
How to Secure Your Refund Under the New DOT Airline Rules: A Step-by-Step Guide
The new U.S. Department of Transportation refund rules went into effect last month, helping passengers get automatic refunds for canceled and significantly delayed or changed flights. While this is a huge step for U.S. air passenger rights, it remains to be seen how well airlines will comply with these new rules.
So, what if you don’t get an automatic refund? What steps can you take as a passenger if the airline is slow in sending it or refuses all together? Here, will explain when to expect refunds and what to do if the airline won’t comply.
What are the New DOT Rules?
The new rules require all airlines flying to, from, or within the United States to provide refunds or a rebooking to passengers whose flights have been canceled or significantly changed.
You should not have to request or apply for these refunds. They should be automatically sent to the form of payment you used to purchase your flight.
A significant change is defined as:
- 3+ hour delay for domestic flights, and
- 6+ hour delay for international flights
- Additional layovers added to your itinerary
- Downgrades to seating class or accessibility
- Route changes, as in a different arrival or departure airport from what you originally planned
The refund rules also apply to US baggage handling, allowing passengers to be refunded on luggage fees if their checked bags are:
- Delayed more than 12 hours for domestic flights and
- Delayed between 15-30 hours on international flights
You’ll have to file a baggage mishandling report before you leave the airport in order to get a refund.
Lastly, the rules state that you are owed a refund for any upgrades you purchased including priority boarding, Wi-Fi, seat upgrades, etc. if you don’t actually get these services.
The DOT ruling has been a long and hard fought battle by the industry leaders. The requirement that passengers receive automatic cash refunds when the airlines significantly change or cancel their flights and payment when delayed passengers' checked bags go missing or don't arrive is a much needed relief. The ruling provides the necessary accountability for duty of care to the passenger when passenger rights have been flagrantly ignored for decades. - Andrew Jernigan, CEO at Insured Nomads
How Will the New Refund Rules Be Enforced?
Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg said in a statement,
Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them without headaches or haggling. Our new rule sets a standard to require airlines to promptly provide cash refunds to their passengers.
But what happens if the airline doesn't comply?
To enforce compliance, the DOT will impose penalties and fines, but critics argue that these new rules lack the incentive for full airline compliance, even though in recent years, the Department has issued some hefty fines.
In 2022 alone, the DOT enforced more than $7.25 million in fines against carriers that did not give passengers timely refunds.
Consumer complaint handling and public accountability are some other ways that these rules will be enforced. With its Air Travel Consumer Reports and Flight Rights Dashboard, the DOT can bring more attention to the performance of airlines, including how they handle passenger repayments. While this approach doesn’t provide the same incentives as fines and penalties, it does make airlines more accountable while building public pressure around these issues.
Lastly, the DOT has begun partnering with state attorneys general to facilitate the handling of passenger complaints.
What Happens if You Don’t Get Your Airline Refund?
As part of these new rules, airlines must notify you if you have a right to a refund, so the first thing you should do is check for these notifications. If you did get a notification, then you should see if the refund is still being processed through your credit card or bank.
Credit Cards
If you paid for your ticket with a credit card, the airline has seven days to send that money back to you. However, some credit cards can take up to 10 days to post the returned money to your account. So, check with your credit card to see if the refund is being processed.
Checks and Bank Transfers
If you paid for your ticket by check or another method, the airline has 20 days to send you the repayment. This means that you will still have to wait for the check to arrive via post. If you expect the money to be sent via bank transfer, then check with your bank to see if the funds are being processed.
If the refund money still hasn’t arrived, then you should take the next steps.
How to Get the Refund You’re Owed
If you still haven’t received your refund after you check with your bank and credit card, you should contact the airline in writing to request it. Then, if the airline refuses, you can send a complaint to the DOT, but let’s break down the steps.
Contacting the Airline
When contacting the airline about a refund, it’s best to do it in writing. You can call customer service, but you’ll probably end up on hold for a very long time. Not only that, but when requesting a refund, you want to make sure you have a record of your conversation, and the best way to do this is in writing.
Most airlines in the US provide forms for passengers to request refunds. In these forms, you’ll find a field for comments. In that field, be sure to include as many details as possible about your flight and experience. It’s also very helpful to mention the DOT rules and include any documents or photos to help support your case.
The DOT requires airlines to acknowledge a complaint within 30 days and respond within 60 days. The response should speak directly to your complaint and provide some details and advice on how to proceed.
Refund request pages for US Airlines
Filing a DOT Complaint
If the airline doesn’t respond or if they refuse your request, then you should escalate your complaint to the Department of Transportation. Again, add as much information as possible about the situation, including copies or screenshots of your correspondence with the airline as well as flight details, photos, booking details, and why you believe you are owed a refund.
Because of the sheer volume of complaints, the DOT will not look into each one individually. Instead, they use the submission to track and identify problems.
Check with State Resources
Because of new partnerships with the DOT and state attorneys general, you can reach out to consumer protection agencies who can help you with refund complaints. You can find more information about these agencies by state at USA.gov.
AirAdvisor Can Secure Your Airline Refund
Hopefully, you’ll be able to get refunded without having to pursue the issue with the airlines or state consumer protection agencies. Because of the size of these organizations and the number of complaints they have to manage, the process can be time consuming and frustrating.
If you’d rather not go it alone, let our team of legal experts handle the refund for you! We’ll submit all the paperwork, manage all the correspondence, and all you have to do is give us the details about your flight. If we lose the case, you pay nothing, and if we win, we only take a small percentage to pay our legal professionals.
Also, we’ve been winning cases against airlines since 2017. In fact, we’ve already helped over 400,000 get what they were owed by airlines, and we can do the same for you!
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