Involuntary Bumping
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If the bumping is involuntary, travelers are entitled to receive boarding compensation by check or cash, depending on the price of their ticket and the length of the delay. The key here is that the airlines can't give you vouchers, which tend to expire after a year. They must give you cash or a check.
If the airline gets you to your final destination within an hour of the originally scheduled arrival time, a traveler will not be compensated. If the substitute transportation arrives between one and two hours after the original arrival time (between one and four hours on international flights), an airline must pay an amount equal to 200 percent of the original one-way fare, with a maximum of $675. If you arrive more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation hits 400 percent of the one-way fare, with a maximum of $1,350 (as of 2019).
Those using frequent-flyer award tickets or a ticket issued by a consolidator will be compensated based on the lowest cash, check, or credit card payment charged for a ticket in the same class of service on the flight. And travelers can keep the original ticket and either use it on another flight or ask for an involuntary refund for the ticket for the flight you were bumped from. Finally, airlines must refund payments for services on the original flight, including seat selection and checked baggage.
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Flight Delay or Cancellation
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Compensation for a delay or cancellation depends on the reason and the airline in question. If there's a weather delay, there’s not much that the airline can do. But if the delay is for manmade reasons, including mechanical, compensation depends on the airline you’re flying.
All airlines have a contract of carriage that outlines what they will do. Travelers can ask for things, including meals, phone calls, or a hotel stay. They can also ask an airline to endorse the ticket over to a new carrier that has seat availability, and legacy carriers can rebook you on their first flight to your destination on which space is available without charge if you ask.