DOT Announces Rule Requiring Automatic Refunds of Airline Tickets and Service Fees for flights that are canceled or delayed more than 3 hours domestically and 6 hours internationally

Uh oh, airlines not gonna be happy about this, why won't anyone think of the shareholders!!!

Heck yeah! That's an excellent change.

Canceled or significantly changed flights: Passengers will be entitled to a refund if their flight is canceled or significantly changed, and they do not accept alternative transportation or travel credits offered.

This is good also, that way passengers that just want to complete their journey can accept the delay or flight change.

It's further good that it's automatic, but you already know that airlines are going to push hard on passengers with notifications that say "accept [our preferred alternative] NOW while it's still available" without mentioning that the refund is automatic, if they can get away with it.

We have something similar in Canada. One of the budget airlines screwed us out of it by not declaring the delays past 2 hours 55 minutes. The flight ended up being delayed by 4 hours, but when I went for my refund they pulled out the declared delay.

I wonder how this works for people who paid with points from their credit card

I just stay in the basement... problem solved!