Airline problems,
and how to fix them.
Cancelled flights, lost bags and surprise fees: what the federal rules and each airline's own policies actually say, in plain English. Every number links to its source, with the date we read it.
Rules worth knowing
- Cash refund if your domestic flight moves 3+ hours and you don't accept it14 CFR 260.2
- Bag fee refunded if a domestic bag is 12+ hours late (file a report)14 CFR 260.2, 260.5
- Least an airline can cap liability for a lost domestic bag14 CFR 254.4
- Minimum life of a credit offered instead of a refund you're owed14 CFR 260.6(c)
What goes wrong most
Refunds, flight problems and baggage were the top three categories of complaints to the U.S. Department of Transportation in the first half of 2026.1
Flight cancelled or delayed
When you're owed a cash refund instead of a credit, what airlines promise for meals and hotels, and the 3-hour tarmac rule.
Lost, delayed or damaged bag
File the report first, get your bag fee back after 12 hours, and what airlines must pay: up to $4,700 domestic, 1,519 SDR international.
Checked bag fees by airline
What each US airline charges for bags 1, 2 and 3, and which price applies based on the day you bought your ticket.
Refund refused or stuck as a credit
The 7-business-day and 20-day refund deadlines, and when a voucher has to last five years.
Bumped from an oversold flight
Denied-boarding compensation: 200% or 400% of your fare, capped at $1,075 or $2,150.
Stuck on the tarmac
Deplaning limits (3 hours domestic, 4 international) and food and water within 2 hours.
First checked bag, one way
Standard economy, domestic, for a ticket bought today (Oct 29, 2026). Read from each airline's own page.
| Airline | 1st bag | 2nd bag | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | $45 / $50 | $55 / $60 | aa.com |
| Delta Air Lines | $45 | $55 | delta.com |
| United Airlines | $45 / $50 | n/p | united.com |
| Southwest Airlines | $45 | $55 | southwest.com |
| Alaska Airlines & Hawaiian Airlines | $45 | $55 | alaskaair.com |
| JetBlue | $45 / $49 | $59 / $69 | jetblue.com |
| Frontier Airlines | Varies by route & date | flyfrontier.com | |
| Allegiant Air | Varies by route & date | allegiantair.com | |
Where two prices are shown, the first is the airline's online/prepaid price and the second is the standard or airport price. "n/p" means the airline doesn't publish it as text. Spirit Airlines stopped flying on May 2, 2026; Sun Country's page couldn't be read. Details →
What will your bags really cost?
Pick the airline and the day you bought your ticket. The calculator applies the right fee table, prepaid vs airport pricing and JetBlue's peak dates, then adds your other trip costs.
1. DOT, Air Travel Consumer Report, August 2026 (January–June 2026 complaint data): refunds 12,557 cases, flight schedule problems 9,477 and baggage 6,459, as tallied by AirAdvisor from DOT's reports. DOT's site blocks our reader, so we couldn't open the report table ourselves.