Continental Airline Tickets

What happens if an airline cancels your flight on account of the weather? Can you get your money back?

I am concerned with all the bad weather that our upcoming connecting flight might have be cancelled. If the airline cancels the flight and we rent a car and drive to our destination, can we get a refund on the round trip airfare?

Public Comments

1. If a flight is cancelled you can claim your money back. That's the theory anyway. If your initial flight is still operating and the connecting flight is not yet cancelled, you can't claim any refund. You must travel and see what happens. No easy way to get a refund.
2. I had a flight cancelled due to weather once and rented a car to get home. It depends on what part of your trip gets cancelled, if its the outbound you could get refunded for the whole roundtrip but if its the return and you have already flown the 1st part then no, you just get 1/2 the roundtrip, as was our case.
3. No, if the reason is outside of the company's control, such as weather, they are not responsible. They have to offer you reasonable alternative such as a credit of sorts or the next available flight.
4. Whether your flight would be eligible for a refund is wholly dependent upon the policies of that airline. On occasion, airlines will offer refunds to weather-affected travelers in certain circumstances, but they're not obligated to do so -- in fact, the more common alternative is that the unused ticket can be used towards travel to the same destination at a later date without penalty. Again, though, you'll need to check with your airline to see how they handle delays or cancellations in that particular instance, should they occur.