In recent years, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has strengthened consumer protections for air travelers in the United States through regulatory action. The latest rule took effect on October 28. Under the DOT rule, when a domestic flight is delayed by 3 hours or an international flight is delayed by 6 hours, passengers can request to cancel their ticket and receive a refund without paying any penalty. In addition, airlines are required to issue automatic refunds within 20 days in cash (check or wire transfer) or to the original form of payment.

According to the law, refunds must be issued within 7 days after receiving a passenger’s refund request. If the ticket was purchased with a credit card, the refund must be made in cash or another form within 20 days.

In subsection (b) of section 42305, the Act established requirements for the timing of the refunds required under subsection (a) . Air carriers and foreign air carriers must issue refunds not later than 7 business days after the earliest date of the refund request, as specified in subsection (f) , for tickets purchased with a credit card, and 20 days for tickets purchased with cash or another form of payment.

The law also defines what counts as a significant change or delay:
The Act also defined a “significantly changed or delayed flight” in subsection (d) of section 42305 as a flight to include, at a minimum, a flight where the passenger arrives at the passenger's destination airport 3 or more hours after the original scheduled arrival time for a domestic flight and 6 or more hours after the original scheduled arrival time for an international flight.

Of course, how this is ultimately enforced will still depend on the airlines. One weakness of this law is that, unlike the European system, it does not include specific penalties for airlines, which makes it less restrictive. If you do not actually receive your refund within the required time, your main options are still to file a complaint or sue. That is still a bit of a hassle for most people. Hopefully stronger enforcement measures will be added over time.