Travel Dispatch: An Airline Screwed Up My Trip. Can I Get My Money Back?
Our Tripped Up columnist chases refunds for readers.
Travel Dispatch
April 22, 2026

You might anticipate that things can go wrong on your travels, such as a delayed flight or a lost bag. But what may shock you is when the airline turns around and says, “Too bad.”

Trying to recoup money from airlines can lead you down dizzying rabbit holes of fine-print policies and hours spent listening to customer-service hold music.

Our Tripped Up advice columnist, Seth Kugel, has done the hard work for these travelers who believe they are owed compensation by the airlines. Did he win their refunds?

An illustration shows silhouettes of people, many holding rolling suitcases and cellphones, standing on a runway that extends past a glassy, boxy airport-style building toward the open ocean. On the horizon, the triangular logo of Delta Air Lines looms in the mist and clouds.

Charlie Padgett

Delta deserted us after an emergency landing in the Azores

An illustration of a man in a brown suit with a yellow tie having a giant United Airlines boarding pass pulled out from under him like a rug by a hand of a person wearing what looks like a United uniform. The man’s red suitcase, coffee and hat are all flying around him as he falls.

Charlie Padgett

United canceled my flight, then sold me a seat on it

A photo illustration shows the body of an airplane but instead of an airplane tail, a human hand abruptly juts out at the end of the airplane in a warning “stop” gesture.

Miguel Porlan

Air Canada ruined our trip to Ireland but won’t take the blame

An illustration of a person spread out in a comfy chair and then being downgraded into a smaller and smaller chair.

Miguel Porlan

Japan Airlines downgraded us from first class and skimped on the refund

An illustration shows a yellow airport cart leaving an older man with a rolling suitcase and a cane at a gate reading B30.

Matt Blease

An airport cart left me at the wrong gate, and now I’m out $1,300

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