New rules established by the Department of Transportation
(DOT) assert that airlines will soon need to instantly refund passengers upon flight
cancelations, delays, or making significant changes; regardless of the reasons.
The refund, DOT states, will be required to be done in the
form of cash or the original form of payment, and not vouchers. Passengers
could also be offered alternatives such as travel credit, other transportation options,
or another flight offered by the airline.
DOT highlights “significant changes” as some specific situations, in which cases passengers will be expected to be refunded. These scenarios can be, for instance, changes in the flight’s arrival or departure time by three or more hours for domestic flights and six hours for international flights, or a change in the departure or arrival airport.
