Everything You Need to Know About the 24-Hour Rule

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Buying a plane ticket can be stressful. A simple mistake, like getting the dates wrong, misspelling your name, or realizing you haven’t secured vacation approval, can lead to costly fixes—unless you’ve booked a fully flexible fare. But did you know you have a secret weapon against costly airline booking mistakes? It’s called the 24-hour rule, and it’s a consumer protection that airlines prefer to keep quiet.

This regulation by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requires all airlines operating flights to, from, or within the United States to provide a full refund if passengers cancel their flight within 24 hours of booking. This applies even to non-flexible fares that normally don’t allow changes or cancellations.

Under the rule, airlines must refund the full fare to the original form of payment (not via a travel voucher or flight credit) if a ticket is canceled within 24 hours of purchase—even for nonrefundable fares.

How Can This Rule Save You Money?

Imagine you bought a plane ticket, and then the next day, the airline has a big flight sale and the price for your itinerary is now lower than what you paid. If it’s been less than 24 hours since you bought your ticket, you can simply cancel the ticket and then rebook at the lower price without worrying about change or cancellation fees. 

We recommend checking the price of your ticket a few times throughout the 24 hour period after you book to see if fares decrease—this strategy often pays off, and you’ll be able to rebook and save.

Knowing about the 24-hour rule can also give you peace of mind if you see an incredibly low fare that you want to jump on. Rather than waiting on approval from your boss for time off or for your travel companion to get back to you (and potentially missing out on that cheap flight), you can simply book the ticket, and if it doesn’t work out, cancel it within 24 hours for no penalty.

If you booked a ticket quickly, you can also take advantage of the 24-hour period to double-check the information on your reservation (like making sure you didn’t misspell a passenger’s name)—something that airlines could charge you to correct.

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Important Exceptions to the Rule

There are three important exceptions you should know before taking advantage of the 24-hour rule.

1. This rule only applies if you’re booking directly with the airline. If you book through an online travel agency like Expedia, you’ll have to abide by the company’s refund policy (which is usually not as lenient.) 

2. Airlines can offer customers the ability to hold a fare for free for up to 24 hours instead of providing a refund within 24 hours. Be sure to check that the airline you’re booking with doesn’t offer this before you buy your ticket—for example, American Airlines offers a free 24-hour hold on select flights. If the airline does provide this service, you can still save money by putting the fare on hold and waiting to see if the price drops within 24 before you buy the ticket. 

3. The 24-hour rule only applies to flights booked at least seven days before departure, so know that you won’t be able to get a refund if you book a ticket less than a week before your flight.

How Do You Cancel Under the 24 Hour Rule?

You don’t need to do anything special to get your full refund when canceling a flight reservation within 24 hours. Simply cancel your booking as you normally would, and the airline should promptly refund your original form of payment. 

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