Your flight has been delayed for four hours. Or worse, the airline has canceled it altogether.
What does the airline actually owe you?
In the United States, the answer is more complicated than many travelers expect. You may have a clear legal right to a refund. You may also be entitled to a meal, hotel room, transportation or rebooking under the airline’s own commitments. But in most cases, a delayed or canceled domestic flight does not automatically entitle you to cash compensation for your inconvenience.
Here is what U.S. airline passengers are entitled to in 2026, what depends on the reason for the disruption, and what to ask for at the airport.
Quick Answer: What Does an Airline Owe You for a Delayed or Canceled Flight?
For flights to, from or within the United States:
- If the airline cancels your flight and you decide not to travel, you are entitled to a refund.
- If your itinerary is significantly delayed or changed and you decide not to travel, you may also be entitled to a refund.
- If you accept the airline’s replacement flight and travel, you generally give up the right to a full ticket refund.
- Meals, hotel rooms and ground transportation often depend on whether the disruption was within the airline’s control.
- U.S. airlines generally are not required by federal law to pay cash compensation simply because your domestic flight was delayed or canceled.
The reason for the disruption therefore matters quite a bit once you move beyond the basic refund rules.
If you want to understand why airlines cancel flights in the first place, see our guide to why flights get canceled and what to do next.
If Your Flight Is Canceled, Can You Get Your Money Back?
Yes—if you decide not to take the airline’s alternative transportation.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s refund rules say that when an airline cancels your flight, you are entitled to a refund if you do not travel and do not accept a voucher, credit or other alternative compensation.
The reason for the cancellation does not eliminate that refund right.
That means the airline cannot tell you that you are ineligible for a refund merely because a blizzard, hurricane or air traffic control problem caused the cancellation.
Weather may affect whether the airline owes you a hotel or meal. It does not force you to accept a travel credit instead of a refund when the airline has canceled your flight and you choose not to travel.
You Don’t Have to Accept a Voucher Instead of a Refund
This is worth knowing before you start clicking buttons in an airline app.
An airline can offer you:
- A replacement flight
- A travel credit
- A voucher
- Frequent flyer miles
- Some other form of compensation
But if you are otherwise entitled to a refund, the airline must also tell you that a refund is available.
Do not automatically accept a voucher simply because it is the first option displayed.
A voucher may be perfectly useful if you know you will fly the airline again. But cash returned to your original form of payment is more flexible, and you should understand what you are giving up before accepting an alternative.
How Long Does a Flight Have to Be Delayed Before You Can Get a Refund?
DOT now has a specific definition for a significant delay or change that can trigger refund rights.
For purposes of the federal refund rule, a significant change includes an itinerary that would cause you to:
- Arrive three hours or more later than scheduled on a domestic itinerary
- Arrive six hours or more later than scheduled on an international itinerary
- Depart three or more hours earlier domestically, or six or more hours earlier internationally
- Depart from a different origin airport
- Arrive at a different destination airport
- Travel with more connections than originally booked
- Be involuntarily moved to a lower class of service
There are also additional protections for passengers with disabilities when an itinerary change affects connecting airports or required aircraft accessibility features.
If one of these changes applies and you decide not to travel, you can choose the refund rather than the changed itinerary.
What If You Take the Delayed or Replacement Flight?
This is where travelers sometimes misunderstand the refund rule.
If you accept the replacement transportation and fly, you generally are not also entitled to have the entire ticket price refunded.
The refund is an alternative to taking the significantly changed or canceled trip.
That does not mean the airline owes you nothing else. Depending on what caused the delay and how long you are stranded, the airline may still owe you meals, a hotel, ground transportation or other assistance under its customer-service commitments.
Does an Airline Have to Pay You Cash for a Delay?
Usually not in the United States.
Unlike some other countries, the United States does not have a general federal rule requiring an airline to write you a compensation check simply because your domestic flight arrives several hours late.
The federal government considered broader mandatory passenger compensation rules, but that regulatory effort was withdrawn in 2025.
The important exception is involuntary denied boarding from an oversold flight. The rules for being bumped are different and can require substantial compensation.
A flight delay by itself is not the same thing as being involuntarily bumped from an oversold flight.
When Does the Airline Owe You a Meal or Hotel?
Here the reason for the disruption becomes much more important.
DOT separates disruptions into those that are controllable by the airline and those that are not.
Examples of airline-controlled problems can include:
- Maintenance issues
- Crew problems
- Aircraft cleaning
- Baggage loading
- Fueling problems
- Other carrier operational problems
Weather, air traffic control restrictions and many airport-wide disruptions generally fall outside that category.
The major U.S. airlines have made specific customer-service commitments for controllable delays and cancellations. Those promises are displayed in the DOT Airline Cancellation and Delay Dashboard and become part of what the airline has committed to provide its customers.
What Major U.S. Airlines Promise for Controllable Disruptions
Here is a useful snapshot of the commitments currently shown by DOT for major U.S. airlines. These apply to qualifying controllable disruptions—not, for example, a major thunderstorm shutting down an airport.
| Airline | Rebook on Own Airline | Rebook on Another/Partner Airline | Meal for 3+ Hour Wait | Hotel for Overnight Disruption |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Allegiant | Yes | No commitment | Yes | Yes |
| American | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Delta | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Frontier | Yes | No commitment | Yes | No commitment |
| Hawaiian | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| JetBlue | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Southwest | Yes | No commitment | Yes | Yes |
| United | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The distinction between “No commitment” and “No” is important. An airline that has not made a formal commitment may still choose to help you. It simply has not made the same promise displayed by DOT.
The dashboard also shows ground-transportation commitments for qualifying overnight disruptions. Most of the airlines that promise hotel accommodations also commit to transportation to and from that hotel.
What Counts as a Controllable Delay?
A mechanical problem is the classic example.
If the airplane has a maintenance issue, the airline cannot normally characterize that in the same way it would characterize a thunderstorm.
Crew availability can also be an airline-controlled problem, although the facts can become complicated if the crew disruption was itself caused by severe weather elsewhere in the system.
This is why the one-word explanation in an airline app does not always tell the whole story.
Your aircraft may be sitting at the gate on a sunny afternoon while your flight is canceled because the crew never arrived after storms disrupted its earlier trip.
That scenario is discussed in more detail in our guide to flight cancellation causes.
What If the Airline Blames Weather?
Weather does not take away your refund right if the airline cancels the flight and you decide not to travel.
But it can change what happens if you choose to continue the trip.
Airlines generally make fewer promises about hotels and meals when the disruption is outside their control.
If a snowstorm closes an airport and leaves thousands of passengers stranded overnight, you should not assume the airline is legally required to buy everyone a hotel room.
You should still ask. Airlines sometimes provide assistance beyond their formal obligations, particularly to valuable customers or when they have negotiated distressed-passenger hotel rates.
Will the Airline Put You on Another Airline?
Sometimes.
Several major carriers—including American, Delta, United, Alaska, Hawaiian and JetBlue—currently commit through the DOT dashboard to rebooking passengers on a partner airline or another carrier with which they have an agreement after qualifying controllable disruptions.
Others, including Southwest, Allegiant and Frontier, do not make that same formal commitment.
This can matter enormously on a route with only one or two flights a day.
If the airline is telling you the next available seat on its own aircraft is tomorrow afternoon, it is worth checking whether another carrier has seats available and asking the agent whether you can be transferred.
Do the research yourself while you wait in line. An airline agent can work much faster with a specific flight number than with “Is there anything else?”
What Happens to the Fees You Paid?
Your airfare is not the only thing that may be refundable.
DOT’s rules also cover optional services you paid for but did not receive.
These can include:
- Seat-selection fees
- Wi-Fi
- In-flight entertainment
- Seat upgrades
- Paid food or beverage services
- Lounge access
- Other optional services
If the airline did not provide a paid ancillary service through no fault of yours, the fee may have to be refunded.
For example, if you paid for Wi-Fi and the system did not work, don’t assume the charge simply disappears into the cost of travel.
What About Your Checked-Bag Fee?
DOT also has specific rules for significantly delayed checked baggage.
For a domestic trip, a checked bag is considered significantly delayed for purposes of the baggage-fee refund rule if it is not delivered within 12 hours after the flight arrives.
For qualifying international trips involving a U.S. airport, different limits apply depending on the length of the flight.
You should file a mishandled-baggage report with the airline as soon as you discover that the bag did not arrive.
How Quickly Does the Airline Have to Refund You?
When a refund is due under the federal rules, it generally has to go back to the original form of payment.
For credit-card purchases, the refund generally must be provided within seven business days after it becomes due.
For cash and other forms of payment, the federal rules allow a longer period.
The airline cannot simply replace the refund with a voucher unless you choose to accept the alternative.
What About a Long Tarmac Delay?
Being stuck inside an airplane has its own set of rules.
For covered airlines at U.S. airports, the airline generally must begin moving the aircraft to a place where passengers can get off before a tarmac delay reaches:
- Three hours for a domestic flight
- Four hours for an international flight
There are exceptions for safety, security and air traffic control.
Airlines also generally must provide drinking water and a snack no later than two hours after the tarmac delay begins, unless doing so would be unsafe.
That is different from a flight that is delayed while you are still sitting inside the terminal.
What Should You Do the Moment Your Flight Is Canceled?
Don’t simply join the longest line in the terminal.
- Open the airline app immediately. There may already be rebooking options.
- Look at other flights yourself. Search both your airline and competing airlines.
- Decide whether you still want to make the trip. If not, understand your refund rights before accepting a credit.
- Find out why the flight was canceled. This can affect meals, lodging and rebooking assistance.
- Ask specifically for what you need. “Can you give me a hotel voucher?” works better than “What are you going to do for me?”
- Save receipts. If you end up seeking reimbursement from an airline, travel insurer or credit-card benefit, documentation matters.
- Take screenshots. Save the cancellation notice, stated reason and replacement-flight options.
Should You Book Your Own Hotel?
Be careful.
If the airline has promised hotel accommodations for your situation, ask how it wants the reservation handled before booking an expensive room on your own.
An airline may issue a hotel voucher, direct you to a specific property, or have a reimbursement policy with dollar limits.
If you independently reserve a $500 airport hotel, don’t assume the airline will reimburse the full amount later.
If you have travel insurance or trip-delay coverage through a credit card, check those terms as well. They may become particularly valuable during weather and other disruptions that the airline does not cover.
Flying Internationally? U.S. Rules May Not Be the Only Rules
This article focuses on U.S. passenger protections.
If your trip involves Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada or another jurisdiction with its own passenger-rights regime, additional compensation or care requirements may apply.
That can mean a traveler on an international itinerary has rights beyond those described here.
Check the rules that apply to your specific origin, destination, airline and itinerary before assuming that U.S. law is the end of the analysis.
One Small 2026 Wrinkle: Flight Numbers
There is one unusually technical exception worth mentioning.
Under the refund regulations, changing a flight number can technically qualify as a cancellation. DOT is currently reconsidering that part of the rule and has temporarily paused enforcement when an airline merely renumbers a flight without otherwise significantly delaying or changing it.
That enforcement policy currently runs through July 7, 2027.
For ordinary travelers, this should rarely matter. A genuinely canceled trip or one delayed beyond the federal thresholds remains a very different situation from an airline simply changing the number printed next to the flight.
The Most Useful Question to Ask at the Airport
If you are stranded, ask:
“Is this considered a controllable delay or cancellation?”
Then ask separately about:
- Rebooking
- Other-airline options
- Meal vouchers
- Hotel accommodations
- Transportation to the hotel
Do not assume the agent will volunteer every option automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do airlines have to refund a canceled flight?
If the airline cancels the flight and you decide not to travel or accept alternative compensation, U.S. refund rules generally entitle you to a refund regardless of why the flight was canceled.
Can an airline give me a voucher instead of cash?
It can offer a voucher, but when you are entitled to a refund it must also inform you of that option. You do not have to accept a travel credit in place of the refund simply because the airline offers one.
Do airlines have to pay for a hotel after a canceled flight?
Not in every situation. Major U.S. airlines have made different commitments for hotel accommodations after controllable overnight cancellations and delays. Weather and other events outside the airline’s control may not qualify.
Do airlines have to give you food during a delay?
Many major U.S. carriers commit to providing a meal or meal voucher after a qualifying controllable delay of three hours or more. A tarmac delay is different: federal rules generally require water and a snack after two hours onboard, subject to safety and security exceptions.
Do I get compensation if my domestic flight is four hours late?
You may have a right to decline the significantly delayed itinerary and obtain a refund, but U.S. law generally does not require cash compensation merely because a domestic flight arrives four hours late.
Can I get a refund if I take the replacement flight?
Generally not a full ticket refund under the federal cancellation/significant-delay rule. If you accept the replacement flight and travel, you have generally chosen transportation rather than a refund. Other expenses or unused services may still be treated separately.
