Airline cancelled your flight: refund, credit, or rebook?

Know your rights when an airline cancels your flight in Australia. When the ACL entitles you to a cash refund — not just a credit or voucher.

Reviewed by Jun Manbatten14 May 202615 min read

Airline Services Section 60 Cancellation Refund Intermediate

Your flight has been cancelled. The airline's app is offering you a travel credit, a rebooking onto a flight that doesn't suit you, or a voucher that expires in twelve months. A cash refund may be buried — if it's mentioned at all.

Here is what the law gives you, what depends on the facts, and what to do when the airline offers you less.

Quick answer

Why the flight was cancelled, and what the airline offered instead, matter most. Under the Australian Consumer Law, a flight is a service. The ACCC says you may be entitled to a replacement travel service or a refund when a flight is cancelled, depending on the circumstances, and that if the replacement isn't within a reasonable time, the airline must give you the choice of a different replacement service or a refund. An airline's own policy can't take away those consumer guarantee rights.

What you can ask for also depends on whether the failure is major. If it's a major failure (or one that can't be remedied), you can cancel and get a refund for the part of the service not yet used (section 269), or keep the contract and claim compensation for the drop in value. If it isn't major, the airline gets the first reasonable opportunity to fix it, usually by rebooking you; if it refuses or doesn't do so within a reasonable time, you can have it remedied elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost, or cancel. Your fare conditions or the airline's policy may also give you a refund option. If the cancellation happened only because of someone else, such as a government airspace closure, your rights may depend mainly on your booking's terms.

Start by writing to the airline. You don't have to accept a credit or voucher as the only remedy where the ACL gives you a refund.

What the law actually says

The consumer guarantees apply where you acquired the flight as a consumer under section 3 of the ACL: the price paid or payable was $100,000 or less, or the service is of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use (either is enough). Passenger flights usually meet the second limb, but check how section 3 applies to you.

The ACCC's guidance on travel delays and cancellations says the guarantees cover flights within Australia, travel services provided by international businesses that depart Australia, and travel to Australia booked through a travel provider's Australian website.

The guarantees most relevant to a cancellation are:

Section 62 — Reasonable time. Where the contract doesn't fix the time for supply, the service must be supplied within a reasonable time. The ACCC says this guarantee is especially relevant to travel. It says whether it was met depends on the length of the delay, its cause, whether you were moved to a different service, and when that service is. Conditions of carriage generally don't guarantee flight times, so this guarantee often matters most for how quickly the airline gets you where you were going after the cancellation.
Section 60 — Due care and skill. A cancellation caused by matters within the airline's control, such as maintenance, crew rostering or scheduling, may show the service wasn't rendered with due care and skill, depending on the evidence.
Section 61 — Purpose and result. If you made known a particular purpose, or the result you wanted (for example, arriving by a specific time), the service must be reasonably fit for that purpose, and of a nature and quality that might reasonably be expected to achieve that result. Neither applies if the circumstances show you didn't rely, or it was unreasonable to rely, on the airline's skill or judgment.

For the guarantees in sections 61 and 62, you can't take action if the failure happened only because of someone other than the airline (or its agents or employees), such as a government airspace closure, or a cause independent of human control after supply (section 267(1)(c)). That limit doesn't apply to section 60, where the question is whether the airline took due care and skill; external events such as severe weather make a breach less likely. The ACCC says that where a third party's actions prevent the airline supplying the service, your right to a refund or replacement will generally depend on your booking's terms and conditions. Cancellations driven by the airline's own commercial or operational decisions are generally harder for it to put outside the guarantees.

Remedies under section 267

Section 267 of the ACL sets out the services remedies, and section 268 defines a major failure. A failure is major if a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure wouldn't have acquired the service; the service is substantially unfit for a purpose services of that kind are commonly supplied for, unfit for a particular purpose you made known, or not of such a nature, or quality, state or condition, that it might reasonably be expected to achieve a result you made known, and can't easily and within a reasonable time be remedied; or it creates an unsafe situation. Two or more failures that aren't major on their own are together a major failure if a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with them, taken as a whole, wouldn't have acquired the service (section 268(2)).

Major failure, or one that can't be remedied: you can cancel the contract and get a refund for the part of the service not yet used (section 269), or keep it and claim compensation for the drop in value.
Non-major failure that can be remedied: you can require the airline to fix it within a reasonable time, usually by rebooking you. If it refuses or doesn't, you can have it fixed elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost, or cancel. The ACCC says that if you had to book with another airline because yours had no reasonable replacement flights, you may be able to recover that cost from the original airline.

A cancellation for reasons within the airline's control, with no reasonable alternative, may well be a major failure, but it depends on the cause, the alternatives offered and whether a time-critical purpose was made known.

You may also be able to claim other reasonably foreseeable losses, such as a hotel night or transport (section 267(4)), if you can evidence them, took reasonable steps to keep them down, and don't claim the same loss twice.

Credits, vouchers and the airline's own terms

The ACCC says airline compensation policies don't replace the consumer guarantees: your rights under a policy are on top of them. In a 2017 report, the ACCC said travel credits or vouchers are not equivalent to a refund and shouldn't be used as a substitute where you're entitled to a refund under the ACL. Its general guidance is that refunds should be in the same form as the original payment unless you and the business agree otherwise.

Under section 64 of the ACL, a term in the conditions of carriage is void to the extent it purports to exclude, restrict or modify the consumer guarantees or your remedies. (For services not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, section 64A may let a contract limit liability to supplying the service again or its cost, unless you show reliance isn't fair or reasonable.) Aviation liability laws can impose their own limits and procedures that section 64 doesn't override.

International flights and fixed compensation

For international flights, the Montreal Convention generally governs claims for damage caused by delay, however the claim is framed, and caps them; claims under it must be brought within two years. For flights within Australia, the Department of Infrastructure says your entitlements are generally determined by the airline's terms and conditions and the ACL. There's currently no general legislated scheme of fixed cash payments for a cancelled or delayed flight in Australia. Confirm which framework governs before calculating a claim; our flight delay guide has more.

Ready to write your demand letter?

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When this applies (and when it doesn't)

The consumer guarantees are most likely to help when:

You acquired the flight as a consumer under section 3, and the trip is one the ACCC's guidance covers (see above).
The cancellation was caused by the airline's own operations, scheduling decisions or maintenance.

The picture is more complicated when:

The cancellation was caused only by a third party. Section 267(1)(c) may limit a claim under sections 61 and 62, and the ACCC says your right to a refund or replacement will generally depend on your booking's terms. Check the conditions of carriage and the airline's policy, which may still give you a refund of the unused fare.
You booked through a third-party travel agent. Your contract may be with the agent, not the airline. Check the booking confirmation, receipt and terms that applied when you booked to see who supplied what. The ACCC says an agent may legally only need to pass on the remedy the airline offers.
The flight operated but was delayed. The ACL's guarantees (especially reasonable time, section 62, and due care and skill, section 60) can still apply, but the analysis differs; see our flight delay guide.

The consumer guarantees generally don't help when:

You cancelled the flight yourself or changed your mind. The ACCC says you aren't entitled to a refund or replacement if you change your mind or miss the flight for reasons unrelated to the service. Your fare conditions govern, though other ACL protections, such as the ban on misleading conduct about fare terms, may still be relevant.

What to do today

If your flight has been cancelled and the airline is offering only a credit or voucher, here is a process that often helps:

Don't accept the credit automatically. Apps may present the credit as the default, with refund options harder to find. Once you accept, it may be harder to argue for a cash refund.
Ask about a chargeback now. If you paid by card, ask your card issuer now whether a chargeback is available; if you used buy now pay later, ask the provider about its dispute process; both follow the card scheme's or provider's own time limits, not the ACL's.
Ask for the reason in writing. Ask the airline in writing for the reason for the cancellation; the cause will matter if the dispute goes further.
Request a refund in writing. Contact the airline by email or through its written complaints process. State the flight number, the date, the booking reference, and that you are requesting a refund for the unused part of your booking under the ACL consumer guarantees. Keep a copy of everything you send.
Cite the relevant law. Explain why you consider the cancellation a major failure under section 268, or why the service wasn't supplied within a reasonable time (section 62), and the remedy you're seeking under section 267. A letter that sets out its legal basis clearly is harder to brush aside.
Set a deadline. Give the airline 14 days to respond (a practical default, not an ACL requirement). Say that if it doesn't, you'll escalate, including to a tribunal or court with jurisdiction if necessary.
Keep your evidence and document your losses. Keep your proof of purchase (booking confirmation, bank statement or email receipt). If the cancellation caused extra costs — a hotel night, a replacement flight on another carrier, transport — keep all receipts. You may be able to claim them as reasonably foreseeable losses under section 267(4) as well as your refund, if you took reasonable steps to keep them down and don't claim the same loss twice.

If drafting the letter feels daunting, fairgo can generate a ready-to-send demand letter. Start your letter here — the tool identifies the relevant ACL sections based on what happened and produces a letter you send under your own name.

What if the business refuses

If the airline refuses or doesn't respond within your deadline, you have several escalation options:

The Airline Customer Advocate. If your complaint is about Qantas, Jetstar or Virgin Australia and you've already complained to the airline, the Airline Customer Advocate may help. It describes its service as free, applies eligibility criteria (including that the event happened within the last 12 months), and can't make decisions that bind the airline. Participating airlines can change, so check before lodging.
The proposed aviation ombuds scheme. The Aviation Consumer Protection Bill 2026 would set up an Aviation Consumer Ombuds Scheme and a charter of minimum standards for airlines. As at October 2026 it was before the Senate and isn't yet law. The Department of Infrastructure expects the scheme to begin in 2026/2027; until then, its interim ombudsperson has no formal resolution or investigative powers. Check the Department's website for the current position.
Your state or territory consumer body. Your state or territory consumer protection body may help, for example by contacting the business or conciliating, if your complaint meets its criteria. Most expect you to have tried to resolve the matter with the business first, and eligibility rules vary by state and dispute type (in the ACT, for example, statutory conciliation applies only where the remedy you seek is worth $5,000 or less). These bodies don't make binding orders in ordinary consumer disputes and can't make the business settle. Contact details are at /agencies.
The ACCC. The ACCC says it doesn't resolve individual complaints about delayed or cancelled travel, but it accepts reports and can investigate misleading conduct. You can report at accc.gov.au, but don't rely on this as your path to a refund.
A tribunal or court with jurisdiction. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and the NT, a tribunal (NCAT, VCAT, QCAT, ACAT or NTCAT) hears many consumer claims within its limits; in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, ordinary consumer claims go to the Magistrates Court. Jurisdiction depends on each forum's enabling legislation, the type of claim and the amount, so confirm the forum and its current thresholds on the official site before filing. For carrier-liability or Montreal Convention claims, the jurisdictional position can be genuinely complex. You can usually run a claim without a lawyer, though some forums restrict legal representation (QCAT, for example, requires permission). Check current filing fees on the official site, and ask about fee exemptions, waivers or deferrals if cost is a concern. Our guide to choosing the right tribunal or court has more. Setting out your next step clearly in writing can help move a stalled dispute.
Your card provider. If you haven't already, ask about a chargeback. Your provider may reverse a charge for a service not delivered, but each card scheme sets its own rules and time limits. It's separate from the ACL claim and can run in parallel.

For a step-by-step guide to what happens after a business refuses, see what to do when a business refuses your refund.

Common mistakes

Common errors include:

Accepting the credit before reading the terms. Travel credits can come with expiry dates, blackout periods and route restrictions. Once accepted, they may be hard to convert back to cash. Read the terms before you click anything.
Assuming non-refundable means no refund ever. A non-refundable fare mainly governs what happens if you cancel. Where the ACL guarantees apply, a non-refundable label doesn't stop you using your ACL remedies when the airline cancels.
Contacting the airline only by phone. Calls leave no record. Follow up every call with an email summarising what was said.
Waiting too long. The ACL doesn't set a single fixed warranty-style expiry, but limitation laws and forum rules apply, and international claims under the Montreal Convention have their own strict time limits. Delay also weakens your position. Act within days of the cancellation, not months.
Conflating the airline's goodwill policy with your legal rights. Goodwill refund policies during disruptions are offers on top of your ACL rights, not a substitute. Your ACL rights apply regardless of the goodwill policy.
Forgetting consequential losses. If the cancellation cost you money beyond the ticket price — a missed prepaid hotel, a connecting flight you had to rebook — these losses may be recoverable if they were reasonably foreseeable, you can evidence them and you took reasonable steps to keep them down. Keep every receipt and include them in your claim from the start.

If you bought your ticket online and are unsure how the ACL applies to online purchases generally, the guide to online purchase rights under the ACL covers the key principles.

This article is general information about Australian Consumer Law, not legal advice. It also touches on complaint and escalation pathways (the Airline Customer Advocate, the proposed Aviation Consumer Ombuds Scheme, state and territory consumer bodies, tribunals and courts, the ACCC), airline conditions of carriage and compensation policies, card chargeback rules, the Montreal Convention, the domestic carriers' liability legislation and limitation laws, whose scope, rules, thresholds and processes sit outside the ACL or can change. Confirm the current position with the relevant body before lodging. For advice on your specific case, see your state or territory consumer body — full list at /agencies.