Flight cancelled? This is how to secure your refund.

Navigating the tricky territory of flight cancellations can be challenging, especially when it comes to securing refunds. The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly joins Wealth! to offer advice on reclaiming your money in these situations.

Kelly emphasizes a crucial point: passengers are legally "owed a refund" in cases of flight cancellations. This right is a mandate from the Department of Transportation. He strongly advises against accepting vouchers from airlines, urging travelers to insist on receiving the full refund they're entitled to.

For travelers finding themselves stranded due to cancellations, Kelly affirms that "if you are stranded, the airport will rebook you."

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!

This post was written by Angel Smith

Video Transcript

Say you just got your flight canceled.

How can you get a guaranteed refund?

So the Department of Transportation mandates it.

So it may take a while but you are owed a refund and do not take a voucher or anything less.

You can always um file a dot complaint that forces the airline to respond and in most cases, you will eventually get your refund.

Now, if you're stranded, the airline should rebook you but often that they're not going to rebook you on partners.

So this is where people get stuck for days in airports.

You don't have to just fly with that airline.

You're gonna get your refund if you have the funds or your frequent flyer miles rebook yourself on a different carrier and then place a claim with your credit card company for the difference.

Uh due to the disruption, most of those travel credit cards have the, the travel cancellation coverage built in.

You just need to know about it.

But do you know you are owed a full cash refund if your flight is canceled for any reason by the airline?

Just lastly while we've got you, Brian, I mean shoe be uh as they've colloquially been called and summer go hand in hand.

You've got tourists, you've got visitors in different parts of the world, Barcelona.

They're taking a little bit of issue with this.

It seems though what exactly is happening there.

And, I mean, does it seem like they're cozy up to the idea of tourists continuing to flock to the destination?

You know what?

I, I wish that they were in New York City right now because I need someone spraying me with a water gun to cool me down wherever I go.

But you know, the the protesters there are uh against anti, they're basically over, against, over tourism and what locals in a lot of countries.

And I was in Portugal earlier this year.

A similar sentiment is ok. Tourism is great.

But when it's too much, when it's pricing out residents, when people can't afford to get apartments because they're all on airbnb for tourists.

That's when local communities get upset.

That's what we're seeing in Barcelona where protesters are squirting people down on Las Ramblas, which is their popular tourist thoroughfare trying to prove a point.

They do have a very leftist government who has promised to crack down on home rentals and return more affordable housing to the people.

But it is a message to tourists.

Don't always just go to the most populated places, for example, outside of Barcelona, there's so many beautiful little sea towns, cara cases.

C so don't just go to the tourist hubs branch out a little bit and spread your tourist dollars outside of just those mega city centers.

All right.

I uh went to Barcelona last year before the super soakers arrived and the shipment was able to make it to port, uh Brian Kelly, the points guy founder.

Thanks so much for taking the time.

Thanks for having me.