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While flight changes and cancellations are certainly frustrating, it can help to look at them as a hidden loophole to change (or cancel) your flight without paying the fare difference that typically comes along with it.

The rule has long been that when an airline makes a “significant” change to your flight, you have the right to a) a full refund or b) to ask to be put on a different flight, without a change fee and often without having to pay more if the new flight is more expensive.

What classifies as "significant" has always been left up to the airlines and, therefore, has always varied from airline to airline. The major US airlines currently define a significant delay, making you eligible for compensation, as:

Changes to your departure or arrival airport, or switching you from a nonstop to a connecting flight, would also count.

Keep in mind: If the airline moves you to a new flight and you take the flight, you aren't eligible for a refund. You can only take the new flight or take a cash refund—not both.

But, it means if you don't want to take the trip: score! You now qualify for a cash refund. If you want to take the trip but didn't love your original flight, you now have the opportunity to change to a better one—free of charge.

Read more about how to make a flight change work to your advantage.

The US Department of Transportation recently announced a new rule on airline ticket refunds and service fees, which would set the threshold for the amount of time that qualifies as a “significant” delay as 3 hours for domestic flights and 6 hours for international flights.

Additionally, it counts as a significant change if your new flight departs or arrives at a different airport than you intended, you have more connections, you were downgraded to a lower service, or if new connections are less accessible to a person with a disability. The rule also mandates that passengers automatically get a refund, rather than having to proactively request it.

It's unclear when (and if) the rule will officially go into effect. In the meantime, if your flight is significantly changed and you don't want to take the trip, you should plan to contact the airline directly to get a refund.

If an airline cancels your flight, you’re owed a cash refund. It’s federal law: “A consumer is entitled to a refund if the airline canceled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the consumer chooses not to travel.”

The implementation period for the new rule—which says that refunds would be automatic—is up in the air, so while you are entitled to a full cash refund if your flight is canceled or significantly changed, you'll likely still need to request the refund by contacting the airline directly.

Airlines may try to hide the refund option and push you to take a voucher instead. Know your rights, and be persistent. Even basic economy tickets (which are nonrefundable if you elect to cancel voluntarily) are eligible for a cash refund if the airline cancels your flight.

If an airline is stonewalling on a refund and offering a voucher instead, these are the three main options at your disposal.

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Again, what constitutes a “significant” change varies by airline. If your new flight no longer works with your schedule, or if your connection time shrinks below the airport or airline minimum connection time, the airline will work with you to get you on the next best flight.

In this case, the first thing you should do is go online to see what other flights are available from that airline and select the best option for your schedule.

Don’t worry if the fare for the new flight is higher than what you paid for yours; if there's an open seat, the airline will likely move you to the flight you requested for free. Once you’ve decided on a new flight, call the airline to get your itinerary switched.

If the change is significant enough and there are no other flights that work with your schedule, you can request a cash refund (even with a normally nonrefundable basic economy fare). However, depending on what you originally paid and how soon you’re traveling, you may not be able to find a replacement flight at a good price. (Last-minute flights tend to be very expensive.)

Read more about how to find a cheap last-minute flight.

Perhaps you were scheduled to fly on Monday, but the airline has moved you to Tuesday. Or maybe you were going to fly from Portland to Philadelphia, but the airline stopped operating that route and instead you’re flying from Portland to Seattle to Philadelphia.

In this case, the solution is similar to the above. You can accept the new flight, or check out your options, call the airline, and ask to be moved to a flight that works better with your schedule.

Again, if this change is more than the minimum times stated above, you can also get a refund (even with a normally nonrefundable basic economy fare), but that may mean you won’t be able to take your trip at all.

Here’s where it gets a bit muddier.

In the case of a large airline that operates a hub-and-spoke model or has several codeshare partners, the airline will likely just reroute you. For an airline like United or Delta, it’s easy. Rather than flying you directly from, say, San Francisco to Madrid, if they cancel their SFO–MAD route, they might fly you from San Francisco to Paris to Madrid, with the final leg connecting on a European partner, or they could put you on their flight from San Francisco to their New York hub where you can catch the direct flight to Madrid.

But many budget airlines—such as Norwegian and Level—don’t have an extensive partner network; instead of a hub-and-spoke model, they operate a point-to-point model. This means if they cancel a specific route, it may not be possible to reroute you. In this case, the most likely outcome is that the airline will cancel your flight and issue you a refund.

One exception is if you’re willing to be re-accommodated on a different point-to-point route. For example, if a budget airline canceled their Boston–Paris route, they may be able to rebook you on the Boston–London flight, or the New York–Paris flight. In either case, you would likely be responsible for getting yourself from London to Paris or from Boston to New York.

Airlines don’t go out of business often, but in these cases, it’s unlikely you’ll get a refund from the airline. However, you may have other ways to recoup your expenses.

How to get compensation or recoup other expenses

In cases where the airline isn’t going out of business but they cancel your flight and can’t reroute you, you'll get a refund for the fare. But what about other expenses, such as connecting flights you purchased separately or nonrefundable hotels and activities?

If you booked your flights with a credit card that offers travel protections, those expenses may be covered as part of the card’s trip cancellation policy. Your best bet is to call your card services and ask about what’s covered and the process for filing a claim.

Additionally, under the European Union’s Flight Compensation Regulation 261/2004 (also known as EU 261), passengers flying to, from, or within the EU are entitled to up to €600, depending on the flight distance, for cancellations. The catch is that it only applies if you were informed less than 14 days prior to the scheduled departure date of that flight. If your flight is canceled once you're on your trip, you have the right to reimbursement for the unused portion of the flight, re-routing or return, as well as assistance and compensation.

See if you're eligible for compensation here.

How to get a replacement fare

When it's a high-profile instance of an airline going out of business, sometimes other airlines will step up to help with discounted fares for stranded passengers. But when an airline simply discontinues a route, it’s up to you to find a replacement flight if you still want to take the trip.

Depending on how much time you have until your trip, you could wait to see if another great deal pops up. If your trip is close, though, you may need to act fast. Last-minute deals are a thing of the past; the best fares for international flights are found 2–8 months in advance (and even earlier for peak season). As your date of departure approaches, prices will rise.

Try using the Greek Islands Trick: Get as close to your final destination as possible, and then find an alternate mode of transportation to get you the rest of the way there. For example, if your flight from Las Vegas to Barcelona was canceled, look at flights from Las Vegas to any other city in Europe. Most of the continent is a cheap flight away from Barcelona.

You can also do this closer to home. If your flight from Minneapolis to Mexico City is no longer running, you could look for cheap flights to Mexico City from hubs like Chicago or Denver, and then take a repositioning flight on a regional budget airline to one of those cities to connect to your international departure.

If you’re already on your trip when the flight is canceled and you need to get home cheaply, compare the cost of a roundtrip vs. a one-way ticket. One-way international tickets tend to be more expensive than roundtrips, so even if you only need the one-way flight to get you back home, it may be cheaper to book a roundtrip and simply not use the return flight.

Alternatively, if you have a stash of frequent flyer miles, they’re often great value for one-way international flights.