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Unlike in Europe, there are no federal laws in the US requiring airlines to provide free hotel or food vouchers when a flight is delayed or canceled. Instead, individual airlines set their own policies.
Below are the individual overnight accommodation policies of Delta, United Airlines, American Airlines, and JetBlue, as described in their contract of carriage, the legal agreement between an airline and its passengers.
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AdvertisementIf your flight is canceled or delayed for more than four hours between 10 p.m. and 6 p.m. at a Delta contracted facility, the airline will provide you with a hotel voucher free of charge "if overnight accommodations are available," according to the airline's contract of carriage.
Delta will also provide free public ground transportation to the hotel if the hotel does not offer a shuttle service.
If overnight accommodations are not available, Delta will provide the passenger with a "voucher that may be applied to future travel on Delta equal in value to the contracted hotel rate, up to $100."
In the case of an overbooked flight, Delta will provide transportation to passengers who voluntarily give up their seats or who are involuntarily bumped off the flight. If this requires the passenger to stay overnight, the airline will provide hotel accommodations to the passenger at no additional cost.
The airline is not required to provide a hotel voucher if the trip disruption was caused by a "force majeure," which Delta defines as including the below events:
United Airlines will provide a hotel voucher if a passenger experiences a delay that is the fault of the airline and "is expected to exceed four hours between the hours of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time," according to the airline's contract of carriage.
If a hotel room is not available, United says it will provide "reimbursement for one night's lodging in the form of an electronic travel certificate that may be applied to future travel" with the airline.
United recommends talking to a customer service agent about overnight options to see if you're eligible for additional accommodations.
"Although we don't provide free hotel stays if your flight is delayed or canceled for reasons outside our control, we may be able to get you discounted hotel stays and free toiletries if you can't get to your checked bags for the evening," the United Airlines website says. "If you don't need your bags for your overnight stay, they'll end up on tomorrow's flight with you."
United defines travel disruptions outside of the company's control as including:
1. Any condition beyond UA's control including, but not limited to, meteorological or geological conditions, acts of God, riots, terrorist activities, civil commotions, embargoes, wars, hostilities, disturbances, or unsettled international conditions, either actual, anticipated, threatened or reported, or any delay, demand, circumstances, or requirement due directly or indirectly to such condition.
2. Any strike, work stoppage, slowdown, lockout, or any other labor-related dispute involving or affecting UA's services.
3. Any governmental regulation, demand or requirement.
4. Any shortage of labor, fuel, or facilities of UA or others.
5. Damage to UA's Aircraft or equipment caused by another party.
6. Any emergency situation requiring immediate care or protection for a person or property.
7. Any event not reasonably foreseen, anticipated or predicted by UA.
"Whenever there's a delay or cancellation, we work with customers to get them on their way as quickly as possible. Depending on the cause, those options can include hotel and food vouchers," a spokesperson for United said in an emailed statement.
