As US DOT Rules Becomes Effective October 28
1 November 2024
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) habit of delaying flights to the United States and back to the Philippines on account of inadequate fleet is over as the U.S. Department of Transportation has worked through regulatory channels to implement stringent rules to strengthen consumer protection for U.S. air travelers, with the new rule taking effect on October 28th.
The DOT’s new rule (as published in the Federal Register) requires airlines to provide prompt, automatic refunds to passengers enduring “significant flight disruptions” and the rulebook also defines what that means.
This new requires airlines to compensate passengers when they cancel, delay or substantially change flights, requiring automatic refunds to be issued in cash (meaning check or wire), or to the original form of payment, within 20 days or less.
The Act was signed into law on May 16, 2024, after publication in the Federal Register of the Department's Final rule titled “Refunds and Other Consumer Protection.”
Even though carriers were able to make their own rules regarding when refunds are due until now, this era is over.
As per the DOT, when departure or arrival is delayed by three hours for domestic flights and six hours for international flights, passengers can request a cancellation and refund of the ticket without incurring any penalties.
Full refund, no more trip
I’d like to highlight that this doesn’t mean you can get a full refund and still take your flight. All this new rule mandates is that airlines no longer have the right to keep your money if they delay you and the passenger decides it’s no longer worth it to take the trip, also known as trip in vain.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement in April, when the agency first issued the new rule. “Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them — without headaches or haggling.”
“As soon as an affected passenger notifies the airline either through a representative at the airport, phone, or website data entry that due to delay, the trip is to be canceled and refunded, the refund process has to kick off. Without arguments or excuses.” Secretary Buttigieg added.
Buttigieg stressed that “refunds have to be AUTOMATIC” after being told the passenger no longer wishes to travel due to the delay.
No more flight re-routing
There are also additional provisions for refunds in other disruptive circumstances, including departure or arrival from an airport different from the one booked (rerouting); connections at different airports or flights on planes that are not property mobility accessible to a person with a disability as well as an increase in the number of scheduled connections after a rebooking.
Passengers who pay for ancillary services such as inflight Wi-Fi or payable seat selection which become unavailable for any reason are due to be refunded.
Furthermore, Passengers with significantly delayed bags will also get checked baggage fees refunded.
Baggage Fee Refund
Under this provision, baggage fees for luggage delayed for more than 12 hours on a domestic flight or 15 hours on an international flight/itinerary have to be automatically refunded. However, passengers must first file a PIR (Property Irregularity Report), commonly known as a Mishandled & Lost Baggage Form. You would have to file such a report anyway to get your suitcases back in the first place.
This regulation applies to all carriers operating U.S.-connected itineraries.
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