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IF you’re traveling via plane for Thanksgiving and your flight is canceled or delayed, you could be automatically entitled to refunds.
During the holiday season, tons of travelers will be going by plane around the US – but what may hinder your journey are travel disruptions.
But fear not, according to Fox Business, under the Biden administration’s new rules, automatic cash refunds are required for canceled or significantly delayed flights.
The brand new automatic refund rule which was initially laid out in April by the Department of Transportation created a universal standard for airline passengers.
If you’re on a flight to or from within the US – you are owed a refund for various disruption to your journey, if it qualifies.
Before the rule took effect, airlines set their own standards as to what flight alterations meant passengers were entitled to money back.
The rules recent establishment was to “address persistent issues reported by airline passengers who were trying to obtain refunds they were owed,” the Department of Transportation said.
Now travelers will know the different flight changes that warrant a refund if the passenger chooses not to continue with booked travel.
The rules also say that a canceled flight would mean a passenger is entitled to a refund if the passenger doesn’t continue with their booked trip.
Airlines will also be required to provide automatic refunds to passengers when refunds are owed.
A passenger would be entitled to a refund if a flight is canceled for any reason and the airline doesn’t rebook the passenger onto another flight or the passenger doesn’t accept alternative compensation like a flight voucher.
A refund is also due when a flight is canceled and the passenger doesn’t accept the airline’s offer to rebook them or provide some kind of other ocmpensation.
And when a flight is “significantly changed” and the passenger doesn’t accept the change of itinerary or any offers of rebooking or compensation – you’re entitled to a refund.
A “significant change”, according to the Department of Transport, is when a flight’s departure or arrival time is changed by more than three hours domestically and six hours internationally.
This includes changes in departure or arrival airports and increased in the number of connections or connections at various airports.
And it also applies to cases when a passenger gets downgraded to a lower class of service or if flights are switched to using planes with little accessibility or less accommodating to a person with a disability.
Under the new rules passengers can also get refunds if their baggage is significantly delayed or if they paid for extra services and those weren’t provided.
For those flying international, passengers will be refunded if their bag doesn’t arrive within 15 to 30 hours of their flight arriving at the gate – depending on the flight length.
And passengers can be refunded if they paid for a service that the airline failed to provide like WiFi or seat selection.
How will you be refunded?
Airlines must automatically give refunds without passengers having to request them within seven business days of refunds becoming due for credit card purchases.
For other payment methods this is 20 calendar days.
The refunds must be the full ticket purchase price, minus the cost of any portion of transportation that had already been used.
The money back must also include all government-imposed taxes and fees and airline-imposed fees, according to the Department of Transport.
And refunds must be returned in the form of the original payment used to make the purchase whether it be credit card of airline miles.
Airlines can’t substitute these refunds for other forms of compensation unless the passenger accepts it.
If the alternative compensation is accepted by the passenger, it must be valid for at least five years from the date of its issuance.
But according to the Department of Transport, passengers won’t be refunded if they accept a rebooked flight with the airline or continue with a significantly changed itinerary.
A lot of US airlines have promised to provide hotels for overnight delays or meals for affected passengers during significant delays and cancellations that are caused by issues within the control of the airline.
TSA’s 3-1-1 rule
The Transportation Security Administration regulates the amount of liquids, aerosols, and gels that flyers can bring through airport security with the 3-1-1 liquids rule.
The 3-1-1 rule consists of the following:
Each container of liquid has to be 3.4 ounces or less.
All liquids have to fit in one clear, quart-sized, resealable bag.
Finally, passengers can only bring one bag of liquids each.