southwest air travel disruption refund

How to get a refund from Southwest after the 2022 holiday travel disruption

Editor's Note

Were your big holiday travel plans canceled, delayed or otherwise disrupted due to Southwest's operational meltdown ? If so, you're not alone.

Dec. 30, 2022, marked the first day since Christmas that Southwest Airlines didn't cancel a double-digit percentage of its flights, a number that CEO Bob Jordan attributed to "an unprecedented storm for all airlines" in an interview with "Good Morning America." More than 15,000 Southwest flights were canceled, leaving thousands more travelers in the lurch during the year's busiest travel season.

Even so, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg disputed this, tweeting that the Southwest cancellations were "not weather related," and as such, the company is required to cover not only the cost of airfare but of meals, transportation and hotels if you were stranded away from home.

Despite its original statement, the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline has pledged to refund its customers for canceled flights and expenses such as rental cars, hotels and airfare booked through other airlines. Other costs will be handled on a case-by-case basis, per the airline.

If you were one of the thousands stranded, here's how you can get your money back.

How do I get a refund from Southwest Airlines?

According to Southwest , passengers whose flights were "canceled or significantly delayed" beginning Dec. 24, 2022, through Jan. 2, 2023, are eligible to request a refund of their unused ticket to the original form of payment.

To do so, complete an online form with your name and reservation confirmation number, after which you should expect to promptly receive your refund.

"Under the law, Southwest must provide prompt refunds when a carrier cancels a passenger's flight or makes a significant change in the flight, regardless of the reason, unless the passenger accepts rebooking," Buttigieg said in a Dec. 29 letter to Southwest . "This means Southwest must provide refunds within seven business days if a passenger paid by credit card, and within 20 days if a passenger paid by cash, check, or other means."

After Southwest canceled a Dec. 30 flight from Kahului Airport (OGG) to Kona International Airport (KOA), TPG senior aviation reporter Zach Griff submitted a reimbursement form to the airline for the $149 ticket he bought on a new flight.

Less than three hours later, Southwest refunded his alternate fare and also provided him with a $250 voucher to use for a future flight.

If you were separated from your luggage or other belongings during travel, you can also fill out a separate form to address that.

Additionally, Southwest is sending 25,000 bonus Rapid Rewards points to travelers affected by the meltdown. These points are included in an apology email with the subject line "A message from Southwest CEO Bob Jordan."

Be sure to monitor your email for your codes.

Request reimbursement for expenses

Southwest will also honor "reasonable requests for reimbursement for meals, hotel accommodations, and alternate transportation (for example: rental cars and tickets on other airlines)" incurred by cancellations, per its website. For those costs, email Southwest directly with your request and attach copies of your expenses for review.

How long for a Southwest refund?

We don't yet know how long it will take Southwest to process all the refunds, but we will update the story as we get more information.

If you've filed your complaint and are still waiting after a few weeks, you might consider filing a consumer complaint with the Department of Transportation. The DOT requires airlines to acknowledge consumer complaints within 30 days of receiving them and send consumers written responses within 60 days.

Check your credit card for travel protections

After you've communicated your issues to the airline directly, remember that several credit cards also offer travel insurance protections for trip delays , baggage delays , trip cancellations and trip interruptions for just these types of situations.

Should you run into issues receiving reimbursement for your expenses from Southwest, check to see if the credit card you used to book your flight offers any travel insurance protections.

Bottom line

If you were one of the thousands stranded by Southwest this holiday season, follow the above steps to ensure you get your money back.

After that: Sit tight. Southwest has said it's experiencing a backlog of complaints, and it unfortunately could take a while for all issues to get sorted out.

For more advice on handling flight delays and cancelations, read:

• What you can ask from an airline after a delayed or canceled flight
• Winter is here: Your flight is canceled or delayed – here's what you should do next
• Flight delayed or canceled? Here are the best credit cards with trip delay reimbursement
• Can I get flight delay compensation? These are the ways you qualify
• Flight delayed? Remember these 4 things if you want trip delay reimbursement from your credit card
• All the airlines' flight delay and compensation policies from DOT's customer service dashboard

Additional reporting by Caroline Tanner.

Is Southwest Still Canceling Flights? (And How to Make Sure You Get a Refund If Your Flight Was Canceled)

After scrapping more than 15,000 flights during the holidays, the airline addresses its current state of operations and what it’s doing to make things right for affected customers..

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Southwest Airlines experienced a total operational meltdown over the holiday travel season. Now, it wants to earn back travelers’ trust.

Last month, Northern California resident Joanne Marzan and her seven-year-old son took a short trip to Southern California to spend Christmas with Marzan’s family. Their return flight from Orange County to the Bay Area on Southwest Airlines was scheduled for Monday, December 26. That’s when their travel fiasco began.

“We got to the kiosk at John Wayne Airport, and it said our flight was canceled and to talk to an agent. The line was wrapped around the terminal and the customer-service phone line was a constant busy signal. So I immediately booked a rental car as backup in case I couldn’t rebook our flight. And I’m so glad I did. I never got through to Southwest. The rental company said I got lucky I got a car reservation since they were turning people away,” says Marzan.

Southwest was not the only airline affected by delays and cancellations this past holiday season. Disruptions swept the country in the lead-up to and over the December 25 holiday weekend due to severe winter storms and colder-than-average weather across much of the United States. But even as operations recovered at other major U.S. carriers, Southwest struggled to normalize operations and continued to cancel flights in the days following Christmas.

Ultimately, Southwest canceled more than 15,000 flights between Thursday, December 22, and Thursday, December 29, or more than half of its scheduled flights during that time frame, according to flight data tracking service FlightAware.

“We were one of the lucky ones having the option to drive back. I haven’t yet been able to connect with their customer-service team,” says Marzan, who is still hoping to get a reimbursement from Southwest for the car rental, which set her back $400 (the airline has promised refunds for canceled flights and reimbursements for travel expenses).

Marzan is not the only one who found themselves in a holiday travel “flightmare” after Southwest’s operations experienced a complete meltdown over Christmas weekend and in the days after.

Mae Hamilton, an assistant editor at AFAR and a self-proclaimed “loyal Southwest customer,” also endured holiday flight disruptions when she and her husband attempted to fly from Los Angeles to Dallas for Christmas.

They flew out of Los Angeles International Airport on December 22, when the first signs of trouble arose. “An announcement was made on the overhead speaker that the ground crew was having trouble locating one last flight attendant. Their scheduling program was malfunctioning and they were forced to use the much slower method of calling the company to locate the last crew member,” recalls Hamilton.

The flight ended up taking off only 30 minutes after its originally scheduled departure time, and Hamilton said she “figured that would probably be the end of it.”

But a few days before their flight home on December 28, when they started to see headlines about the massive Southwest disruptions that were leaving countless customers stranded, “We realized we would probably not be leaving Dallas on Southwest at all and quickly tried to book another flight home. We managed to find another on American Airlines, but it was a few days out from when we had originally intended to leave, and [the flights] were very pricey. Thankfully, we were staying with family so it was not a problem to stay a few extra days longer than we had intended,” says Hamilton.

Hamilton has submitted the additional expenses for the American flights to Southwest for reimbursement and is awaiting correspondence regarding any recompense from the airline.

Federal regulators have vowed a rigorous review of what happened at Southwest, with all eyes on outdated crew-scheduling technology that left flight crews out of place after storms hit, essentially shutting down almost all of the carrier’s operations.

“Here’s why this giant puzzle is taking us several days to solve,” Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said in a statement issued on December 27. “Our network is highly complex and the operation of the airline counts on all the pieces, especially aircraft and crews remaining in motion to where they’re planned to go.”

Jordan added that the carrier has been focused on getting “all of the pieces back into position to end this rolling struggle …. The tools we use to recover from disruption serve us well, 99 percent of the time; but clearly, we need to double down on our already existing plans to upgrade systems for these extreme circumstances so that we never again face what’s happening right now.”

Is Southwest still canceling flights?

Thankfully, Southwest returned to a relatively normal flight schedule on Friday, December 30, and the carrier states on its website that it has currently resumed its “full schedule of flights with minimal interruptions.”

Southwest only canceled about 1 percent of its flights over the New Year’s weekend, according to data provided by FlightAware.

How to make sure you get a refund

With its operations normalized, Southwest is now focused on making things right for the more than 1 million travelers estimated to have been affected by last week’s disruptions.

The company said in a statement that it is working on a “multi-faceted plan to win back trust and repair relationships with those who count on Southwest to come through.”

Here are some of the avenues for obtaining refunds, reimbursements, and other methods of recourse established by the carrier.

A dedicated website

Southwest has set up a dedicated website with information about the holiday flight disruptions: southwest.com/traveldisruption .

Flight refunds

For those whose flights were canceled or significantly delayed for travel that was scheduled to take place between December 24, 2022, and January 2, 2023, you may request a refund (not just a future flight credit) through an online form .

Reimbursement for travel expenses

To submit a reimbursement request for expenses incurred due to a flight cancellation or significant flight delay for travel that was scheduled to take place between December 24, 2022, and January 2, 2023, Southwest is asking customers to fill out an email form (make sure to select “Expense Reimbursement Request”). Travelers should attach copies of their expenses to the email form for review. Southwest stated that it will honor “reasonable requests for meals, hotel accommodations, and alternate transportation (for example: rental cars and tickets on other airlines).”

Tracking lost luggage

Those trying to locate lost luggage should fill out a dedicated online form , which includes the option to have the baggage delivered to a designated address.

“We intend nearly all baggage delayed during the recent holiday travel week to be shipped or delivered by midweek,” Southwest said in a statement issued on January 3.

Improving customer relations

Starting January 3, Southwest is reaching out via email “to every ticketed customer significantly impacted last week,” the carrier stated in its latest update.

“Our teams are focused on returning baggage, processing requests for refunds, and reimbursing certain incidental expenses related to the disruption in travel in a round-the-clock effort,” Southwest stated.

The plan to “make sure that this never happens again”

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is currently investigating what happened at Southwest. A Senate committee promises to investigate, too. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has criticized airlines for previous disruptions, said that “meltdown” was the only word he could think of to describe last week’s events at Southwest.

For its part, Southwest stated that “the urgent work continues on planned improvements to processes and systems that will bolster the ability of Southwest to recover effectively in large-scale disruptions of our operational plans.”

In an interview on Good Morning America on December 30, Southwest CEO Jordan acknowledged the challenges ahead for the carrier in order to recover from the holiday travel collapse.

“This has impacted so many people, so many customers over the holidays. It’s impacted our employees. And I’m extremely sorry for that. There’s just no way almost to apologize enough,” said Jordan, adding, that “there’ll be a lot of lessons learned in terms of what we can do to make sure that this never happens again, because this needs to never happen again.”

Associated Press contributed reporting.

How to Request Refunds, Reimbursements if Southwest Airlines Canceled Your Flight

By diana zoga • published december 28, 2022 • updated on december 28, 2022 at 6:57 pm.

If your flight on Southwest Airlines was canceled, read on for the next steps for consumers.

AIRLINE REDUCING FLIGHTS

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With Southwest Airlines reporting it would fly just a third of its schedule for the next several days, disruptions for some travelers continue.

“If you've got a flight on Southwest over the next few days, you might be facing some pretty grim prospects of that trip actually happening,” said Scott Keyes, Founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights .

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Keyes said travelers should make a backup plan now and consider carrying on luggage if possible.

Lost Luggage? Here's What to Do If Your Bag is Missing as Suitcases Pile Up at Airports

Passenger Advocates Keep Close Watch on Southwest Airline Troubles

Refunds for passengers.

Charlie Leocha with Travelers United explains if you weren’t able to fly because the airline canceled your flight, you’re entitled to a refund for the payment method you used.

“You get all your money back and that comes to you in cash,” said Leocha. “It includes everything you pay: taxes, fees, extra charges and ancillary fees and so on.”

Keyes explains you don’t have to accept a flight credit even if you used part of your ticket.

“If you have taken, let's say, the outbound flight, but then your return flight gets canceled and you find another way home. Typically, what's going to happen is you're entitled to a cash refund of just that return flight,” said Keyes.

Southwest Airlines has a travel disruption web page where consumers can submit refund requests and turn in receipts for additional expenses like hotel, rental car and meals.

Keyes said it’s unclear if Southwest would reimburse passengers who may have paid a premium to catch a flight on another airline.

“Will Southwest reimburse folks for those new flights they have to book or for alternate transportation? Yeah, I think it's a little bit of an open question. I think they ought to,” said Keyes. “I think we're going to see what limits if any, there are to that.”

The airline told NBC 5 Responds requests for reasonable reimbursements directly related to the travel disruption will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

For now, save your receipts including those for out-of-pocket expenses for items like toiletries and clothes that were in a checked bag.

If you used a credit card to pay for your flight, find out if it includes travel protections for things like reimbursement for lost bags or expenses due to extended delays.

In the coming days, if consumers are struggling to connect with the airline over a refund request, consumers can file a complaint with the Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection .

NBC 5 Responds is committed to researching your concerns and recovering your money. Our goal is to get you answers and, if possible, solutions and a resolution. Call us at 844-5RESPND (844-573-7763) or  fill out our customer complaint form .

Southwest reports progress on refunds after holiday chaos but sees new delays

Southwest Airlines, which canceled thousands of flights last week and infuriated passengers, said Tuesday it was making "solid progress" on processing refunds even as another problem caused more travel woes.

Multiple people tweeted Tuesday that crews told them planes couldn’t take off because the weather system was down or they lacked necessary weather information.

The reports of delays Tuesday came just days after the airline said it resumed normal operations following the holiday travel chaos .

Southwest in a statement late Tuesday said third-party vendor IBM “experienced a brief outage in their service that provides weather data prior to Southwest dispatching flights.”

The airline said “only minor delays” were anticipated for the rest of the evening. 

"We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to get Customers to their destinations safely and as quickly as possible," the statement said.

The Federal Aviation Administration declined to comment, saying it was a matter for the airline.

In a statement Wednesday, IBM said it "experienced a limited disruption in service provided to Southwest Airlines, and worked in partnership with Southwest to restore that service as quickly as possible."

The flight-tracking website FlightAware showed 138 Southwest cancellations — or 3% — and around 1,560 delays Tuesday. There were 24 Southwest cancellations and 115 delays for Wednesday, according to the website.

The latest delays came after the Dallas-based airline, which canceled two-thirds of its daily flights for most of the week before New Year's Day, said Friday that normal operations had resumed.

All carriers were affected by a major winter storm that impacted most of the U.S. going into the Christmas weekend, but other carriers recovered.

Southwest canceled thousands of flights , stranding passengers and their luggage and leading to what has been called a meltdown that enraged travelers .

The U.S. Department of Transportation called it “unacceptable” and vowed to hold Southwest accountable . Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the meltdown was a failure of Southwest’s systems.

Southwest's CEO has pledged investments in technology, which he said were already underway.

Earlier Tuesday, the airline said in a statement that it was working to win back its customer’s trust. Southwest said it had made “solid progress” to rectify problems caused to passengers, including in processing refund requests and reuniting travelers with their lost luggage.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that “Southwest Airlines failed its customers — point blank.”

She said customers must be reimbursed and be reunited with their luggage.

“The Transportation Department is watching. They’re monitoring this very, very closely to ensure that this all happens and will seek fines from Southwest if it doesn’t cover a cost,” Jean-Pierre said.

Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.

How to request Southwest Airlines refunds, reimbursements for disrupted flights

• Updated: Jan. 04, 2023, 4:10 p.m.
• | Published: Jan. 02, 2023, 10:26 a.m.

Baggage stacked up waiting to be claimed at the Southwest Airlines baggage claim Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022, at Salt Lake City International Airport. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) AP

• wire reports

In the wake of Southwest Airlines scrapping thousands of flights over the holidays, inconvenienced travelers across the country are looking to get their money back for expenses they’ve incurred, including flights on other airlines, clothing, hotels and meals.

According to federal law, airline passengers are entitled to a refund if a flight is canceled for any reason. But navigating the reimbursement process can get complicated when it comes to determining what other expenses qualify for a refund, according to travelers who have had their vacations upended.

In order to request a refund, the company says passengers whose flights were canceled from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2 should fill out a form and submit receipts online .

The form asks for a reservation number and name, noting that passengers need to complete the form just once for all travelers in their reservation.

For additional expenses, the company says it will “honor reasonable requests for reimbursement.” However, it does not specify what that entails.

Southwest will refund tickets on canceled flights, and executives repeated a promise to reimburse travelers who were forced to pay for hotel rooms, meals and flights on other airlines. The airline’s chief commercial officer said that process will take several weeks. Executives said the airline also will pay to ship baggage that has piled up at airports around the country.

On its website, Southwest told customers affected by canceled or delayed flights between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2 to submit receipts. The airline said, “We will honor reasonable requests for reimbursement for meals, hotel, and alternate transportation.”

Southwest lost $75 million during a much smaller disruption in October 2021 that resulted in about 2,000 canceled flights over a four-day stretch.

CEO Robert Jordan said it was too early to say how much the company will lose in revenue and incur in extra costs because of the current crisis. “This has been an incredible disruption, and we can’t have this again,” he said.

Robert Mann, an aviation consultant and former airline executive, said the Transportation Department could force Southwest to pay refunds for all flights that were canceled for reasons within the airline’s control, such as lack of crews. He estimated that could total 6,000 cancellations affecting 1 million customers and adding up to $300 million.

Fred Barber, whose daughter’s and son-in-law’s flights were canceled Christmas Day, said he plans to seek reimbursement for their rebooked, next-day American Airline tickets, which cost about $290 each. His family also plans to submit expenses they wouldn’t have incurred had their flight left as scheduled, including some basic clothing items, prescription medicine and gas mileage.

Barber, who lives in Argyle, drove back and forth to Dallas Love Field during the rebooking process, approximately 40 miles each way. He estimates their request totals about $1,000, and said he hopes to recover the full amount.

“I can’t think of anything we are asking for that is unreasonable,” he said. “All of these are things that they should not have had to pay for.”

But Barber said he is privileged to absorb the extra costs in the meantime.

“From our family’s standpoint, this is a first-world problem,” he said.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said his department would hold Southwest accountable. “They need to make sure that those stranded passengers get to where they need to go and that they are provided adequate compensation,” including for missed flights, hotels and meals, he said Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

David Gail, whose flight also was canceled over the holiday, said he hopes to get a full refund for his rebooked, same-day flight on JSX for himself, his wife and their three children.

Gail also submitted expenses for his rental car. His family had plans to rent a car, but had to drive three hours to a different airport to catch a flight back to Dallas.

He said his reimbursement request totals around $2,400, and considers those expenses to fall under Southwest’s definition of “reasonable.”

“It would have been much more expensive for Southwest had we booked two hotel rooms for three days and had a rental car for three days,” he said.

Gail received an automated email from the airline Thursday that acknowledged receipt of the request and provided a case number. The email says the passenger will receive a “personalized response” from a member of Southwest’s customer service team but does not disclose exactly when the airline will process the request.

Meanwhile, Imani Stewart said she received a full refund for her canceled Southwest flight from Dallas to Salt Lake City by talking to a ticketing agent at Love Field. The conversation took about an hour, she said.

Stewart also asked the agent for a refund on the $95 pet fee she was charged for her small dog. The airline representative told her she wasn’t sure whether that qualified for reimbursement.

The Mansfield resident, who flies Southwest in part because of how well they typically handle pets, said she doesn’t see why this wouldn’t be considered reasonable.

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“You’re buying your pet a seat or the ability for them to fly on the plane, and he didn’t fly on the plane, so the service at the end of the day wasn’t met,” she said.

Stewart plans to submit her pet fee expense along with receipts for her rescheduled flights on United Airlines. She hopes to see some money refunded to her credit card by mid-January, which she thinks is a “reasonable timeframe” for the airline to process her request.

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What to know about Southwest refunds, rebooking and lost luggage

How to get money back for a canceled flight, and other resources for travelers stranded by southwest.

The convergence of a massive winter storm , a swarm of holiday travelers and a major airline’s operational collapse has created travel chaos of epic proportions .

Southwest Airlines passengers suffered the worst of it, with the carrier drawing scrutiny from the Transportation Department for a meltdown that caused more than 15,000 canceled flights. The airline admitted to struggles with outdated scheduling systems, and an internal company memo highlighted a worker shortage in Denver.

On Thursday, after the airline canceled more than half its schedule again, Southwest said it planned to operate close to a normal schedule beginning Friday.

Holiday air travel this year is worse than in years past

Across the country, passengers attempting to fly Southwest either gave up on holiday reunions with out-of-town family or made drastic alternatives like driving through the night or paying premiums to rebook through other airlines.

The unluckiest among them were left waiting for hours (or days) with few answers on when or how they could resume their journeys — or where their luggage was waiting.

Here’s what you need to know if your Southwest flight was caught in the fray.

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Southwest Airlines refunds: How to submit a reimbursement claim due to impacted travel

Southwest cancellations, delays frustrate oia travelers.

Most airlines are averaging about a 5% cancellation rate right now. Southwest Airlines is sitting at 70%, and for those who are dealing with Southwest, they aren’t up against an annoying or inconvenient but short delay. Some, like Loretta Moore, could be stranded for up to a week.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan said he was "truly sorry" for the flight delays and cancelations that have stranded passengers – and Southwest employees – at airports across the country, including at Orlando International Airport, following a winter storm over the Christmas holiday.

"I want everyone who is dealing with the problems we've been facing, whether you haven't been able to get to where you need to go or you’re one of our heroic Employees caught up in a massive effort to stabilize the airline, to know is that we're doing everything we can to return to a normal operation," he said in a video posted Tuesday night to Southwest's website.

"And please also hear that I'm truly sorry," he said.

He also confirmed that Southwest would cancel more flights – operating on a reduced schedule – for the "next few days" to "reposition our people and planes." He's hopeful that Southwest would be "back on track before next week."

Still, for many passengers stranded at airports, many have had to extend hotel stays, buy flights on other airlines, or rent a car to get back home – all added expenses.

'We're stuck': Family with wheelchair-bound son stuck in Florida after Southwest flight canceled

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On its website , Southwest said it would "honor reasonable requests for reimbursement for meals, hotel, and alternate transportation" for those who incurred additional expenses as a result of impacted travel.

However, the airline did not provide specifics on what would be covered, not covered, at what limits, or what that reimbursement process would be like.

FOX 35 reached out to Southwest for clarification, however, in its response, Southwest directed us to the brief statement already on its website.

How to submit a flight refund request to Southwest

Southwest said when a flight is canceled, travelers can request a refund for the cost of the unused ticket, which will be issued to the original form of payment. To request a flight refund, travelers can visit Southwest.com , and submit their confirmation number, first name, and last name.

How to submit a reimbursement claim to Southwest

Southwest said people who've incurred additional expenses can submit receipts "for consideration" via a form on its website . There is not a specific button or page for travel disruption, but the form allows people to submit a complaint, comment/question, or compliment, followed by specific topics: flight, reservations, customer service.

People should be prepared with images of receipts for expenses, flight information, and contact information:

• Flight and event date
• Flight number
• Confirmation number
• Origin city
• Destination city

"We're sorry if you were inconvenienced by a flight cancellation. Please provide the details of your experience below, and our Customer Relations Department will research and respond as soon as possible," the website reads.

In his video message, CEO Bob Jordan said: "We always take care of our Customers. And we will lean in and go above and beyond as they would expect us to. Teams are working on all of that: processing refunds, proactively reaching out and taking care of Customers who are dealing with costly detours and reroutes, as just a few examples."

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Widespread floods in central Europe are causing travel chaos and costing lives. A low-pressure system has brought record levels of rainfall to Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania, with Slovakia and Hungary likely to be affected in coming days.

September is normally a popular time to travel to the cities and countryside of the region, and many holidaymakers are concerned about whether their trips will go ahead as planned.

These are the key questions and answers.

How bad are the floods?

They are deadly . At least 16 people have been killed, and in the affected areas normal life has come to a standstill. The military has been drafted in to organise evacuations.

The Foreign Office has the following warnings in place:

• Austria (east): Road closures and disruptions to public transport may occur in affected areas. Check road traffic information and public transport updates from Austrian Railways and Vienna public transport before you travel.
• Czech Republic: Heavy rain and flooding is causing severe disruption, especially in southern and eastern parts of the country.
• Poland: Heavy rain and flooding is causing severe disruption in the Lower Silesia (Dolnośląskie), Silesian (Śląskie) and Opolskie Voivodeships [counties] in southwest Poland. Check local conditions before you travel and follow the instructions of the Polish authorities if you are in these areas.
• Romania: Heavy rain and flooding is causing disruption in eastern Romania. Check local conditions before you travel and follow the instructions of the Romanian authorities if you are in these areas.

What are my rights if I am there?

If danger is present you should do all you can to move to a safe area, taking advice from the authorities at all times. If you incur costs as a result, your travel insurer should reimburse you – so long as you did not venture into an area where the risks and devastation were known.

Anyone on a package holiday – flights and accommodation booked at the same time – should seek advice and assistance from the company that put together the trip.

Will my airline allow me to travel back early?

The Independent has asked the main airlines flying to and from the region – British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air – whether they will allow passengers to fly home earlier without penalty.

Ryanair said: “Passengers have the option of making changes to their bookings online up to 2.5 hours prior to the scheduled departure time of the original or new flight.

“If a passenger is away or needs to return urgently, they can do so by contacting our customer service team who will try help any passengers looking to return as soon as possible.”

EasyJet said normal policies will be imposed – with a change fee and any difference in fare imposed. Such costs may be recoverable from a travel insurer, depending on the circumstances.

I have a flight booked to the area and want to switch destination or postpone my trip. Can I?

The airlines have been asked that question and again, in the absence of responses you must assume that you would lose some or all of your cash. The exception is if you are booked on a package holiday and the trip cannot go ahead as planned because of flooding. In that case, the organiser of the trip should provide a full refund.

I have a rental property booked – will I be able to claim a refund?

That depends on the terms that you agreed with the property owner, and whether they will allow any latitude because of the floods.

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