Are You Owed Compensation for a Delayed or Cancelled Flight?

Airlines are not required to pay you cash for a delayed or cancelled domestic flight — compensation is up to each airline's own policy. What's guaranteed is a refund: if your flight is cancelled or its schedule changes by three or more hours and you decline the new flight, the airline must refund your money in cash, not a voucher.

• No compensation is required by law for a delayed or cancelled domestic flight — each airline decides its own policy on cash, vouchers, meals, or hotel stays.
• Refunds are different, and they are required: a cancelled flight, or a domestic schedule change of three or more hours, entitles you to your money back in cash if you don't accept the new flight.
• A $200–$775 tiered compensation rule was proposed in December 2024 — but DOT formally withdrew it in November 2025, so it is not law and nothing like it is currently pending.
• Delay policies vary a lot by airline, so check your airline's own contract of carriage before you count on meals, a hotel, or a specific dollar amount.

Do airlines have to pay you for a delay or cancellation?

No. For domestic flights, US law does not require airlines to compensate you with cash, miles, or vouchers just because your flight was delayed or cancelled. According to DOT's flight delay guidance and its Fly Rights guide, compensation is left entirely to each airline's own customer service policy. That's why the experience varies so much between carriers — one airline might offer a meal voucher or a hotel room for an overnight delay it caused, while another offers nothing beyond a seat on the next available flight, because none of it is legally required.

What refund are you actually guaranteed?

Refunds are a separate right from compensation, and they are required. Under DOT's automatic refund rule, airlines must give you your money back — in cash or your original payment method, not a travel voucher, unless you actively choose the voucher — when your flight is cancelled and you don't take the replacement flight. The same protection applies to a "significant change": for a domestic flight, that means the airline moves your departure or arrival time by three hours or more and you decide not to fly the new schedule. DOT's refund page and its explainer on the automatic refund rule both spell out the same standard — and the refund is supposed to happen automatically once you decline the new flight, not only after you ask for it.

A bigger compensation rule was proposed — then withdrawn

In December 2024, DOT floated a much bigger idea: a tiered cash-compensation rule that would have required airlines to pay stranded passengers directly for lengthy, airline-caused delays. Under the proposed rulemaking, domestic delays of three to six hours would have paid $200 to $300, delays of six to nine hours $375 to $525, and delays of nine hours or more $750 to $775, on top of free rebooking and covered meals or lodging (DOT's rulemaking proposal). That plan never took effect. In November 2025, DOT formally withdrew it: according to the Federal Register withdrawal notice, the department concluded it lacked clear legal authority to mandate specific dollar amounts and that the rule would add unnecessary regulatory burden. There is currently no federal requirement that airlines pay these amounts, and no similar proposal is pending.

This is exactly why the disclaimer matters: a rule can move from "proposed" to "withdrawn" in under a year, the way this one did. Before you count on a specific number, check your airline's own contract of carriage and DOT's aviation consumer protection site directly for the current status.

What should you actually do if your flight is delayed or cancelled?

• Confirm which situation you're in. A delay means your flight still operated, just late; a cancellation means it never ran at all — see what counts as a delayed flight and cancelled vs. delayed flight for the exact definitions.
• Ask for a refund, not a voucher, if you qualify. A cancellation, or a domestic schedule change of three or more hours, entitles you to your money back in cash if you decline the new flight — airlines won't necessarily default to the cash option unless you ask for it.
• Check your airline's own delay policy before assuming you're owed nothing else. Meals, hotel stays, and rebooking help for delays within the airline's control are common but voluntary, and they're usually spelled out in the airline's own contract of carriage or customer service plan, not in federal law.
• Don't assume the $200–$775 compensation numbers apply. That tiered rule was proposed and then withdrawn — it isn't law, so an airline has no federal obligation to pay it.

Most trips never trigger any of this: 78.2% of US flights arrive on time, based on FlightRecord's analysis of 14.1 million US flights from June 2024 through May 2026. But the roughly one flight in five that doesn't is worth knowing your rights on before you're standing at the gate figuring it out in real time.

Frequently asked questions

Will an airline give me cash if my flight is delayed?

Not automatically, and not because federal law requires it. Airlines aren't required to compensate you for a domestic delay or cancellation — it's a business decision each one makes on its own, so policies range from meal vouchers and hotel stays to nothing at all. Check your airline's contract of carriage for what it actually promises.

What's the difference between a refund and compensation?

A refund gives you back money you already paid for a ticket you're no longer using. Compensation is an extra payment for the inconvenience of a delay or cancellation. Refunds are required by law in specific situations — cancellations and significant schedule changes. Compensation, outside a few narrow cases, generally is not.

How long does my flight need to be delayed before I'm owed a refund?

For a domestic flight, a schedule change of three or more hours — departing much earlier or arriving much later than planned — counts as a "significant change" that entitles you to a refund if you decline the new flight. A full cancellation qualifies regardless of length, as long as you don't accept the replacement flight.

Is the $200 to $775 flight delay compensation rule real?

It was proposed, but it is not in effect. DOT floated the tiered compensation idea in December 2024 and then formally withdrew the proposal in November 2025. No federal rule currently requires airlines to pay those amounts, and none is pending.

Where can I check what my airline actually owes me?

Two places: your airline's contract of carriage, which spells out its specific delay and cancellation policies, and DOT's aviation consumer protection site, which tracks the current federal rules and any rulemaking in progress. Since rules can and do change, it's worth checking DOT's site directly rather than relying on a number you saw somewhere else.