Airline Won’t Refund? How to Get Your Money Back for a Cancelled or Delayed Flight (Australia 2026)

Last updated 27 October 2026 · Reviewed by the Claim Done team · Not legal advice

Can you get your money back from an airline?

A flight is a service, and services sold to consumers in Australia come with automatic consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). The one that matters most for flights is the guarantee that a service will be supplied within a reasonable time (s 62). The ACCC says these guarantees cover flights within Australia, international flights leaving Australia, and flights to Australia booked through an airline’s or travel company’s Australian website, whether you booked with the airline, a travel agent or a booking site.

The ACCC’s position on cancellations and long delays is direct: if the airline’s replacement flight isn’t within a reasonable time, the airline must give you the choice of a different replacement flight or a refund. If the airline had no reasonable replacement and you had to buy a seat on another airline, you may be able to recover what that cost you from the original airline.

What counts as “reasonable” isn’t fixed. The ACCC lists the length and cause of the delay, any replacement flight and its timing, the purpose of your trip and the airline’s usual schedule. A three-hour slip on a route with hourly flights is different from a two-day wait when you were flying to a wedding. A tribunal, not the ACCC, decides, so your written demand should spell out your facts.

Refund or credit: who chooses?

Where the guarantee has been broken, the remedy is yours to choose, not the airline’s. A flight credit is something you can accept, not something you must accept. The ACCC gives a parallel example from accommodation: a hotel that can’t provide a booked room has to refund the card that paid, and can’t refund in loyalty points unless the customer agrees. Airlines can offer credits, vouchers or points, and sometimes they suit you, but if you want your money back, say so in writing and don’t click “accept credit” in the app while you’re arguing about it.

“Non-refundable” fares

The Federal Court ordered Jetstar to pay $1.95 million in penalties in 2019 for telling customers some fares weren’t refundable and that consumer guarantees didn’t apply to its flights. The ACCC said at the time that all flights come with consumer guarantees that can’t be excluded, “no matter how cheap the fare”. The same year the ACCC accepted court-enforceable undertakings from Qantas, Virgin Australia and Tigerair about their refund policies. A “non-refundable” label limits what you get if you change your mind. It doesn’t cancel your rights when the airline fails to fly you.

When the airline doesn’t owe you a refund

The ACCC says the guarantees don’t give you a refund or replacement flight if you change your mind, or if you miss the flight for reasons unrelated to the airline (arriving at the gate late, for example). They also don’t apply where a third party’s actions stop the airline flying, such as government travel restrictions. In those cases, what you get depends on your fare conditions, and possibly your travel insurance. Bad weather and safety problems aren’t automatically “third party” events, so don’t accept that label without asking for the reason in writing.

The most common problems with airlines

1. Flight cancelled, offered only a credit. Claim: a refund to your card if the replacement offered isn’t within a reasonable time for your trip. Say in writing that you choose the refund.
2. Flight cancelled, rebooked two days later. Claim: either take the new flight and claim reasonably foreseeable costs (an extra hotel night, meals), or reject it and take a refund. If you bought a seat on another airline because there was nothing reasonable, claim that fare.
3. Long delay that wrecked the trip. A delay that made you miss a connection, a cruise departure or the event you were flying to. Claim: a refund of the affected flights and foreseeable costs the delay caused. Keep every receipt.
4. Sold a seat on a flight already cancelled. In 2024 the Federal Court ordered Qantas to pay $100 million in penalties for selling tickets on flights it had already decided to cancel and not promptly telling ticketholders. Claim: the cost of rearranging your travel, as misleading conduct (ACL ss 18 and 29).
5. Schedule change you can’t use. The airline moves your flight by hours or a day. Claim: if the new time doesn’t work for the purpose you booked for, ask for a refund and point to the reasonable time guarantee.
6. Refund promised but never paid. Claim: the refund amount and a firm deadline. This is the simplest kind of demand letter and often the most effective.
7. Checked bag lost. Claim: the value of the bag and contents, within the liability limits (see below). Report it at the airport and lodge a written claim in time.
8. Bag delayed for days. Claim: reasonable essentials you had to buy while you waited. The government’s air passenger guide says airlines may reimburse these, so keep receipts.
9. Bag or contents damaged. Claim: repair or replacement cost, within the limits. Airlines usually exclude normal wear and tear and minor scratches, so photograph the damage at the airport.
10. Charged extra fees that weren’t clear when you booked. Claim: a refund of the hidden part. For consumer purchases, a business that advertises part of a price must also show the total price as a single figure (ACL s 48).

Airline law: what applies on top of the ACL

Conditions of carriage and airline policies

When you buy a ticket you agree to the airline’s conditions of carriage. The ACCC notes these don’t promise exact flight times, but the airline must still meet the reasonable time guarantee. Most airlines also publish a compensation or customer service policy covering things like meal vouchers and accommodation during disruptions. The ACCC says those policies sit on top of your consumer guarantee rights and can’t take them away. Quote both in your letter: what the airline’s own policy promised, and what the law requires.

Lost, delayed or damaged baggage

Baggage claims run under aviation law, which sets short deadlines. Miss them and you can lose the claim.

• Flights between states or territories (for example Sydney to Melbourne, Brisbane to Darwin) are covered by Part IV of the Civil Aviation (Carriers’ Liability) Act 1959. The airline is liable for checked baggage lost or damaged while in its charge unless it proves it took all necessary measures (s 29). You must complain in writing within 3 days of getting the bag back if it’s damaged, or within 21 days of when it should have arrived if it’s lost (s 30). The limit is $3,000 per passenger where checked baggage is involved and $300 for carry-on only, unless your ticket sets a higher limit (s 31; Regulations 2019 s 7). A term setting a lower limit is void (s 32). You must start legal action within two years (s 34).
• International flights are generally covered by the 1999 Montreal Convention, which has the force of law in Australia (s 9B of the same Act). The carrier is liable for checked baggage lost or damaged in its care and for losses caused by delay unless it proves it took all reasonable measures (arts 17 and 19). Complain in writing within 7 days of receiving a damaged bag, or within 21 days of getting a delayed bag (art 31). A checked bag that hasn’t turned up 21 days after it was due can be treated as lost (art 17(3)). Since 28 December 2024 the limits are 1,519 Special Drawing Rights per passenger for baggage and 6,303 for delay. Special Drawing Rights are an International Monetary Fund unit whose dollar value changes daily. Court action must start within two years (art 35).

The government’s air passenger guide adds: report a missing or damaged bag before you leave the baggage hall, deal with the airline (not the airport), and on a multi-leg trip go to the airline that flew the last leg.

Australia’s aviation ombuds scheme: not law yet

You may have read that Australia now has an airline ombudsman and a customer rights charter. As at 19 October 2026 it doesn’t, not with any power to make an airline pay. The government has announced an Aviation Consumer Ombuds Scheme, an Aviation Consumer Protection Charter (minimum standards on refunds, delays, cancellations, baggage and complaint handling) and an authority to enforce it. The Aviation Consumer Protection Bill 2026 passed the House of Representatives on 29 June 2026 and was listed as “before Senate” when we checked. The department says the scheme is expected to start in 2026/2027 once legislation passes, and the Charter is still being developed. In the meantime an interim ombudsperson sits inside the department with no formal power to investigate or resolve complaints, and tells travellers to use existing channels.

The Airline Customer Advocate

For Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia there’s the Airline Customer Advocate (ACA). It’s free, but it’s funded by those airlines, and it says itself that it has no independent power to make decisions about the airline’s response. What it does: refers your complaint to a case manager at the airline, which must respond, usually within 20 working days. Its conditions matter for the order of your steps:

• you must have first followed the airline’s own complaint process and asked for a review;
• the problem must be within the last 12 months; and
• you can’t use the ACA if you’ve already lodged a complaint with a government authority or started a tribunal or court claim about the same matter.

So if you want to try the ACA, use it before you complain to Fair Trading or file at a tribunal.

What you can claim from an airline

• A refund of the fare for a cancelled or unreasonably delayed flight, to the card you paid with, including taxes and fees for the unused flight.
• The cost of a replacement flight on another airline if the original airline had no reasonable alternative.
• Reasonably foreseeable costs caused by the failure: an extra night’s accommodation, meals, transfers, a non-refundable hotel or tour you missed because of the cancellation. The ACCC says compensation should put you back where you’d have been, and that it’s misleading for a business to say it’s never responsible for foreseeable losses.
• Baggage loss or damage up to the limits above, plus essentials bought while a bag was delayed.
• Anything the airline’s own policy promised (meal vouchers, hotel, transfers) that it didn’t provide.

Example (round numbers, for illustration only): you pay $250 for a one-way flight from Brisbane to Melbourne to get to a family event. The flight is cancelled the night before. The airline offers a seat two days later, after the event, or a $250 credit. With nothing reasonable on offer, you buy a $350 seat on another airline leaving at 6am the next day and pay $180 for a hotel near the airport. You could claim the $250 refund of the cancelled fare, plus $100 (the extra cost of the replacement seat over your original fare), plus the $180 hotel: $530 in total, less anything the airline has already paid. Don’t claim the same money twice. List each item with its receipt.

Evidence to gather

1. Your booking confirmation, e-ticket, fare type and receipt or card statement.
2. Every cancellation or delay message: emails, texts and app notifications, with times. Screenshot the app before it updates.
3. The departure board or gate announcements (photos), and the actual departure and arrival times.
4. What the airline offered and when: the replacement flight details, any credit or voucher, and what you said in reply.
5. The reason the airline gave for the cancellation or delay, in writing if you can get it.
6. Receipts for meals, hotels, transfers, replacement flights and missed bookings, with a note of why each was needed.
7. For baggage: the property irregularity report or reference number from the airport, baggage tag stickers, photos of the damage, receipts or estimates for the contents, and the date the bag was returned.
8. A copy of the airline’s conditions of carriage and its customer or compensation policy as at your travel date.
9. Your complaint reference number and the airline’s written response, including any internal review.

How to get your money back: 5 steps

Step 1: Tell the airline in writing what went wrong and what you want

Use the airline’s complaint or refund form, then confirm by email. Give the booking reference, flight number and date, what happened, and exactly what you want: “a refund of $X to my card” or “reimbursement of $X for the replacement flight and hotel”. Ask the airline to state the reason for the cancellation or delay. Give a short deadline, such as 5 business days, and get a complaint reference number. The government’s travel guide says to be specific, state your legal basis and keep records. Our guide on how to write a letter of demand shows the structure.

Step 2: No answer, a refusal or “credit only”? Send a formal refund demand

Our Travel Refund Demand sets out the reasonable time guarantee, the ACCC’s position that a policy can’t take away your rights, your choice of a refund over a credit, the amount itemised, and a 14-day deadline. It’s the written demand a tribunal expects to see before you file, and it serves as your formal complaint through the airline’s internal process. If your dispute isn’t about travel at all, the general Letter of Demand ($49) is the fallback.

Send a Travel Refund Demand – $49

Step 3: Escalate outside the airline

There’s no aviation ombudsman with binding power yet, so escalation has two parts, in this order.

Qantas, Jetstar or Virgin Australia: after the airline’s internal review, you can lodge with the Airline Customer Advocate (1800 813 129) within 12 months of the problem, attaching your demand letter. It’s free but can’t order the airline to pay, and you must use it before going to a government agency or tribunal.

All airlines: complain to the consumer regulator in the state where you bought the ticket or the airline does business with you, attaching your letter. These agencies are free and can contact the airline, but they can’t order a refund. You can also report the airline to the ACCC, which uses reports to decide enforcement action but doesn’t resolve individual complaints.

• NSW: NSW Fair Trading, 13 32 20, online complaint form.
• VIC: Consumer Affairs Victoria, 1300 55 81 81, general complaint form.
• QLD: Office of Fair Trading, 13 QGOV (13 74 68), make a consumer complaint.
• ACT: Access Canberra, 13 22 81, get help with a consumer issue.
• NT: NT Consumer Affairs, 1800 019 319 or 08 8999 1999, conciliation request.
• WA: Consumer Protection, 1300 30 40 54, complaints.
• SA: Consumer and Business Services, 131 882, contact CBS.
• TAS: Consumer Affairs Tasmania, 1300 654 499, enquiry and complaint form.

If you booked through a travel agent, complain to the agent as well (see our page on getting money back from a travel agent).

Step 4: Still unpaid? Send the final demand

The final demand quotes your first letter, the airline’s reply, and any ACA or Fair Trading reference, and says you’ll file without further notice. In South Australia the courts say a final notice should be given and 21 days allowed before you file, or you may not recover your filing costs.

Send the final demand – $49

Step 5: File at the tribunal or court

A refund or compensation claim against an airline goes to the consumer tribunal or court in the state where the airline does business with you. Airlines generally trade through companies, so the interstate rule below rarely applies. Fees are low and you don’t need a lawyer. For international baggage or delay damages, check the Montreal Convention’s forum rule (art 33) first. Our Hearing Bundle ($97) organises your booking, messages and receipts into evidence if the airline defends the claim. In WA, SA and Tasmania the claim goes to the Magistrates Court and the same product prepares your court claim.

Prepare your tribunal application – $97

Where your claim goes in each state

The forum is in the state where the business is, which for an airline is usually where it sold you the ticket or operates.

The interstate rule. In NSW and VIC, if the business is an individual or sole trader living in another state, NCAT or VCAT can’t decide the claim (Burns v Corbett [2018] HCA 15) and it goes to court instead. Companies aren’t affected, so this almost never applies to an airline. It can matter for a small charter operator run by one person. QCAT in Queensland currently hears these claims, because the Queensland Court of Appeal has held it is a court (Owen v Menzies [2012] QCA 170), although two appeals challenging that are pending.

Time limits. NCAT says to apply within 3 years of when the problem began; VCAT says generally within six years. Baggage claims under aviation law must be started in court within two years of arrival, and the written baggage complaint deadlines (3, 7 or 21 days) come much sooner.

After you win: getting paid

If the airline doesn’t pay by the date in the order, it can be enforced. In most states the order is registered or filed with the court and enforced as a judgment: a garnishee order on the business’s bank account, seizure and sale of property, or an examination of the business about its finances.

Tribunals do not collect the money for you. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and the NT, an unpaid tribunal money order is first registered, recorded or filed with a court. In WA, SA and Tasmania the Magistrates Court decides the claim, so you already have a court judgment. Then you apply for the court’s enforcement tools.

Enforce your order – $97

Enforce your order – $97

Questions people ask

My flight was cancelled. Do I have to accept a travel credit?

No, if the airline couldn’t offer you a replacement flight within a reasonable time. The ACCC says the airline must then give you the choice of a different flight or a refund. A credit is an offer you can decline. Put your choice in writing, and if the airline won’t pay, our Travel Refund Demand sets out the law and a 14-day deadline.

Can an airline refuse a refund because my fare was non-refundable?

Not when the airline cancelled or unreasonably delayed the flight. The Federal Court penalised Jetstar $1.95 million for telling customers some fares weren’t refundable and that guarantees didn’t apply. “Non-refundable” covers you changing your mind, not the airline failing to fly you within a reasonable time.

How long does a delay have to be before I get a refund?

There’s no set number of hours in Australian law. The ACCC says it depends on the length and cause of the delay, any replacement flight offered, and your circumstances, such as why you were travelling. A delay that defeats the purpose of the trip is a strong case. A short delay on a busy route usually isn’t.

Does Australia have fixed compensation for delays like Europe?

No. There’s no fixed cash payment per delay in Australian law as at October 2026. You can claim a refund where the reasonable time guarantee is broken, plus actual, foreseeable costs the delay caused, and anything the airline’s own policy promises. A national charter of minimum standards is planned but not yet law.

Is there an airline ombudsman in Australia?

Not one with power to make airlines pay, as at 19 October 2026. The Aviation Consumer Protection Bill 2026 is before the Senate, and the government expects the ombuds scheme to start in 2026/2027 after it passes. For Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin there’s the Airline Customer Advocate, which can refer your complaint but can’t decide it.

The airline said the cancellation was due to weather. Can I still get a refund?

Ask for the reason in writing first. The ACCC says there’s no remedy under the guarantees where a third party, such as a government restriction, stops the airline flying. Weather isn’t automatically in that category, and even when it applies, your fare conditions or the airline’s own policy may still give you a refund or a free change.

How long do I have to claim for a lost or damaged bag?

Very little time for the complaint. For flights between states, write within 3 days of getting a damaged bag back, or within 21 days if the bag is lost. On international flights it’s 7 days for damage and 21 days for a delayed bag. Court action must start within two years in both cases.

How much will the airline pay for my lost suitcase?

What you can prove it was worth, up to the legal limits: $3,000 per passenger on flights between states where checked baggage is involved, and 1,519 Special Drawing Rights per passenger on international flights covered by the Montreal Convention. Keep receipts or photos of the contents and a list made as soon as possible.

Can I claim my hotel and meals when a flight is cancelled?

Often yes. The ACCC says compensation is payable for reasonably foreseeable loss caused by a guarantee failure, on top of a refund or replacement, and many airlines’ own policies cover meals and accommodation in some disruptions. Keep receipts and claim them in the same letter as the fare.

I booked through a travel agent. Who do I claim from?

The ACCC says both the agent’s and the airline’s terms apply, and agents may only have to pass on what the airline offers. Write to both. Our Travel Refund Demand can be addressed to the airline with a copy to the agent, and our travel agent page covers the agent’s own obligations.

Should I go to the Airline Customer Advocate or Fair Trading first?

If your airline is Qantas, Jetstar or Virgin Australia and you want to try the Advocate, go there first. Its rules say it can’t take your complaint once you’ve complained to a government authority or filed at a tribunal about the same matter. After that, Fair Trading and the tribunal are still open.

Can I take an overseas airline to an Australian tribunal?

Sometimes. The ACCC says consumer guarantees apply to international flights leaving Australia and to flights here booked on an Australian website, and the ACL reaches companies carrying on business in Australia. For baggage and delay damages, the Montreal Convention limits where a claim can be brought. Check the forum before filing.

Sources

Checked 19 October 2026.

• Competition and Consumer Act 2010, compilation 167: s 5; Schedule 2 (Australian Consumer Law) ss 3, 18, 29, 48, 62, 64, 67, 267, 268
• Civil Aviation (Carriers’ Liability) Act 1959: ss 9B, 27, 29-34; Schedule 1A (1999 Montreal Convention) arts 17, 19, 22, 29, 31, 33, 35
• Civil Aviation (Carriers’ Liability) Regulations 2019, s 7
• Notice under s 9K(1)(b): revised Montreal Convention limits from 28 December 2024
• ACCC: Travel delays and cancellations
• ACCC: Repair, replace, refund, cancel
• ACCC: Claiming compensation
• ACCC: Jetstar to pay $1.95 million (30 May 2019)
• ACCC: Federal Court orders Qantas to pay $100m (8 October 2024)
• Department of Infrastructure: Aviation Consumer Ombuds Scheme and Making a complaint
• Australian Air Passenger Travel Guide: delayed, lost or damaged baggage
• Parliament of Australia: Aviation Consumer Protection Bill 2026
• Airline Customer Advocate: eligibility and about
• NCAT fees, VCAT goods and services fees, QCAT fees, ACAT fees, NTCAT fees, WA Magistrates Court fees, SA Magistrates Court fees, Tasmanian Magistrates Court fees

Claim Done is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. This page is general information. For a complex or high-value matter, speak to a lawyer or a free community legal centre.