On Wednesday, the Biden Administration implemented new guidelines in regards to airlines with fees and refunds.
The new policies would assist travelers if things go array. This includes flight delays, lost baggage, or seats that were purchased that were later found to be unavailable. The Department of Justice has ordered that travelers receive a refund in those cases.
The new modifications will make airlines provide full cash refunds for travelers after a 3-hour delay on a domestic flight or following a six-hour delay on an international flight.
The refund guidelines are also linked to baggage. If bags get delayed 12 hours on a domestic flight or 15 to 30 hours on an international flight, a refund will be issued.
The rule modification will also make airlines be more transparent about additional fees like bag cost or cancellation and change expenses. Those add quite a bit to a ticket price.
Not only that, but new refund guidelines will also be applied to extra services like Wi-Fi or seat selection if the airline doesn’t provide the service that was purchased.
The Department of Transportation has noted that these new modifications will save travelers about $500 million per year.
