The short answer
Whatever the cause, the airline must rebook you or, in many cases, refund you. If the cancellation was within its control and not required for safety, and you were told 14 days or less before departure, it also owes cash compensation: up to $1,000 per passenger on a large airline.
Your three rights
- Rebooking on another flight, free.
- A refund if the new flight doesn’t work for you (the rules below say when).
- Cash compensation, only when the cause was within the airline’s control and not required for safety.
Rebooking: how fast the airline must find you a seat
Cause within the airline’s control (including safety)
- Large airline: the next available flight of its own or a partner’s, leaving within 9 hours of your original departure. If there isn’t one, a flight on any airline from the same airport within 48 hours. Failing that, any airline from a nearby airport, with transport there.
- Small airline: the next available flight of its own or a partner’s from the same airport.
Cause outside the airline’s control (weather, air traffic control, strikes)
- The next available flight of its own or a partner’s, leaving within 48 hours of your original departure.
- If it can’t confirm one within 48 hours, you choose: a refund, or other arrangements (a large airline must then look at any airline, including from nearby airports).
If the new seat is in a higher class, you don’t pay more. If it’s lower, you get the difference back for that part of the trip.
Refunds
- When the cause was within the airline’s control and the new flight doesn’t meet your travel needs, you can ask for a refund of the unused part of your ticket.
- If you’re already partway through the trip and it no longer has a purpose, you can get the whole ticket refunded and a free flight back to where you started.
- Refunds go to whoever paid, by the original payment method, within 30 days. A voucher instead is only allowed if you agree in writing: see voucher or cash.
Cash compensation
It’s owed when the cancellation was within the airline’s control, not required for safety, and you were told 14 days or less before departure.
If you took the new flight
The amount depends on how late you reached the destination on your original ticket:
| Arrived late by | Large airline | Small airline |
|---|---|---|
| 3 to under 6 hours | $400 | $125 |
| 6 to under 9 hours | $700 | $250 |
| 9 hours or more | $1,000 | $500 |
If you took a refund instead
When the new flight didn’t meet your travel needs and you were refunded, the amount is fixed: $400 per passenger on a large airline, $125 on a small one.
Meals and hotel while you wait
If the cause was within the airline’s control and you were told less than 12 hours before departure, it must provide food and drink after 2 hours, and a hotel if you have to wait overnight. Details in meals and hotel during a delay.
Told about the cancellation early?
If the airline told you more than 14 days before departure, the APPR compensation amounts don’t apply. The airline’s own terms (its tariff) still set what it owes you, and it must still rebook or refund.