Cancellations and Delays: What to Do When Your Flight Changes

A disruption creates two separate questions: How will you continue the trip? and What does the airline owe you if you do not? Treat them separately. A fast rebooking may be useful, but accepting and flying it changes the refund decision.

What cancellations and delays mean for your options

For flights to, from, or within the United States, the U.S. Department of Transportation sets refund protections. Airlines set many of the practical care promises, such as meals, hotels, and rebooking. The FAA manages air traffic, but its Air Traffic Control System Command Center says the airline—not air traffic control—decides whether to cancel an individual flight.

Start with the airline's app, website, message, or airport desk. Ask for the stated cause and the replacement itinerary in writing. Then compare the two paths below before tapping an acceptance button.

Your choice	What it means	What to verify
Continue the trip	Accept the delayed flight or a rebooked itinerary.	New departure, destination, connections, class of service, and any airline care commitment.
Do not continue	Decline the changed flight, rebooking, credit, voucher, or other alternative.	Whether the DOT refund rule applies and which company is the merchant of record.

Your U.S. refund right

DOT says a cancelled flight qualifies for a ticket-price refund, regardless of the reason for the cancellation, when the passenger chooses not to travel and does not accept a credit, voucher, or other compensation. Other qualifying changes include a different origin or destination airport, more connections, or an involuntary downgrade. These thresholds describe refund eligibility; they are not a promise of cash compensation for waiting.

If you accept and take the significantly delayed or changed flight, DOT says you are not entitled to a full ticket refund under that rule. Decide whether reaching the destination or ending the trip is more valuable before accepting the airline's offer.

Refund or travel credit?

A travel credit is not the same as money returned to the original payment method. DOT requires airlines to tell eligible passengers about the refund when offering rebooking, a voucher, or another form of compensation. If you bought through a travel agent or online agency, check the card statement: DOT identifies the merchant of record as the entity responsible for the airfare refund when one is due.

DOT's refund page says a refund is due within 7 business days after rejection for a credit-card purchase and within 20 calendar days for another payment method. Keep the cancellation notice, itinerary, receipt, screenshots of the offered choices, and your written rejection.

Meals, hotels, and rebooking are a different question

DOT's Airline Cancellation and Delay Dashboard tracks voluntary customer-service commitments made by large U.S. airlines for controllable disruptions. DOT describes those as cancellations or delays caused by the airline, with examples including maintenance, crew, cabin-cleaning, baggage-loading, and fueling problems.

The dashboard separates same-airline rebooking, rebooking on another airline, meals, hotels, ground transportation, credits, miles, and cash compensation. A listed commitment forms part of that airline's customer-service plan, but an airline without a dashboard commitment may still help at its discretion. Check the current carrier row rather than assuming every airline offers the same care.

Weather and air-traffic disruptions may fall outside those controllable-event promises. Ask the airline to identify the reason, then ask what its customer-service plan provides for that reason. Keep receipts, but do not assume reimbursement unless the airline confirms it or its published policy promises it.

What to do when a flight is delayed or cancelled

1. Verify the status in two places. Check the airline for your specific flight. The FAA also recommends checking current conditions at both the departure and arrival airports.
2. Ask for the cause. The answer helps you distinguish an airline-controlled problem from weather or air-traffic conditions.
3. Protect the useful itinerary. Save the original booking, boarding pass, baggage receipt, and every new offer offline before links or app screens change.
4. Compare alternatives before accepting. Review the destination, connections, timing, class of service, and whether you still want to travel.
5. Ask about published care. For a controllable disruption, check the DOT dashboard and the airline's customer-service plan for rebooking, meals, or an overnight hotel.
6. State your decision clearly. If you do not want the changed trip and qualify for a refund, decline the rebooking, credit, voucher, and other compensation in writing.
7. Escalate with evidence. Start with the airline or merchant of record. If an eligible refund is not provided, use DOT's air-travel complaint channel and attach your records.

When the delay keeps changing

DOT calls an uncertain, repeatedly extended estimate a creeping delay. Do not treat an early estimate as final. Keep monitoring the airline, remain close enough to respond to boarding instructions, and re-evaluate your choice if the airline offers a materially different itinerary.

If you have a connection, check the onward segment and read the airline's rebooking message carefully. The practical next move may be a new routing rather than waiting at the original gate. Our guides to what to do after a missed flight and why a flight is delayed cover those narrower situations.

A simple record to keep

• Original itinerary and payment receipt
• Cancellation or delay notice
• Airline's stated cause
• Replacement flights, credits, or vouchers offered
• Your acceptance or rejection message
• Receipts for expenses and any written promise to reimburse them

Rules and airline commitments can change, so confirm the current position on the official DOT dashboard, DOT refund page, FAA status page, and your airline's own policy before flying.