Southwest Airlines delay and cancellation compensation

Southwest Airlines is a US carrier — so the US rules apply to its domestic flights

There is no US law requiring cash compensation for a delay. What you are owed is a refund, and only in defined situations: if Southwest Airlines cancels or significantly changes your flight — more than 3 hours domestic, more than 6 hours international — and you decline the alternative it offers, the refund is automatic, in your original form of payment.

Meals and hotels are not required by law. They come from Southwest Airlines’ own published customer service commitments, which apply when the disruption is controllable — crew or maintenance rather than weather. Ask at the desk whether the delay is controllable; the answer decides what you can ask for.

If Southwest Airlines bumps you, that is paid in cash

This is the one part of US law that pays money rather than refunding it, and it is routinely missed. If Southwest Airlines oversells a flight and denies you boarding involuntarily, federal rule 14 CFR Part 250 requires 200% of your one-way fare when it gets you there one to two hours late, and 400% beyond that — subject to caps the Department of Transportation raises for inflation, most recently near $800 and $1,600.

Two traps. Volunteering your seat removes the rule entirely, so settle the number before you agree to anything. And you are owed money, not a travel voucher — the voucher offered at the gate is usually worth less than the cash you could have had.

The one rule that applies everywhere

If Southwest Airlines cancels your flight and you decline the alternative, you are owed your money back for the unused portion — whatever the reason, weather included. A voucher is something you may accept, never something you can be required to take.