Airline refused a refund or gave you a credit: how to get cash

When cash is owed

The federal refund rules (14 CFR part 260) apply to US and foreign airlines on scheduled flights to, from or within the United States. The airline that took your money must refund "the airfare, including any taxes and ancillary fees" when your flight is cancelled or significantly delayed or changed and you choose not to fly the changed flight, not to be rebooked, and not to accept a voucher or credit. 260.6(a)(1)

"Significantly" has a fixed meaning: leaving 3+ hours earlier or arriving 3+ hours later on a domestic trip (6+ hours international), a different airport, more connections, or a downgrade to a lower cabin. The full table is in our cancelled or delayed flight guide. 14 CFR 260.2

The refund is supposed to be automatic, meaning you shouldn't have to ask, when:

• the flight is cancelled and the airline offers no other flight and no credit;
• you reject the changed flight, the rebooking and any credit; or
• you don't answer, and the changed or alternative flight leaves without you, or you don't accept the credit by the date your original flight was due to leave. 260.6(a)(2)

Separately, any paid extra the airline didn't deliver through no fault of yours (a seat you paid for, Wi-Fi that didn't work, a lounge pass you couldn't use) has to be refunded too, and so does a checked-bag fee once the bag is significantly late. 14 CFR 260.4, 260.5 (bag details: lost or delayed bag guide).

When cash isn't owed

• You cancel a nonrefundable ticket yourself. Part 260 is about flights the airline cancels or significantly changes, paid services it doesn't provide, and late or lost bags. 14 CFR 260.1 If you change your mind, the fare rules you bought under decide what you get back.
• Exception: the 24-hour window. If you booked at least a week before departure, the airline's customer service plan must let you hold the fare without paying, or cancel without penalty, for at least 24 hours after booking. 14 CFR 259.5(b)(4)
• The change wasn't significant. A 2-hour domestic delay, for example, doesn't meet the 3-hour test, so the cash refund rule doesn't kick in.
• Only the flight number changed. DOT isn't enforcing the "cancelled" label for flights that are only renumbered, if you're rebooked on the new number and it runs without a significant change. That pause runs until July 7, 2027. 91 FR 41556
• You can't fly because of a serious contagious disease. A separate rule gives you a credit, not cash: transferable and valid at least five years, when a government order stops your trip or a licensed medical professional advises you not to fly, under the conditions in the rule. The airline may ask for documentation. 14 CFR part 262

The credit question

Airlines are allowed to offer a voucher, credit or miles instead of a refund, but only as "an explicit alternative", and only if the offer clearly tells you two things: the terms of the credit, and "the consumer's right to a full refund". 260.6(c)(1)

Sources: 14 CFR part 260 on eCFR (text current as of Oct 28, 2026, read Oct 30, 2026); DOT's refunds page, read from a search-engine copy on Oct 30, 2026 because transportation.gov blocks our reader.

Back to how you paid

A refund that's due must go back "in the original form of payment", meaning the same card, cash, check or "airline miles" you used, unless you agree to a different form that counts as a cash equivalent (a check, a bank transfer, PayPal or Venmo, or a widely accepted gift card with no fees). An airline credit isn't on that list. The airline "may not retain a processing fee for issuing refunds that are due." 14 CFR 260.10, 260.2 ("cash equivalent")

How fast it has to arrive, and what to do when it's late, is on its own page: How long does an airline refund take?

Booked through a travel site

The refund duty sits with the merchant of record, the company whose name is on your card statement for the ticket. 14 CFR 260.3

• If a travel site was the merchant of record, the site has to refund you when you ask, and the airline has to tell the site "without delay" whether you're eligible and transfer the money if the site doesn't hold it. 260.6(d)–(e), 14 CFR 399.80(l)
• A travel site may keep its own service fee only if that fee was for more than just processing payment, was charged per passenger, and its amount and non-refundability were "clearly and prominently disclosed" when you bought. 399.80(l)

Passengers with disabilities

A passenger with a disability is owed a full refund on request if they don't want to continue because they were downgraded and lost an accessibility feature they need, were rerouted through a different connecting airport, or were moved to a substitute plane missing a feature they need. Everyone on the same reservation who doesn't want to travel without them is owed a refund too. 260.6(b)

How to ask for cash, step by step

1. Check the trigger. Was it a cancellation, or a change of 3+ hours (6+ international), a new airport, an extra connection or a downgrade? Screenshot the original itinerary and the change notice so the times are on record.
2. Don't accept the credit. If you already clicked something, look at what it said. A credit only counts if you agreed to it (260.7).
3. Ask in writing. Use the airline's refund form, chat or email. Something like: "My flight [number, date] was cancelled / changed by [hours]. I don't accept the rebooking or a travel credit. Please refund the fare, taxes and fees to my original form of payment under 14 CFR 260.6." Keep the reply.
4. Note the date. The refund clock starts when you reject the offer (or the flight leaves without you). Count 7 business days or 20 calendar days from there.
5. Complain to the airline if it stalls. Airlines must acknowledge a written complaint within 30 days and send a substantive written response within 60 days. 14 CFR 259.7(c)
6. File with DOT. Use DOT's air travel complaint form with your screenshots and the airline's replies.
7. Paid by credit card? Your card issuer has a billing-dispute process with its own deadlines. See what federal card rules say.

Foreign airlines and trips abroad

Part 260 covers foreign airlines too when the flight goes to, from or within the United States, including trips with only a short foreign stopover. 260.2 ("covered carrier", "covered flight") Flights wholly outside the US, such as a flight between two European cities, fall under local rules instead (for example the EU's Regulation 261/2004). We couldn't open the EU regulation's text on EUR-Lex tonight (it blocked our reader), so this page doesn't quote it.

Sources

• 14 CFR part 260, Refunds for airline fare and ancillary service fees (sections 260.1–260.11): eCFR (text current as of Oct 28, 2026; read Oct 30, 2026).
• 14 CFR part 262, Travel credits or vouchers due to a serious communicable disease: eCFR (read Oct 30, 2026).
• 14 CFR 259.5 (customer service plans, 24-hour rule) and 259.7 (complaint responses): eCFR (read Oct 30, 2026).
• 14 CFR 399.80(l), ticket agent refunds: eCFR (read Oct 30, 2026).
• DOT, Notification of enforcement discretion (renumbered flights), 91 FR 41556, July 7, 2026: govinfo.gov (read Oct 30, 2026). The pending "Refund III" rulemaking it mentions (RIN 2105-AF36) had no proposed rule in the Federal Register when we searched on Oct 30, 2026.
• DOT, Refunds page: transportation.gov. Not readable directly (the site returned 403 to our reader on Oct 30, 2026); we used a search-engine copy read the same day.
• EU Regulation 261/2004 on EUR-Lex: not readable on Oct 30, 2026 (blocked our reader), so not quoted.