled before may know.
Also, people who have been in this situation before probably know how hard it is to get a refund for the delay. But that is about to change.
Department of Transportation finalizes federal law on refunding flight
The Federal government finally put new laws into effect in October of this year. These laws say that if a U.S. airline cancels or delays a flight, they must refund the passenger in cash instead of vouchers.
Because he first suggested the rule in April, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had months to think about it before making the announcement on X.
“Our rule for automatic refunds goes into full effect today,” Buttigieg wrote. “Airlines should make it easy for customers to get their money back when they owe it.”
The new law just got passed in time for the holidays. The holiday flying season this year is likely to be one of the busiest since the COVID19 pandemic began.
People can start to travel again, both in and out of state, to see family over the Christmas holiday now that the economy is slowly getting better. This year, the weather is also likely to be unpredictable, which could make flight times longer or shorter.
Automatic refunds for flyers
The best thing about the new law is that the flyer does not have to do any paperwork or filing to get the refund.
Buttigieg says that if a passenger’s flight is “canceled or significantly changed, and they do not accept the significantly changed flight, rebooking on an alternative flight, or alternative compensation,” the airline will automatically file for a refund.
Airlines may not give cash refunds very often; instead, they may give vouchers or credits for future travel. This may not help people who do not want to fly again.
Others have had problems with customer service, which can be short-staffed or overworked, causing passengers to wait a long time or get answers that are not helpful. with trying to get these vouchers as payment for flights that were missed or were late.
Legislation intended to make airlines plan more efficiently
Along with that, the new law is meant to push airlines to make more realistic flight schedules that lower the chance of a flight being late.
“If an airline knows that all of the passengers on a canceled flight will likely get their money back, not just a few of them, they have a different reason to invest in the real-time scheduling that makes cancellations less likely to happen in the first place,” said Buttigieg.
People who bought a ticket with a credit card must get their money back within seven days, and people who bought a ticket with another method must get their money back within twenty days.
The Federal Government has also made it clear what a “significant delay” really means. Before, this was different for each airline.
Now, a flight in the U.S. is said to be significantly delayed if it is more than three hours late for domestic flights and more than six hours late for international flights.
It is also a delay if an airline changes the airport where a flight leaves from or arrives at, or if they add a connection.
Before the holidays, these changes to the law will make it much easier for both passengers and airlines to keep flights on time so that everyone can get to their families in time for Christmas.
