US Flight Delay Compensation Rules 2026: What You Are Actually Owed

Last updated: Jul 31, 2026

Federal law in the United States sets no cash compensation payment for a delayed flight.

Cash does exist in three specific situations: involuntary denied boarding, a flight that falls under European rules, and Southwest delays covered by a standing US Department of Transportation order.

This page covers all three, plus the refund rule that most travelers on flights to the United States never claim because nobody told them it was automatic.

For the same breakdown country by country, start at our flight delay compensation hub.

Table of Contents

What you are owed: the automatic refund rule

The rule that matters is 14 CFR Part 260, in force since 2024. It applies to any airline flying to, from or within the United States, so it also binds foreign carriers on US routes.

A cancellation triggers it regardless of the reason, weather included. A delay or schedule change triggers it when the change is significant, which the rule defines as any of the following:

You are moved to depart three or more hours earlier on a domestic itinerary, or six or more hours earlier on an international one
You are scheduled to arrive three or more hours later domestically, or six or more hours later internationally
Your departure or arrival airport changes
Your itinerary gains a connection
You are involuntarily downgraded to a lower cabin
For a traveler with a disability, the connecting airport changes, or the substitute aircraft lacks an accessibility feature they need

How much, how fast, and in what form

The refund covers the full fare, all taxes and every ancillary fee, returned in your original form of payment. The airline may not keep a processing fee.

The deadline is seven business days for a credit card purchase and twenty calendar days for anything else. It is automatic: you do not have to ask, and the airline has to tell you the refund is owed, through whatever channel you subscribed to.

Ancillary fees stand on their own. Anything you paid for and did not receive is refundable, including seat selection, Wi-Fi, lounge access or a checked bag, whether the service failed because of a cancellation, an aircraft swap or a broken system.

How you lose the refund

Two ways. You fly the significantly changed flight or accept rebooking, or you affirmatively accept a voucher, credit or other compensation.

An airline cannot treat your silence as acceptance, and any voucher offered in place of a refund has to stay valid for at least five years, with its restrictions and your refund right disclosed up front. If you are downgraded and still travel, you keep a refund of the difference between the two fares.

What you are owed after a US flight disruption

Follow the branch that matches what happened.

Refund or money back Care the airline provides Action you take yourself

Your flight was canceled or delayed

▼

Branch A: the airline canceled the flight

You chose not to travel.Full refund

Full automatic refund of fare, taxes and every ancillary fee, in your original form of payment. Seven business days by card, twenty calendar days otherwise. The reason for the cancellation does not matter.

You accepted rebooking or a voucher.Meals and hotel

No refund. You still get a meal, and a hotel plus ground transport overnight, if the cause was within the airline’s control.

Branch B: the flight was delayed or changed

First test: is the change significant? Three or more hours domestic, six or more hours international, a different airport, an extra connection, or a downgrade.

No, it is under the thresholdAsk anyway

No refund right. Ask about rebooking and a meal anyway, since airline commitments start at a three hour wait.

Yes, and you chose not to flyFull refund

Full automatic refund, on the same terms as Branch A. Decline the voucher to keep the right.

Yes, and you flew anywayMeals and hotel

No fare refund. A meal after a three hour wait, plus a hotel and ground transport for an overnight delay, if the cause was within the airline’s control. Downgraded and still flew: refund of the fare difference.

Cash appears in only three places. Involuntary denied boarding, up to USD 2,150. A flight covered by EU261 or UK261. A Southwest controllable delay of three or more hours, which carries a USD 75 voucher under a DOT order.

What each major US airline actually commits to

This is where the real entitlement lives. Under 14 CFR 259.5 every airline has to publish a customer service plan, and the DOT can enforce whatever the airline puts in it.

The DOT publishes those promises side by side on its cancellation and delay dashboard. Here is where five of the largest US carriers stand for disruptions within their control.

Airline	Rebook, same airline	Rebook, partner airline	Meal at 3 hours	Hotel and transport overnight	Credit or voucher	Cash
American	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
United	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Delta	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Southwest	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
JetBlue	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Source: DOT Airline Cancellation and Delay Dashboard. Commitments apply to delays and cancellations within the airline’s control.

Read the pattern rather than the individual cells. Every one of these five airlines will rebook you, feed you and put you in a hotel. Not one commits to cash.

Southwest is the one US airline that owes a fixed sum for a delay, and it owes it because of an enforcement action rather than a rule. The DOT’s December 2023 consent order over the 2022 holiday meltdown carried a USD 140 million penalty, USD 90 million of which was converted into future passenger compensation.

Southwest has to issue a transferable voucher worth at least USD 75 whenever a disruption within its control gets a passenger to their destination three or more hours late.

The program runs from 30 April 2024 to 29 April 2027 at USD 30 million a year. Requests go through southwest.com/delayform within one year of the flight, and Southwest has 30 days to respond.

A December 2025 order waived the final USD 11 million installment of Southwest’s cash penalty in recognition of operational improvements, but it left the passenger compensation voucher program untouched.

Tarmac delays: the rule with real teeth

The strictest US passenger rule is 14 CFR 259.4. On a domestic flight the airline has to give you the chance to get off the aircraft before a tarmac delay passes three hours. On an international flight the limit is four hours.

Food and water are due within two hours, lavatories have to work, medical help has to be available, and you have to be updated once the delay passes 30 minutes.

The exceptions are narrow: safety, security, or air traffic control advising that returning to a gate would disrupt airport operations. Every breach has to be reported to the DOT within 30 days, and a breach counts as an unfair and deceptive practice under 49 U.S.C. 41712, which is what makes fines possible.

None of this pays you directly. It gives the DOT leverage, and it is the reason long tarmac strandings became rare.

Baggage-related compensation

Domestic liability floor: USD 4,700 per passenger under 14 CFR 254.4. An airline may pay more and may not cap below that. Compensation covers provable, actual expenses, and airlines are barred from setting arbitrary daily allowances.
International liability: the Montreal Convention limit of 1,519 Special Drawing Rights, roughly USD 2,175 by the DOT’s own conversion.
Bag fee refund: if a bag is lost or significantly delayed, the fee comes back. Significantly delayed means 12 hours on a domestic itinerary, 15 hours on an international itinerary whose long-haul segment is 12 hours or less, and 30 hours when that segment is longer.

One condition matters: you have to file a Mishandled Baggage Report with the airline that operated your last segment. No report, no automatic fee refund.

Denied boarding

If you are bumped involuntarily from an oversold flight, 14 CFR 250.5 sets real money. Nothing is due if the airline gets you there within an hour of your original arrival.

Beyond that, you are owed 200 percent of your one-way fare capped at USD 1,075, or 400 percent capped at USD 2,150 for the longer delays. On a domestic flight the second tier starts once the replacement arrives two or more hours late. On an international departure from a US airport it starts at four hours.

The airline may offer travel credit instead, and only if the value matches or beats the cash and it tells you the cash figure first. Volunteering to give up your seat is a negotiation, and it waives the fixed sums.

When a US traveler is covered by a cash regime

This is the part most US guides skip, and it is where the money is. European rules attach to the route and the operating airline, so plenty of Americans qualify without realizing.

Departing the EU: EU261 covers every passenger leaving an EU airport, on any airline of any nationality. Your Rome to Chicago flight is covered even on a US carrier. Amounts run EUR 250, EUR 400 and EUR 600 by distance.
Flying to the EU: covered only when the operating carrier is an EU airline. Boston to Dublin on Aer Lingus qualifies. The same route on a US carrier does not.
The UK: UK261 covers any flight leaving a UK airport, plus flights arriving in the UK on a UK or EU airline. Amounts are GBP 220, GBP 350 and GBP 520.

One caveat matters on every US to Europe route, because all of them exceed 3,500 km. Article 7(2) halves the top band, so arriving 3 to 4 hours late pays EUR 300 or GBP 260, and the full EUR 600 or GBP 520 applies once you are more than 4 hours late.

The two shorter distance bands pay their full figure for any qualifying delay.

In practice, on a round trip between the US and Europe the return leg is almost always protected even when the outbound is not. Full detail sits in our EU261 guide and our UK261 guide, and if you are flying to or from Canada see the Canadian APPR rules.

For the return leg on flights to the United Kingdom, UK261 applies whichever airline operates it.

How to escalate

Go to the airline first. Under 14 CFR 259.7 it has to acknowledge a written complaint within 30 days and send a substantive reply within 60 days, and it has to publish where to send one.

If that fails, file with the DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection. Be clear about what it does.

The DOT will direct the airline to answer you and copy the DOT, and it publishes complaint volumes by airline in its monthly Air Travel Consumer Report. It does not investigate every complaint individually, running targeted and sample reviews instead.

Complaints feed enforcement, and the Southwest voucher program is proof that the route ends somewhere real.

Frequently asked questions

Does the US have anything like EU261?

No. There is no fixed payment for a delay, no distance bands, and no claim to file. The DOT considered building one in 2024 and withdrew the rulemaking in November 2025.

My US flight was delayed four hours. What do I get?

If you flew, no fare refund. On a domestic itinerary that arrives three or more hours late you can decline the flight and take a full automatic refund instead. If the cause was within the airline’s control you also get a meal, and a hotel with ground transport if the delay runs overnight. On Southwest or JetBlue you additionally get a credit or voucher, and on Southwest that voucher is worth at least USD 75.

Does weather cancel my refund rights?

No. The refund entitlement for a cancellation or a significant change applies regardless of cause. Cause only decides the amenities, since meals and hotels are promised for disruptions within the airline’s control.

Can the airline make me take a voucher?

No. It has to disclose your right to a full refund, and it cannot treat silence as acceptance. Any voucher offered in place of a refund must stay valid for at least five years.

How long does the refund take?

Seven business days for a credit card purchase, twenty calendar days for cash, check or debit. It goes back to your original payment method, and the airline may not deduct a fee.

My bag turned up a day late. What am I owed?

A refund of the checked bag fee, once you have filed a Mishandled Baggage Report, plus reasonable and provable interim expenses up to USD 4,700 domestically or about USD 2,175 internationally.

Sources

Accurate as of 31 July 2026. This article is general information. What you are owed depends on the specific circumstances of your disruption, the airline operating your flight and the route you were flying. Your airline and the relevant regulator are the final authority on any individual claim.

Disclaimer: Wego strives to ensure all information presented in this article is accurate and up to date at the time of publication. Travel policies, prices, visa requirements, and conditions can change rapidly. We strongly recommend verifying critical details with official sources before making travel decisions. Wego does not accept liability for any inaccuracies, oversights, or changes that may occur after publication.