Short answer
- Credit card: the airline must make the refund within 7 business days (Monday to Friday, not counting federal holidays). 14 CFR 260.2
- Cash, check, debit card or anything else: within 20 calendar days. 260.2
- The clock starts when the refund becomes due: usually the day you turn down the new flight or credit, or the day the changed flight leaves without you. 260.6(a)(2)
- After the airline sends a card refund, federal card rules give your card issuer up to 3 business days to post it. 12 CFR 1026.12(e)
- Still nothing? Complain in writing to the airline, file with DOT, and on a credit card you can send a billing-error notice, which must reach the issuer within 60 days of the statement showing the error. 12 CFR 1026.13
The two deadlines
DOT's refund rule defines a "prompt refund" as one made
within 7 business days after the earliest date the refund was requested as set forth in § 260.6(a)(2) as required by 14 CFR 374.3 for credit card purchases and within 20 calendar days after the earliest date the refund was requested as set forth in § 260.6(a)(2) for cash, check, debit card, or other forms of purchases. — 14 CFR 260.2, read Oct 30, 2026
- "Business days" means "Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays in the United States." 260.2
- Why the card deadline is different: airlines have to follow the federal Truth in Lending rules (Regulation Z), and DOT enforces them against airlines. 14 CFR 374.3 Regulation Z says a merchant that owes a card refund must send the credit to the card issuer "within 7 business days", and the issuer must then credit your account "within 3 business days from receipt". 12 CFR 1026.12(e)
- Debit cards count as "other forms of purchases", so the 20-calendar-day deadline applies.
When the clock starts
| Situation | Day 0 is… | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Flight cancelled, airline offers no other flight and no credit | The cancellation (the refund is due automatically) | 260.6(a)(2)(i) |
| You turn down the new flight and any credit | The day you reject the offer | 260.6(a)(2)(ii) |
| You don't answer, and the changed flight leaves without you | The day that flight departs | 260.6(a)(2)(iii)(A) |
| You don't answer a credit offer | The date the cancelled flight was scheduled to leave, or the date the changed flight leaves | 260.6(a)(2)(iii)(B) |
| A paid extra failed for everyone on the flight (e.g. Wi-Fi down for the whole plane) | When the airline that failed to provide it knows | 260.4(b) |
| A paid extra failed just for you (your paid seat, your lounge pass) | When you tell the operating airline and it's confirmed; telling them counts as a refund request | 260.4(c) |
| Checked bag significantly late (12 hours domestic) or lost | Once the bag is late enough and you've filed a Mishandled Baggage Report | 260.5 |
Source: 14 CFR 260.4–260.6, eCFR text current as of Oct 28, 2026, read Oct 30, 2026. Bag delay thresholds are in our lost or delayed bag guide.
DOT's refunds page also says an airline can set a deadline for you to accept a rebooking, so if you plan to fly the new flight, say yes before that deadline. If you want your money, say no in writing and keep the date. Whether you're owed cash at all is covered in Airline refused a refund or gave you a credit.
Worked dates
These count business days the way the rule defines them, skipping weekends and the federal holidays on OPM's 2026 and 2027 schedules (Veterans Day Nov 11, Thanksgiving Nov 26, Christmas Dec 25, New Year's Day Jan 1).
| Refund became due | Credit card: 7 business days | Other payment: 20 calendar days |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 9, 2026 | Thu, Nov 19 | Sun, Nov 29 |
| Wed, Nov 25, 2026 (day before Thanksgiving) | Mon, Dec 7 | Tue, Dec 15 |
| Tue, Dec 22, 2026 | Mon, Jan 4, 2027 | Mon, Jan 11, 2027 |
Holidays from the US Office of Personnel Management, read Oct 30, 2026. The dates are the last day for the airline to make the refund; with a card, your issuer may take up to 3 more business days to post it.
Booked through a travel site
If a travel site was the merchant of record (its name is on your card statement), the site owes the refund. Its card deadline is 7 business days counted from when the site gets the airline's answer on whether you're eligible, and 20 calendar days from when the refund became due for other payments. The airline must tell the site "without delay" and hand over the money if the site doesn't hold it. 14 CFR 399.80(l), 260.6(d)–(e)
If it's late
- Write to the airline. Give your confirmation code, the date you rejected the offer (or the flight left), and the amount. Airlines must acknowledge a written complaint within 30 days and give a substantive written answer within 60 days. 14 CFR 259.7(c)
- File with DOT. Use DOT's air travel complaint form and attach the change notice, your rejection and the airline's replies.
- On a credit card, look at the dispute route below. It runs on its own clock, so don't wait out the airline's 60 days if your card deadline is closer.
Credit card disputes: what federal rules say
Regulation Z's billing-error rules cover, among other things, a charge for services "not delivered to the consumer… as agreed" and a creditor's "failure to credit properly a payment or other credit issued". 12 CFR 1026.13(a)(3)–(4)
- Notice in writing to the address the issuer lists for billing errors, received "no later than 60 days after the creditor transmitted the first periodic statement that reflects the alleged billing error", with your name, account number and the reason. 1026.13(b)
- The issuer's deadlines: written acknowledgment within 30 days, and a resolution within two complete billing cycles, "in no event later than 90 days". 1026.13(c)
- While it's open, you don't have to pay the disputed amount, and the issuer can't report it as delinquent. 1026.13(d)
- A second, narrower right lets you raise an unresolved dispute with the merchant against the card issuer, after a good-faith attempt to settle it with the merchant. It has limits (more than $50, and the purchase in your home state or within 100 miles, with exceptions). 1026.12(c)
These are the federal minimums for credit cards. Card issuers and networks have their own dispute forms and timelines on top, and debit card disputes run under different rules, so ask your bank which process and deadline it applies. This is what the rules say, not advice on your case.
Checklist
- Write down day 0 (the day you rejected the offer, or the day the changed flight left).
- Count the deadline: 7 business days on a credit card, 20 calendar days otherwise. Use the worked dates above as a check.
- Watch the original payment method. The refund has to go back there, card, cash or miles, with no processing fee. 14 CFR 260.10
- Day after the deadline: written complaint to the airline, then DOT.
- Credit card: check your statement dates and the 60-day billing-error window, and contact your issuer before it closes.
- Related: what you're owed when a flight is cancelled or delayed, and getting a bag fee back.
Sources
- 14 CFR 260.2 (definitions of "prompt refund" and "business days"), 260.4–260.6, 260.10: eCFR (text current as of Oct 28, 2026; read Oct 30, 2026).
- 14 CFR 374.3, airline compliance with the Consumer Credit Protection Act and Regulation Z: eCFR (read Oct 30, 2026).
- 12 CFR 1026.12(c) and (e), and 1026.13 (Regulation Z): eCFR (text current as of Oct 28, 2026; read Oct 30, 2026).
- 14 CFR 399.80(l), ticket agent refunds, and 14 CFR 259.7(c), complaint responses: eCFR (read Oct 30, 2026).
- OPM, Federal holidays 2026 and 2027: opm.gov (read Oct 30, 2026).
- DOT, Refunds page: transportation.gov. Not readable directly (403 to our reader on Oct 30, 2026); search-engine copy read the same day. It gives "20 calendar days" in one passage and "20 business days" in another; the regulation says calendar days.