What are your rights when a flight has been canceled or delayed?
BALTIMORE -- In a world where things are not always clear and times may seem more hectic than ever, you can have a lot of questions and you may need some help navigating.
WJZ and Rick Ritter answer your questions in our new series "Question Everything."
If you have a question, we'll track down the answer. Email us at Newsroom@wjz.com
What to do when your flight is canceled
Traveling at the airport is one of those times that can be overwhelming. For many, it seems like cancelations and delays are becoming far too common.
So, what do you do when your flight is canceled or delayed and what are your refund rights?
In the moment, experts urge you to see how quickly the airline can put you on another flight.
If it's not timely, you can ask for a cash refund. You can take that money to another airline and try to see if they have any vacant seats on a flight going to the same destination.
You can also ask the airline, although it's up to them, if you can use your ticket on another airline going to the same destination.
What are your rights?
According to the Department of Transportation's updated rules and website, if your flight is canceled or delayed by more than three hours domestically or six hours internationally, if your airport is changed or there's an increase in the number of connections, you are then entitled to a refund.
"I think this is great," one traveler said. "I got a meal voucher one time before and this is totally different now. I think it's good and it can only help keep airlines accountable."
"It can be confusing and education is very important," said another traveler. 'This is good to see. I didn't know this."
Automatic cash refunds
The Biden-Harris Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation issued the final rule to provide passengers with automatic cash refunds when owed in an effort to make it easy to get their money back without headaches or haggling and to also understand what they are entitled to.
The new rules just went into effect on August 12.
Before this, policies could vary by the airline and that made it difficult for passengers to navigate or assert their refund rights.
The Department of Transportation said it received complaints about some airlines revising and applying less consumer-friendly refund policies during spikes in flight cancelations and changes.
Stranded in Jamaica
For Reggie Cornish Jr, a trip to Jamaica was the dream of a lifetime.
"The coolest thing for me was just being there with my classmates, reminiscing," Cornish Jr. said.
Cornish relaxed in paradise while reconnecting with his Baltimore City College class for a 35-year reunion.
"Every time they greeted you, they greeted you with a smile, everyone is nice," Cornish said. "It was a great atmosphere and was special to do it with my classmates."
But Cornish went from feeling on top of the world to wondering what comes next when his flight home was canceled.
"You really feel helpless because you are sitting there and don't know when you're going home," he said.
Cornish and his classmates were left stranded and scrambling.
"It was a lot of stress and just unknown," Cornish said. "We were trying to get to the travel agent but it was so early in the morning. You are just sitting there basically in a daze trying to figure out what's going to happen next."
Flight mishaps
Cornish's story seems to be a common theme as of late.
Passengers nationwide have been left trying to navigate the airline madness when flight mishaps are in play.
In December 2022, Southwest Airlines canceled more than 60% of its flights in two days. It was dubbed "the holiday meltdown" and led to passengers trying to jump through hoops to rebook or get refunds.
Then, last month, the CrowdStrike outage caused systems to crash and it impacted more than 10,000 flights around the world.
"It is happening more and more and the kind of delays and cancelations are getting to be worse and worse," said Paul Hudson, President of FlyersRights.org.
"The No.1 reason is because airlines don't have the equipment or personnel," Hudson added. "It used to be when planes were only half full, if your flight was canceled, you could then get on the next flight. Now planes are mostly falling full and that means hours to days of delays, at times."
"It's not easy"
Cornish made it home a few days later on the same airline.
But, until you get into that situation and have the information in front of you, it's not easy to navigate.
"It's not easy," Cornish said. "You're wondering what other airlines can you check, what you're entitled to and you wonder when will we get home. Not to mention, it's more money to stay at the hotel and then you have to take more time off from work. It all adds up. I've done my fair share of traveling but this is the first time I had a flight canceled. You hear stories, but until you go through it, it can definitely be a lot."
