If an airline bumps you from an oversold flight against your will, U.S. Department of Transportation rules require cash compensation of 200% of your one-way fare, up to $1,075, or 400%, up to $2,150, depending on how late your replacement flight gets you there. This bumped from flight compensation calculator applies the rules in 14 CFR Part 250, including the one-hour no-compensation window, the longer windows for international flights, tickets bought with miles, and the exceptions that cancel compensation.
These are minimums for passengers denied boarding involuntarily. Volunteers who give up a seat in exchange for an airline's offer take whatever they agree to, so it pays to know the involuntary numbers before you accept anything at the gate.
Include mandatory taxes and fees; leave out optional extras such as seats or bags.
Hours and minutes after your original planned arrival.
| Replacement arrives | Domestic flights | International flights from the U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Within 1 hour of original arrival | No compensation | No compensation |
| More than 1 hour but less than 2 hours later | 200% of fare, up to $1,075 | 200% of fare, up to $1,075 |
| At least 2 but less than 4 hours later | 400% of fare, up to $2,150 | 200% of fare, up to $1,075 |
| 4 hours or more later, or no replacement offered | 400% of fare, up to $2,150 | 400% of fare, up to $2,150 |
The fare is the price paid for the air transportation, including all mandatory taxes and fees, but not fees for optional services. It is the fare to your destination or first stopover, and a stopover means a planned break in the trip of more than 4 hours. If you used miles or a voucher, the fare for this purpose is the lowest cash, check or credit card price charged for a ticket in the same class of service on that flight.
The Department of Transportation reviews the $1,075 and $2,150 limits every two years using the Consumer Price Index; the current amounts were last amended on October 24, 2024. Airlines may always pay more than the minimum.
When a flight is oversold, the airline must ask for volunteers before bumping anyone. A volunteer is someone who willingly accepts the airline's offer, in any amount, in exchange for the seat. Before asking you to volunteer, the airline must tell you whether you are in danger of being bumped involuntarily and, if so, the compensation it would have to pay. That is your reference point when you decide whether an offer is worth taking.
If there are not enough volunteers, the Department of Transportation says each airline sets its own boarding priorities, using criteria such as check-in time, the fare paid or frequent flyer status, but the criteria cannot subject a passenger to unjust or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage; an airline could not use race or ethnicity. Airlines must give every involuntarily bumped passenger a written statement of their rights that also explains how the carrier decides who gets bumped.
Once you are on board, DOT says airlines generally cannot bump you if you checked in before the airline's deadline and a gate agent accepted or scanned your boarding pass. The exceptions are a removal due to a safety, security or health risk, or due to behavior that is obscene, disruptive or otherwise unlawful.
The airline must give you cash or an immediately negotiable check on the day and at the place you are bumped. If your replacement transportation leaves before the payment can be prepared, it must pay within 24 hours. It may offer free or reduced-rate travel instead, but only if the value is at least the cash amount, it tells you the cash amount you are owed and that you may decline the travel offer, and it discloses the restrictions. The airline must also refund unused fees you paid for optional services, such as seat assignments or checked bags, if you are bumped.
Yes. The notice airlines must give bumped passengers says that accepting the compensation may relieve the airline from further liability for failing to honor your reservation, but that you may decline the payment and seek to recover damages in court or in some other manner. If your actual losses, such as a missed event or a lost work day, are larger than the DOT amount, read about what a release of liability means and how to negotiate a settlement before you accept.
For involuntary bumping on a domestic flight, DOT rules require 200% of the one-way fare, up to $1,075, if your replacement arrives more than 1 hour but less than 2 hours late, and 400%, up to $2,150, if it arrives 2 or more hours late or no replacement is offered. Within 1 hour, no compensation is required.
For flights departing a U.S. airport, the 200% tier, up to $1,075, applies when the replacement arrives more than 1 hour but less than 4 hours late, and the 400% tier, up to $2,150, applies at 4 hours or more or when no replacement is offered.
No. The airline must offer cash or an immediately negotiable check. It may offer free or reduced-rate travel instead only if it is worth at least the cash amount, the airline tells you the cash amount and that you may decline, and it discloses the restrictions.
For a zero fare ticket, such as one bought with frequent flyer miles, the fare used to calculate compensation is the lowest cash, check or credit card payment charged for a ticket in the same class of service on that flight.
Yes. The statement airlines must give bumped passengers says you may decline the payment and seek to recover damages in a court of law or in some other manner. Accepting the compensation may relieve the airline from further liability.
Part 250 applies to scheduled flights on aircraft with 30 or more seats, on nonstop flight segments that originate at a point within the United States. A flight departing another country is not covered by these DOT amounts.