What new US refund rules for flight disruptions mean for Qantas
Tough new consumer protection laws cover all flights to and from the USA.
By David Flynn, October 30 2024
Passengers on all flights to or from the United States are now entitled to automatic cash refunds if their flight is significantly delayed, changed or cancelled, under national consumer protection rules which came into effect this week.
Refunds will also be triggered by delayed baggage and services paid for but not delivered, such as seat selection, with refunds also issued when travellers are downgraded to a lower cabin than they booked.
The new rules cover all airlines flying to and from the USA, as well as passengers in transit through the US to other destinations such as Canada or South America.
Airlines will have to issue refunds rather than travel credit or vouchers - and travellers won’t even be required to ask for a refund, according to the US Department of Transportation.
Instead, airlines will be required to issue refunds automatically: within seven business days for tickets bought on a credit card, and within 20 calendar days for any other form of payment.
“Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them – without headaches or haggling,” said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
However, those refunds will be payable only if a passenger does not accept a “significantly changed flight, rebooking on an alternative flight, or alternative compensation.”
Refunds are also payable for situations which are both controllable and ‘uncontrollable’, so airlines must advise customers of their rights to a refund regardless of the reason for any disruption.
New US flight refund rules explained
The strict rules encompass not only US-based carriers but international airlines such as Qantas, which currently flies from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas-Forth Worth and New York.
Approached by Executive Traveller, a Qantas spokesperson noted that “Under the Qantas Conditions of Carriage, passengers are already entitled to a refund if their flight is significantly delayed or cancelled.”
The US Department of Transportation has set the following benchmarks for airline refunds.
A significant delay is defined as at least three hours for domestic flights and six hours for international flights (airlines were previously able to set their own thresholds).
A significantly changed flight is defined as follows:
- a flight is cancelled
- the departure or arrival is delayed or changed more than six hours, from the original departure time when a customer purchased their tickets
- additional connection points are added to a journey
- departure is from a different airport than the original booked itinerary
- customers are downgraded to a lower cabin
- customers with a disability are re-accommodated on a different aircraft where one or more accessibility features are unavailable
Passengers are also entitled to have checked bag fees refunded if their luggage doesn’t arrive
- within 12 hours of a domestic flight landing
- within 15 hours of an international flight landing, if the flight itself was less than 12 hours
- within 30 hours of an international flight landing, if the flight itself was more than 12 hours
Airlines must also issue refunds if passengers pay for something that’s unavailable or not functional during their flight – such as WiFi or inflight entertainment – as well as if they paid to choose a specific seat but ended up sitting somewhere else.
Also read: How to claim compensation for delayed or cancelled Qantas flights from London, Paris or Rome
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
20 Aug 2014
Total posts 170
So going by this paragraph:
"However, those refunds will be payable only if a passenger does not accept a “significantly changed flight, rebooking on an alternative flight, or alternative compensation."
If you're flight is delayed by 7 hours and you accept that delay by waiting for your delayed flight you'll get nothing?
So this is not a Euro style compensation scheme. Or am I misreading this?
20 Nov 2015
Total posts 477
That's my reading of this, it's pretty clearly not an EU-style compensation scheme, it just forces the airline to issue a full refund under specific and clearly-defined circumstances. And yes, the bit about passengers not getting a refund if "they do not accept the significantly changed flight" is confusing!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 Mar 2013
Total posts 171
...well, for one, I'm happy. Caught way too many times from a less than impressive 'caring' QF.
24 Apr 2017
Total posts 79
Pull the other one Qantas, it wasn't long ago you were claiming we hadn't even bought tickets on a specific flight but only a “bundle of rights”. therefore we weren't entitled to refunds or compensation.
26 Mar 2020
Total posts 73
We should be implemting something very similar here in Australia - its only in the airline industry where it's seen as excusable to pay for a particular level of product or service and then not receive it at all - and then have a room of people say well "first world problems"
01 Oct 2024
Total posts 2
Totally agree, it's not an EU-261 style of compensation. And clearly they're trying to reduce argy-bargy by making it automatic compensation rather than applied-for compensation like with EU - 261.
However for benefit of the doubt, the line about not accepting another form of compensation, what I think/hope they're referring to is not merely accepting meal vouchers (!), but rather when sometimes airlines will ask for volunteers to take the next flight and may even offer some cash compensation for doing so. What they're saying here is, if you've accepted the flight change, you won't be refunded.
This is more likely for international flights, but it definitely does happen. My brother and his family have been able to score $800 each ($3200 collectively) for waiting for the next flight to the UK. Great spending money!
I'd love to know what happens in a corporate situation, where the company is paying for the flights. With EU261, since it's really compensation for an inconvenience, the traveller gets it, not the corporate (if the flight is cancelled, of course the FOP will be refunded rather than traveller per se). So with this new US refund rule, any refunds should go to the original form of payment, i.e. corporate card. That will require reconciliation and possible credits on hold and maybe refund to TMC who then need to manage payout. Could incur payment gateway fees. Sounds pretty messy to manage and it doesn't actually compensate the traveller who has been put out with the signifcant delay, downgrade or luggage lost.
Key will be the details of what they mean by payable only if a passenger does not accept a “significantly changed flight, rebooking on an alternative flight, or alternative compensation.”
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
05 Oct 2016
Total posts 116
This 100% needs to be implemented in AU, even more so because of the lack of competition and virtual monopoly by QF compared to USA.
05 Mar 2015
Total posts 418
The 'caveat' that the refund will be payable only if a passenger does not accept "alternative compensation" is going to catch some people out, if for example there's a BIG delay to a Qantas flight out of LAX or a cancellation, and given the late night departure they offer to put you up at the LAX Hilton or whatever, and rebook you on the next evening's flight, then are you effectively accepting some form of "alternative compensation"?
Along the same lines you might not have a choice BUT to accept a "significantly changed flight" if your QF12 at 10.20pm LAX-SYD is pushed back, there aren't many alternatives for QF to rebook you on, are there. It's not like HKG or SIN where QF could rebook you onto another overnight flight the same evening with CX or even SQ.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 Jun 2015
Total posts 8
This all sounds good until I read “ a Qantas spokesperson noted that “Under the Qantas Conditions of Carriage”. My question is how much will Qantas Conditions of Carriage will negate these new rules. 🧐
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1215
You can't contract out of the law so the Conditions of Carriage cannot override the law.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer P1
23 Aug 2014
Total posts 147
Qantas's interpretation of "a significantly changed flight" will be the key and they are highly likely to find a way around it unless new management alters the existing (distorted) balance between a "customer focused approach" (underwhelming) and a "profit focused approach" (hyper focused)
25 Jun 2018
Total posts 50
Just watch the Chairman’s Lounge - aka both sides of Federal Parliament, stop any move to institute similar changes to domestic flights here in Aust. I have been waiting for 3 months to receive a refund from Qantas for a payment made to reserve specific seats (exit row) on a domestic flight. Everyone that I have spoken to at Qantas has assured me that the refund would be made automatically. My lawyer has started preparing a case to sue for ‘non-supply of paid for service’..
13 May 2020
Total posts 827
very few people will ever get any funds. Weather, aircraft issues etc.
28 Sep 2022
Total posts 23
It's a sad day when US has better regulatory protections than us...
Delta Air Lines - SkyMiles
16 Oct 2017
Total posts 159
It seems to me, using the QF12 example, if you chose not to accept then you'd know you'll get a refund and you'd be free to book any other carrier at any other time/date. Best to check what's available though, before choosing to accept or decline a QF offer.
As for conditions of carriage, it's my understanding the USDT regulation cannot be negated in that way. It's the law.
13 May 2020
Total posts 827
airlines are not responsible for atc or weather delays of incoming or outgoing aircraft. In other words very few refunds will actually ever happen.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
18 Feb 2015
Total posts 124
End of the day this will just increase fares for all to pay for the inconveniences of the few….. its basically lotto
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
15 Jan 2017
Total posts 8
Although I generally support this idea, not sure what the ‘uncontrollable’ would entail ( Refunds are also payable for situations which are both controllable and ‘uncontrollable’. Does that mean if there is a major disruption at an airport (ie weather) you can still get refund? I would have thought that insurance would cover events like this. Also it could be concerning if there is a fault with a plane and pilots determine to take a course of action that would minimise costs over safety (and this could be any airline and there are some well documented cases where an aircraft has crashed when it should have returned, (not saying it is something that would occur with Qantas). I suspect this will just increase the price of fares.
03 May 2013
Total posts 683
There goes the A380 from US routes and its perpetual technical delays.
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