Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - As the lake effect snow storm in Western New York has caused scores of flight delays and cancellations at Buffalo Niagara International, some people may be looking to get their plane ticket refunds for which they are entitled to.
Under federal law, you are entitled to get the full refund if an airline cancels a flight for whatever reason.
This means you'll get the money back they way you paid it, "Airlines like to give vouchers because they'd like to give people a travel credit to travel in the future, but what the government has been working on is making sure that people are entitled to a cash refund in their original form of payment so that they can get their money back if their flight was canceled," says Central and Western New York AAA's Elizabeth Carey.
"Unfortunately, the refund should just come to you automatically, but sometimes that's not always the case. So after you take a trip, and if you do have a cancellation or significant delay along the way, you should reach out to the airline and be proactive about receiving that refund. If there's a problem, you can report it to the Department of Transportation, which is something that we saw happen a lot during the pandemic," Carey says.
If a flight gets overbooked or if you're denied boarding that would also count as a cancellation, "You should be entitled to something in that situation. So it's anytime that you are not able to travel on your designated flight because of the airline for whatever the mixup may be and they and you choose not to or they don't give you an alternative form of transportation," said Carey.
So if you're trying to change a flight for the sake of convenience, you wouldn't be able to obtain a refund, same with if you bought a nonrefundable ticket and couldn't arrive due to illness.
During a significant delay, you may receive a refund, but the Department of Transportation are still working on the parameters for what "significant" means, "The Department of Transportation hasn't defined what a significant delay is, but they are working on behalf of travelers to be an advocate for travelers so that they can receive the refunds and the credits that they deserve," says Carey.
Another factor of note that the government is working on according to Carey, "There's really an open forum for this right now into December, where people can give their feedback, is that they want to make sure that the travelers are getting the right price upfront. So they're not saying, 'Oh, this flight costs x amount of dollars' and then they go on to book it and then they find out they have to pay extra to sit with their loved ones or pay extra for a certain seat on the plane or pay extra for bags. So they want all that upfront and transparent for travelers. That's something we'll probably see in the near future."