Most air travelers would seem to know the definition of a "canceled" flight, but as Quartz points out, the term can get a little squishy for airlines when it comes time to issue refunds. To counter that, the Department of Transportation has spelled out for the first time what the phrase means in a new rule:
- "[Canceled] flight or cancellation means a flight with a specific flight number scheduled to be operated between a specific origin-destination city pair that was published in a carrier's Computer Reservation System at the time of the ticket sale but was not operated by the carrier," the rule reads.
It's not poetry, but it might save people money if they get into a dispute. Under the new rules, airlines are now required to automatically issue refunds to fliers within seven days if their flight gets canceled if they paid by credit card (within 20 days for all other forms of payment). The rule went into effect this week, part of a broad new set of protections being rolled out for air travelers, reports USA Today, which spells out some others:
- Delayed flights: A domestic flight is considered delayed if it's three hours late; it's six hours for an international flight. At that point, travelers are entitled to a refund if they so choose.
- Baggage: Passengers can get refunds for checked baggage if it doesn't arrive within 12 hours for a domestic flight and 15 to 30 hours for international flights.
(More
air travel stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
