Congress Members Request DOT Review Airline Ticket Refund Rule

Nine members of U.S. Congress have signed a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) asking for a review of a new rule that leaves travel advisors on the hook for airline ticket refunds. 

The rule, in effect since Oct. 29, 2024, states that the “merchant of record” – which in many cases is the travel advisor – must refund consumers for cancelled or significantly delayed flights within seven days. However, it did not originally mandate airlines to refund travel advisors. It was recently updated to ensure that the airlines refund advisors “promptly,” but gave no clear timeline. 

“Travel advisors and agencies often operate on slim margins and the rule requires them to front capital they often do not have without first receiving the funds from the airlines,” the July 10 letter reads. “In the rule, the department claims that the market will address situations like these; however, our constituents convey that all history points to the contrary, and the financial burden placed on these businesses is not sustainable.”   

The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) has been outspoken against the rule and commended the congressmembers for the efforts made on travel advisors’ behalf. The House Representatives who signed on the letter are Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Mike Bost (R-IL), Scott DesJarlais, M.D. (R-TN), French Hill (R-AR), Kimberlyn King-Hinds (R-CNMI), Rich McCormick, M.D., MBA (R-GA), María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Pete Stauber (R-MN), and Daniel Webster (R-FL).  

“Requiring small business travel advisors to extend credit from their own pockets to pay airline refunds is a gross misplacement of responsibility that must be rectified, and I applaud these Members of Congress for recognizing this inequity and taking our plight to new leadership at the DOT,” said ASTA President and CEO Zane Kerby. “Fixing this misguided rule remains ASTA’s top policy priority, and the support of Congress will go a long way toward that goal.”  

After the November 2024 election, ASTA noted that the change in leadership at DOT presented a new opportunity to have the rule changed. ASTA also spent Legislative Day 2024 advocating for Flight Refund Fairness Act (H.R. 9552), which would “exempt ticket agents that are small businesses from the requirement to provide refunds for cancelled or significantly delayed or changed flights, and for other purposes.”