St. Joseph travelers laud new airline refund policy
By Cameron Montemayor
St. Joseph flyers making their plans for spring or summer airline travel will have one less headache to worry about in the near future.
New regulations laid out by the White House this month would standardize the process of getting a refund when extended airline delays or cancellations occur.
Currently, each airline is responsible for deciding how long a delay must last before triggering refunds. Dealing with delays can oftentimes be a stressful process that can cost people valuable time and money, especially for novice flyers.
Under the new rules, travelers who experience cancellations or delays of three hours or more for domestic flights will automatically qualify for a cash refund. International flights would require a six-hour delay for full cash refunds.
St. Joseph resident and frequent traveler Elaine Coder is pleasantly surprised by the airline announcement. It comes after multiple instances where she’s had to scramble at the last second to rebook a flight.
“During my working years, when we were traveling and we’d get delayed and even flights canceled,” Coder said. “Now it’s nice, especially for people who are working on limited time of travel and where their destination is going to be.”
Airlines will still be permitted to offer replacement flights or airline credits, but if consumers aren’t satisfied with the offer, they can reject it and opt for a cash refund.
Local travel agencies like Aura Travel are hailing the move as long overdue to help consumers avoid jumping through hoops to find out if they’re eligible for full refunds.
“I’m glad that this has come about. It’ll definitely help the consumers before the airlines are kind of able to make up their own rules on that,” said Chad Cotter, general manager of Aura Travel.
Cotter has seen the number of delayed or canceled flights rebound after seeing widespread delays or cancellations on a near-daily basis in 2022, when nearly 181,000 flights were canceled across the U.S. in a chaotic travel season.
“There’s a lot of anxieties people can have when coming in and booking a trip,” Cotter said. “So now this forces the airlines to take care of the consumers because the consumers deserve to be taken care of … these are their dream trips. People have invested a lot of money in those trips.”
Even with inflation putting pressure on consumer’s wallets, he’s seen significant demand for flights recently in St. Joseph as travel seasons ramps up.
New rules would also impact luggage. Refunds will be available for checked-bag fees if bags weren’t delivered within 12 hours for domestic flights.
The U.S. Department of Transportation projects the ruling will save consumers collectively more than $500 million a year.
