As powerful winter storms sweep across North America and Europe, thousands of travelers are once again finding themselves sleeping on terminal floors and staring at endless lines at customer service desks.

The good news is that passengers whose flights are wiped out by snow, ice or subzero temperatures do have specific rights.

The less comforting reality is that what airlines legally owe you in a weather meltdown is often far less than many travelers expect, and it varies sharply by region and carrier.

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Refunds vs. rebooking: the baseline of what U.S. airlines must provide

In the United States, the clearest protection for stranded passengers is the right to a refund when a flight is canceled or significantly changed and you choose not to travel. That holds even if you bought a nonrefundable ticket and even if the disruption is caused by winter weather rather than the airline. Federal rules require airlines to return your money for the unused portion of your trip when they cancel your flight or make a substantial schedule change and you decline the alternative offered.

That refund must be in cash or back to your original form of payment if that is what you request, not only in the form of a travel credit. Associated fees for services you did not receive on the new itinerary, such as checked bags, seat upgrades or priority boarding, are also supposed to be returned. For tickets paid by credit card, the U.S. Department of Transportation says refunds should be processed within seven business days; for other payment methods, carriers have up to 20 days.

If you still want to travel, U.S. airlines generally offer to rebook passengers at no additional cost on the next available flight on their own metal. In major storms, most large carriers activate broad “weather waivers,” allowing customers to switch flights within a certain date and city range without change fees or fare differences. These waivers are voluntary policies rather than legal requirements, but they have become standard practice among the largest U.S. airlines in an attempt to keep people moving during multi-day storms.

Meals, hotels and vouchers: when airlines say “weather” vs. “our fault”

Where winter travelers often feel most blindsided is over out-of-pocket costs on the ground. U.S. consumer protection rules draw a sharp line between disruptions outside an airline’s control, such as blizzards, and problems that are considered “controllable,” such as crew misplacements or preventable mechanical failures. For weather events, there is currently no federal requirement for airlines to provide hotel rooms, meals, ground transportation or vouchers, even when passengers are stranded overnight far from home.

What you are offered instead depends on each carrier’s own customer service commitments. The Transportation Department’s Airline Customer Service Dashboard, last updated in December 2024, lays out what the 10 largest U.S. airlines promise during controllable cancellations and long delays. In those situations, most major carriers now pledge to provide hotel accommodations, meal vouchers and rebooking at no extra cost when the problem is within the airline’s control. However, the same obligations do not automatically apply when winter weather is to blame.

Some airlines do still choose to provide food or hotel vouchers in severe weather as a goodwill gesture, particularly to elite frequent flyers or passengers on international itineraries, but it is at the carrier’s discretion. Others may offer discounted “distressed traveler” hotel rates negotiated with local properties. The result is that two passengers facing the same snowstorm in different airports, or on different airlines, can walk away with very different levels of support.

New U.S. policy signals: fewer automatic payouts, more caveats

Recent policy moves in Washington suggest that automatic compensation for passengers is not on the immediate horizon in the United States. A rule finalized late in the Biden administration would have required airlines to proactively compensate passengers in cash and cover meals and hotel stays when delays or cancellations were under the carrier’s control. That measure was rolled back in late 2025 in the name of reducing regulatory burdens, leaving the existing, more limited framework in place.

At the same time, the Transportation Department has clarified that some categories of disruption that many travelers assume are “controllable” may not trigger hotel or meal obligations under existing commitments. In late 2025, following widespread disruptions tied to urgent inspections of Airbus jets, regulators told airlines that aircraft recalls would be treated as outside their control for the purposes of passenger expense coverage. Under that guidance, even when a recall grounds planes days before peak holiday travel, carriers are not required to pick up the tab for meals and overnight stays.

The broader message for winter travelers is that compensation rules in the U.S. continue to lean toward ensuring refunds rather than guaranteeing broader financial support. Consumer advocates warn that, especially in major winter events where airlines invoke “weather” or “safety” rationales, passengers should not assume they will receive meal vouchers or hotel keys automatically, and should budget and plan for the possibility of covering those costs themselves.

How protections differ in Europe and the UK when snow and ice hit

Across the Atlantic, passengers flying to, from or within the European Union fall under Regulation EC 261, a sweeping air passenger rights law that has inspired similar frameworks in other regions. At first glance, EU261 appears to offer far more generous compensation than U.S. rules, with cash payouts of up to 600 euros for long-haul delays and cancellations in many cases. However, the same key distinction applies: weather matters.

Under EU261, airlines must provide care and assistance during long delays, including meals, refreshments, hotel accommodation where necessary and transport between the airport and place of lodging, regardless of the ultimate cause. That means that when heavy snow or freezing rain strands travelers at an EU airport, they are entitled to basic support while they wait. What they are not usually entitled to in winter storms is the additional lump-sum compensation that garners headlines.

That is because EU261 allows airlines to deny compensation when the disruption was caused by “extraordinary circumstances” that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Adverse weather, air traffic control restrictions and sudden security threats are among the examples that European authorities and courts have generally accepted as extraordinary. In practice, that means snowstorms that shut down runways across a region or ice storms that make deicing impossible will often exempt airlines from paying cash compensation, even as they remain on the hook for meals and hotel stays until passengers can be rebooked.

The United Kingdom, which now enforces its own version of these rules known as UK261, follows similar principles. Travelers whose flights are canceled or heavily delayed departing from UK airports, or arriving on UK or EU airlines, have the right to assistance and, in many airline-caused cases, financial compensation. As in the EU, however, extreme winter weather usually falls into the extraordinary category, limiting payouts but not the right to care.

Canada and other markets tighten rules, but weather is often exempt

Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations, which came into force in stages starting in 2019 and have since been amended, also draw a bright line around weather-related disruptions. Canadian rules divide flight problems into situations within the airline’s control, outside its control, and within its control but required for safety. Airlines owe the most compensation when cancellations or delays of three hours or more arise from issues clearly within their control, such as staffing or maintenance oversights.

For events outside the carrier’s control, including severe weather, airlines must still ensure that travelers complete their itineraries as soon as possible and provide certain standards of treatment in some cases. However, they are not required to pay the per passenger compensation amounts that apply in controllable situations. Hotel obligations are more limited, and there are caps on the number of nights that must be provided when they do apply.

Other jurisdictions in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have their own patchwork of protections, some modeled in part on EU261 but many with substantial gaps. A common theme is that snowstorms and freezing conditions are typically carved out as extraordinary. That means that for international travelers connecting across regions, the specific rules that apply to a given leg can differ dramatically depending on where the disruption occurs and which country’s regime is triggered.

What airlines voluntarily promise during storms, carrier by carrier

With formal regulations often limiting obligations during winter weather, airline-specific customer service commitments take on outsized importance. In the U.S., the Transportation Department’s dashboard details what each major carrier has pledged for controllable disruptions, but during storms it is the fine print in ticket contracts and travel advisories that determines what stranded travelers receive.

When major snow and ice systems begin to appear in forecasts, big U.S. carriers typically issue travel alerts for affected airports. These notices often allow passengers booked into the storm window to change to earlier or later flights within a certain date range without paying change fees or fare differences, as long as they keep the same origin and destination. Some airlines also let travelers shift to nearby airports, especially in dense markets such as New York or Washington, to avoid the worst of the storm.

Once flights are canceled outright, most large U.S. airlines work to rebook passengers automatically on the next available departures. Email, text and in-app notifications can provide new itineraries before a traveler even reaches the airport. However, in peak winter events, available seats can quickly evaporate, especially on smaller regional routes where airlines operate only one or two flights per day. That can leave travelers stuck for days unless they are able and willing to reroute through alternate cities or purchase new tickets on other carriers.

Outside the U.S., major European and Asian airlines have their own disruption policies layered on top of national rules. Flag carriers that are partially state-owned may be more inclined to provide hotel rooms and generous meal vouchers even when not strictly required by law, seeing it as part of their brand and political mandate. Ultra-low-cost carriers, by contrast, are often more likely to provide only what regulations minimally require, especially in weather events.

Why travel insurance and credit card coverage matter more in winter

Because weather disruptions frequently fall into loopholes or exclusions in formal compensation rules, travel insurance and premium credit cards have become a critical safety net for winter travelers. Many midrange and high-end travel cards issued in the U.S. and Europe include trip delay and trip cancellation coverage when travel is purchased with that card, sometimes kicking in after as little as a three or six hour delay.

Those benefits often reimburse reasonable expenses for meals, hotels and incidentals up to a daily cap when a covered delay or cancellation occurs, regardless of whether the airline is legally required to provide support. Policies vary widely, and some specifically exclude storms that were forecast in advance, but in practice card-based coverage has become one of the most reliable ways for travelers to recoup costs from a long winter stranding.

Standalone travel insurance policies can also fill gaps, though travelers need to read the fine print about what constitutes a covered reason. Many plans cover cancellations or long delays caused by severe weather that makes travel unsafe or impossible, but not simple schedule changes or minor disruptions. Some higher tier policies include “cancel for any reason” provisions that reimburse a portion of nonrefundable costs if a traveler chooses to scrap a trip altogether in the face of an approaching storm.

Consumer advocates stress that documenting expenses is essential in all of these cases. Receipts for hotels, meals, taxis and even basic toiletries purchased during an unexpected overnight stay make it easier to claim reimbursements later, whether from a card issuer, an insurer or, in some circumstances, the airline itself.

Practical steps for stranded passengers navigating a winter mess

For travelers caught up in this season’s storms, understanding the difference between what airlines must do and what they might do is only part of the battle. Experts say the most effective travelers combine that knowledge with quick action. As soon as a winter storm watch appears along your route, monitoring your flight status and any airline-issued waivers can open the door to moving travel dates preemptively, often at no extra cost.

When cancellations hit, rebooking yourself through the airline’s app or website is usually faster than waiting in line at an airport counter or calling a general phone number. Social media direct messages and dedicated elite or international phone lines can also be more efficient routes to an agent empowered to reroute you. Some travelers with critical plans choose to book backup flights on alternate carriers or routes that can be refunded or canceled if not needed, a tactic that requires cash on hand but can save a trip during cascading winter disruptions.

At the same time, knowing when to ask can still yield extra help. Even when not legally obligated, frontline agents and supervisors sometimes have discretion to issue meal vouchers, hotel coupons or partial travel credits, particularly when an overnight stranding is severe or when an airline’s own operational decisions have compounded weather delays. Travelers who remain calm, clearly understand their basic rights to refunds or rebooking, and politely but firmly ask what the airline can do often fare better than those who assume nothing is possible.

As winter weather intensifies and aviation systems strain under the combined pressures of storms, staffing challenges and aging infrastructure, the gap between what travelers expect and what airlines must deliver is likely to stay in the spotlight. For passengers, the most realistic strategy is to go into peak storm season armed with information, flexible plans, and financial backstops that do not depend on the fine print of what airlines owe when the snow starts to fall.