US rules pay nothing for a delay itself, but a cancelled or significantly changed flight you decline must be refunded automatically in your original form of payment: within 7 business days on a credit card, 20 calendar days otherwise (14 CFR 260.6 and 260.10). Bag fees and paid extras you never received are refundable too.
[Your full name]
[Your address]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Today's date]
[Airline name] — Customer Relations / Refunds
[Airline claims address or online claim form]
Re: Refund demand under 14 CFR Part 260
Flight [Flight number]
Route [Departure airport] to [Final destination airport]
Date of flight [Flight date]
Confirmation number [Booking reference]
Dear Sir or Madam,
Flight [Flight number] on [Flight date] was
[cancelled / significantly changed]. Under 14 CFR 260.2 a change is
significant where the departure or arrival time moves by three hours or
more on a domestic flight, or six hours or more on an international
flight, where the departure or arrival airport changes, where a
connection is added, or where the passenger is downgraded. In my case
[the time changed / the airport changed / a connection was added / I was downgraded].
I did not accept the alternative transportation or any other
compensation offered, and I have not made an affirmative acceptance
under 14 CFR 260.7.
Under 14 CFR 260.6 I am owed a refund of the fare and of every
carrier-imposed fee for the parts of the itinerary I did not fly. The
amount is [Currency] [Refund amount].
My checked bag was not delivered within the period in 14 CFR 260.5, so
the bag fee of [Currency] [Bag fee] is also refundable. I paid for
[Paid service not provided], which was not provided, so under 14 CFR
260.4 that fee of [Currency] [Amount] is refundable as well.
14 CFR 260.10 requires the refund to be made in the original form of
payment, promptly: within 7 business days for a credit card purchase and
within 20 calendar days for other payment methods. I do not accept a
travel credit, voucher or miles in place of cash.
Please issue [Currency] [Total] to my original form of payment within
that period.
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Your full name]
How to use it
- Delete every paragraph that does not apply. Most claims are the fare alone.
- Pick the exact reason from the 260.2 list and delete the rest — vagueness is what gets a refund request queued.
- Attach the airline’s own cancellation or schedule-change email. It proves the change and its size.
- Send it to the refunds address and diarise seven business days from that date.
- If nothing arrives, file with the DOT and open a card dispute in parallel.
A refund and a travel credit are not interchangeable. Under 14 CFR 260.7 a carrier may keep your money as credit only where you affirmatively accept the offer after being told you could have cash instead. Clicking the only button on a rebooking page is not that. Say in writing that you never gave affirmative acceptance.
What counts as a “significant change”?
The definition in 14 CFR 260.2 is a list, not a judgement call: departure or arrival moved by three hours or more on a domestic flight, or six hours or more on an international one; a different departure or arrival airport; an added connection; a downgrade to a lower class; or, for a passenger with a disability, a substitute aircraft or connecting airports that are less accessible.
Can I get the checked-bag fee back?
Yes, if the bag was significantly delayed. Under 14 CFR 260.5 that means not delivered within 12 hours of arrival on a domestic flight, 15 hours on an international itinerary whose longest segment is 12 hours or less, or 30 hours on a longer one. That is a fee refund, separate from the baggage damages claim for what you had to buy.
What about a service I paid for and did not get?
14 CFR 260.4 requires a prompt and automatic refund of fees for ancillary services that were not provided through no fault of yours — seat selection you never got to use, Wi-Fi that did not work, paid lounge access on a cancelled leg. Name the service, the amount, and the flight. For a template focused on a single paid extra rather than the whole fare, use the paid extras refund letter.
One narrow caveat: the DOT has paused enforcement of part of the refund rule where a flight is simply renumbered and you are rebooked on the new number with no significant change. That does not touch cancellations, significant changes, delayed bags or unprovided services — see US passenger rights for the current position. If the airline ignores the letter, a card chargeback is the usual next move. A refund is a different claim from being held on the aircraft itself — if that happened, use the tarmac delay letter, and track every deadline in this letter with the deadlines tool.