US travelers may have a harder time getting flight delay compensation after Oct. 19

Travelers who rely on meal vouchers, hotel stays, or free rebooking after a delayed or canceled flight may want to review airline policies before October 19. 

A new federal rule could make those protections harder to get.

Here's what to know

For passengers already navigating crowded airports, tight budgets, and high travel costs, the change could shift even more of the disruption burden onto consumers.

Starting October 19, the U.S. Department of Transportation will classify some flight delays and cancellations differently. According to The Hill, that means certain disruptions will no longer count as within an airline's control, a distinction that can determine whether travelers should receive compensation.

An aviation industry spokesperson told the outlet that "10 specific types of flight disruptions will now be tracked in a brand-new reporting category to ensure government delay data accurately reflects what airlines can and cannot control."

Federal regulators say the reclassification should lower airline costs by avoiding "the negative reputational impacts and harm that air carriers currently experience because the attribution of certain delay and cancellation causes to air carriers that this rulemaking addresses as not within their control," per The Hill.

But as Clint Henderson, managing editor for The Points Guy, explained in an email to Nexstar, "This is quite a big blow potentially for customers. These new rules mean fewer and fewer issues are considered within the airline's control… The one that is especially outrageous to me as a consumer advocate is that if a plane goes mechanical or has maintenance issues, that is no longer considered a reason the airline would give you compensation."

More background

When a cancellation or delay is deemed controllable, major U.S. airlines generally place passengers on another of their own flights without charging extra. If the holdup lasts at least three hours, travelers also typically receive a meal, meal cash, or a voucher.

And when those disruptions stretch overnight, nearly every major airline also covers a hotel stay, with Frontier being the only exception. After October 19, though, many more travelers may be left to pay for more themselves. 

And as reported by the Federal Register, President Trump's Transportation Department has acknowledged that the rule change is expected to reduce "the total value of amenities and compensation currently provided by air carriers to consumers."

The move also fits into the larger Trump administration pattern of helping airlines at the expense of customers, like when the administration announced the rollback of a Biden-era policy aimed at requiring more airlines to compensate travelers after disruptions, per The Hill.

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