S/V Sundance: Airline travelers no longer have to wait on hold for a measly voucher refund

Friday, May 10, 2024

Airline travelers no longer have to wait on hold for a measly voucher refund

Faith, if you've ever experienced the sheer joy of a flight getting canceled and sitting on the floor of a terminal while on hold with customer service, listening to upbeat elevator music for hours in order to receive a refund in the form of a measly voucher, I've got great news for you.

The Biden-Harris administration recently announced new rules that protect airline travelers, including:

Requiring airlines to automatically give full cash refunds — not vouchers, not flight credits — for canceled and significantly delayed flights.
Making it so airlines can no longer call their own shots for what defines "significantly delayed." Across the board, customers will receive refunds for domestic flights that are delayed more than three hours and international flights that are delayed more than six hours.
Applying these protections for tickets purchased directly from airlines, travel agents and third-party sites.
Requiring airlines to give automatic cash refunds if your bags are lost and not delivered within 12 hours.

Sounds great, right? But we faced a roadblock while getting this across the finish line. You see, the Senate just negotiated these new rules as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, and I noticed one line in the bill that completely stripped the "automatic" part out of the automatic refunds. Instead of automatically getting their money back, customers would be forced to manually request refunds in writing or online, wasting time and energy.

I knew this would be a gift to the airline companies, who know many travelers won't have the time or resources to navigate the bureaucratic process they designed. So I fought back and filed a bipartisan amendment to make those refunds actually automatic and crack down on these ways airlines make it harder for consumers to get their money back.

We fought, and we delivered. Last night, the Senate passed these new rules that protect travelers — with those actually automatic refunds guaranteed. I'm going to keep fighting to stop airline companies and big corporations from taking advantage of consumers. If you're able, can you please chip in $28 or anything you can to support this important work?

If you've saved payment info with ActBlue Express, your donation will process automatically:

DONATE NOW: $3

DONATE NOW: $15

DONATE NOW: $28

DONATE NOW: $50

DONATE NOW: $100

OTHER AMOUNT

Rampant flight cancellations and delays have cost Americans time, money, and memories they could be making on long-awaited trips — and the companies responsible are not being held accountable. While travelers are forced to sleep on terminal chairs instead of spending the holidays with their families, airline executives still pocket the money they got for unmet services.

Enough.

For years, I've called for new consumer protection rules for airline passengers, urging the Department of Transportation to fine airlines that delay or cancel flights because of staffing or operational issues.

The Biden-Harris administration has taken this issue seriously, and the new proposed rules will drastically rebalance the power dynamic between consumers and airline companies. And I'm glad the Senate passed my amendment that put American families ahead of airline profit and ensured the automatic refunds would actually be automatic.

This is just another way we can put the government on the side of working people, not corporations, and I'm fighting hard to keep delivering these wins for working people.

If you're able to pitch in $28 or anything you can today, you'll ensure we can keep up this fight in the Senate to stop corporations from taking advantage of consumers.

Thanks for being a part of this,

Elizabeth