As the holiday season approaches, a new rule is working to protect your wallet and your travel plans. Now, all airlines in the U.S. are required to issue automatic cash refunds within 20 days of any of the following scenarios: Your flight is canceled or significantly delayed (3-plus hours domestic, 6-plus hours international)Your checked bag doesn’t arrive within a reasonable amount of time (12-plus hours domestic, 15-30 hours international)A service you paid for isn’t provided (On-board Wi-Fi, seat selection)In an interview with CNN this spring, Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, said he hopes the new requirement will hold all airlines accountable and level the playing field. “If an airline knows that anybody on a flight that’s gonna get canceled is gonna get their money back, it gives them more of a reason to make the investments and realistic schedules that prevent that from happening to you in the first place,” Buttigieg said. NBC5 spoke with travelers at the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport who said they’d had their share of these experiences. Robert Ivy said he’s grown familiar with the process of not finding his checked suitcase at baggage claim. “And it gets delivered late and somebody’s knocking at the door at two in the morning and, you know, it’s just a nuisance,” Ivy said. But now he said the new rule leaves him feeling reassured for his next flight. “I’m glad being forced to clean up their act a little,” he said.
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. —
As the holiday season approaches, a new rule is working to protect your wallet and your travel plans.
Now, all airlines in the U.S. are required to issue automatic cash refunds within 20 days of any of the following scenarios:
- Your flight is canceled or significantly delayed (3-plus hours domestic, 6-plus hours international)
- Your checked bag doesn’t arrive within a reasonable amount of time (12-plus hours domestic, 15-30 hours international)
- A service you paid for isn’t provided (On-board Wi-Fi, seat selection)
In an interview with CNN this spring, Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, said he hopes the new requirement will hold all airlines accountable and level the playing field.
“If an airline knows that anybody on a flight that’s gonna get canceled is gonna get their money back, it gives them more of a reason to make the investments and realistic schedules that prevent that from happening to you in the first place,” Buttigieg said.
NBC5 spoke with travelers at the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport who said they’d had their share of these experiences. Robert Ivy said he’s grown familiar with the process of not finding his checked suitcase at baggage claim.
“And it gets delivered late and somebody’s knocking at the door at two in the morning and, you know, it’s just a nuisance,” Ivy said.
But now he said the new rule leaves him feeling reassured for his next flight.
“I’m glad [airlines are] being forced to clean up their act a little,” he said.
