Travelers who are trying to get back home from the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit — or planning a summer vacation or a trip for a wedding or graduation — need to take notes on what to do if their airline flights are significantly delayed or canceled.
Yes, you don't want to just sit there and watch your flight get pushed out of bounds.
"If someone absolutely has to be somewhere, I wouldn't wait around and be surprised that the flight is delayed," said Teresa Murray, who directs the Consumer Watchdog office for U.S. PIRG, a nonprofit advocacy group, which has highlighted consumer complaints and advocated for more passenger protections.
"Said another way, a delay shouldn't shock you," Murray said. "You should be monitoring what's going on ahead of time."
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced broader, straightforward consumer protections that will address key complaints down the line. Key rules relating to automatic cash refunds take effect in six months.
Here are steps to take to get where you want to go:
Make sure you have your airline's app
Download your airline’s app on your phone a week or so before you travel to get notifications, help you with rebooking and enable you to contact customer service when necessary. Know what you'll need to do to connect with the airline to get help, too.
Watch out for text alerts and emails from the airline, too. But understand that some problems crop up quickly.
Back in late January, my husband, Richard, and I arrived early at the Orlando airport to fly back home to Detroit. Because we were early — we had to return a rental car after all — we sat in a spot where there weren't many people that was across from the Delta Air Lines gate where our plane was supposed to be.
We soon looked up at one point while eating some homemade sandwiches, which Richard's aunt thankfully made for us, and then spotted the first of many changes in takeoff times. Ultimately, we ended up glaring at what would have been a more than five-hour-long delay in Orlando. We faced what experts call a "creeping delay" where we saw the flight get repeatedly rescheduled while at the airport.
I moved quickly when I spotted the first delay, but soon learned that no agents could help us at the gate. Instead, we discovered that we needed to head to a bank of phones for Delta to talk to someone about our options.
It wasn't easy at some points getting someone to answer the phone. But when we were able to talk with a representative, we learned the delay wasn't weather-related.
We were offered the option of staying overnight in a hotel but needed to get to work the next day and didn't want to do that.
Instead, we were able to book another flight at no charge if we were willing to make a stop in Atlanta. We received meal vouchers and had some excellent pizza at the Varasano’s Pizzeria spot in the Atlanta airport. Ultimately, we arrived about 30 minutes to 45 minutes earlier than our original plane finally landed in Detroit. Not ideal but we were good with it.
We had worried that our initial plane might be canceled altogether and not even show up in Orlando, so we were willing to take a chance and rebook. We only had two small carry-on bags, as well.
While I was on the phone, we had to make a decision quickly on what flight and alternative route we wanted to take if we rebooked. One concern: Take time to consider your options. Murray warns that you don't want to rebook on a different flight that could trigger more delays down the road. Will you be flying with a connecting flight into a small town that might not have many flights? Or a huge airport that is already facing a bottleneck? Remember, the more connections you need to make, the more things can go wrong.
"Be smart about what you accept," Murray said.
In some cases, it can be better to stay put and wait it out.
Be aware of potential problems
Try to stay on top of any delays so you're not making rushed decisions. It can help if you know if a flight will have problems before you arrive at the airport or the gate.
Murray recommends using a site called FlightAware.com to anticipate possible delays. Search for your specific flight a day before the scheduled takeoff and then a few times that day, if possible. Find your time and route and go to the link “Where is my plane now?” You’ll see what city your plane is in currently and whether it’s on time.
Start looking at options, just in case, if you spot a situation that could cause troublesome delays or a flight to be canceled.
While headaches still take place, only 1.29% of flights were canceled across the 10 largest U.S. airlines in 2023, down from the 2.71% cancellation rate for 2022, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report issued in March by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
When you're booking a flight, though, you might want to review some on-time statistics for that potential flight based on information from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. See transtats.bts.gov/ONTIME/FlightNumber.aspx for information by typing in your airline and flight number.
Know your rights as a passenger
The Department of Transportation rolled out an Airline Customer Service Dashboard, which helps you research some voluntary policies for the 10 largest airlines, including Delta Air Lines. Take some time to study the dashboard before there are any delays. It's harder to understand much of anything if you're already stressed out about a flight delay or cancellation. See FlightRights.gov.
You might not get any help if a delay is 30 minutes to an hour. But you could get some help if you're looking at a delay of two hours or more.
Study the DOT dashboard, too
Check out policies at listed websites for individual airlines, as well as the Transportation Department dashboard. You might be able to get onto another flight if seats are available, if you ask early enough in the game.
Looking at that dashboard, for example, you learn that no airline is committed now to offering cash compensation when a canceled flight results in a passenger waiting three hours or more from the scheduled departure time. Many airlines do not even promise more frequent flier miles if you're waiting that long. Only Alaska Airlines in the group of 10 airlines has a green check mark offering frequent flier miles in that case.
But all 10 airlines have green check marks and state that they're willing to rebook the passenger on the same airline at no additional cost when there is a controllable cancellation or delay. All 10 also offer to pay for meals in some way via a voucher or cash in such cases.
Every airline, except Frontier, offers complimentary hotel accommodations if you face an overnight cancellation or delay due to what's deemed a controllable situation by the airlines.
And five of the 10 largest airlines showed green check marks on April 23 that indicated they will rebook you on another airline at no charge if there are significant, controllable delays.
A controllable flight cancellation or delay, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, is essentially a delay or cancellation caused by the airline. Think maintenance or crew problems; cabin cleaning; baggage loading; and fueling. Weather isn't controllable.
Yet, Murray notes that you don't want to just give up and not expect the airline to help you at all in the case of bad storm. If you make a reasonable request and offer a possible solution, say suggest another flight that can get you to your destination, it could work. If an airline rebooks at no charge in other situations, Murray said, it might be more willing to rebook when there's a weather delay, too.
Back in December 2022, several U.S. airlines tried to avoid problems that would be triggered by a big storm ahead by offering passengers the option to change flights at no charge. Seriously consider offers when they're made.
It may also be possible to convince the airline to pay for your overnight hotel stay. But you have to talk with the airline first. Don't book a hotel room and then assume the airline will cover the cost. The airlines are not legally required to do that.
Approach the airline employee with some kindness. Maybe, Murray suggests saying something like, "I know you didn't cause this, but I'm hoping that you can help me fix it."
Be polite, not cranky or mean-spirited.
"You have to be proactive and a little bit forceful but still be nice," Murray said. "You can't go in there and be like 'Well, I'm a frequent flier and every time I fly ... dah-dah-dah.' You're not going to get anywhere."
Murray points out that if your flight is canceled for any reason, you’re entitled to a prompt refund if you chose not to travel and want a refund. But in most cases, a consumer probably would want to be rebooked at no extra charge, instead of demanding a refund. If you need to get home, the refund might not cover the cost of booking a new flight home.
More fees and new Transportation Department rules to consider
Don't forget about asking for refunds for money paid for extra services that aren't provided. Currently, you'd need to search through airline websites to figure out how make the request. You'd likely need to fill out extra “digital paperwork” in many cases. But it might be worth your time, if you have the time to do so.
Did you pay extra for luggage that was checked but faced massive delays? Or pay for other services?
Under new rules that go into place later, the Transportation Department will require refunds for baggage fees when bags are delayed by 12 hours or more for domestic flights. The change ahead: Passengers who file a mishandled baggage report will be entitled to a refund of their checked bag fee if it is not delivered within 12 hours of their domestic flight arriving at the gate, or 15-30 hours of their international flight arriving at the gate, depending on the length of the flight.
Under the new Transportation Department rules ahead, passengers also will be entitled to a refund when they paid a fee for an extra service — such as Wi-Fi, seat selection, or in-flight entertainment — if an airline fails to provide this service.
Even more important, the new rules mean that passengers will be entitled to a cash refund — or a refund based on their original payment, such as a credit card or airline miles — if their flight is canceled or significantly changed, and they do not accept alternative transportation or travel credits offered.
Airlines will be required to "automatically issue refunds without passengers having to explicitly request them or jump through hoops," according to the Transportation Department announcement issued Wednesday.
The refunds must be issued within seven business days for credit card purchases and 20 calendar days for other payment methods.
For the first time, the rule defines “significant change.” Significant changes to a flight include departure or arrival times that are more than three hours different domestically and six hours different internationally.
The Transportation Department also will define a significant change as "departures or arrivals from a different airport; increases in the number of connections; instances where passengers are downgraded to a lower class of service; or connections at different airports or flights on different planes that are less accessible or accommodating to a person with a disability."
Prior to the new rule, airlines were permitted to set their own standards for what kind of flight changes warranted a refund. The DOT stated that the department had received complaints from consumers that some airlines revised and applied less consumer-friendly refund policies during spikes in flight cancellations and changes.
Murray noted that many travelers have encountered problems with refunds when they bought their tickets through a third-party ticket agent. People heard the ticket agent say they had to go to the airline for a refund; while the airline sent them to the third-party agent.
Going forward, Murray said, the DOT said the responsibility lies with the "merchant of record" that appears on your credit card or bank statement. Many times, that's going to be the airline, even if you bought your ticket through a third party.
"Consumers should find it much easier to get refunds when they want them. No more games!" Murray said.
Without the new mandates, airline travelers face all sorts of different policies at different airlines, making it very difficult to know their flight rights.
Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on X (Twitter) @tompor.
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