How to get reimbursed for hotels and alternative transportation if your Southwest flight was canceled

• Southwest Airlines is experiencing a chaotic operational meltdown, canceling 74% of flights on Monday.
• The carrier has blamed the busy holiday weekend and the winter storm on the flight disruptions.
• Here is how to get compensated for unexpected expenses, like food and a hotel, due to a cancelation. 

Southwest Airlines is battling a severe operational meltdown that has left thousands of travelers stranded across the country — and some have paid hundreds in extra costs to get to their destination this holiday weekend.

Between Wednesday and Monday, the Dallas-based carrier canceled 8,305 flights, amounting to 36% of its operation, according to FlightAware data. On Monday alone, Southwest canceled 74% of its operation and it is struggling to get back on track with 63% of flights already canceled as of 11:00 a.m on Tuesday.

For comparison, the US' second-worst offender between Wednesday and Monday was Delta Air Lines with 1,865 flights canceled, which was 12% of its operation, according to FlightAware. On Monday, the carrier canceled just 10% of its flights.

Southwest CEO Bob Jordan described the airline's chaos on Monday as "a tough day", with the carrier blaming the busy travel weekend and the winter storm on the disruptions.

Due to the cascading snowball of cancelations, many travelers have been forced to rebook travel on different airlines or find a last-minute hotel.

This has amounted to over $1200 for Pensacola-based passenger Elizabeth Noe, whose Southwest flights on December 23 and December 29 were canceled and she had to shell out money for new flights on a different carrier, extra hotel nights, and a rental car. Flight confirmations and rebooking receipts were viewed by Insider. 

Noe is not the only person impacted by Southwest's mass cancelations. Video from local new station Fox 7 Austin showed hundreds of people in line to talk to an airline representative, and it's possible many of those people will find themselves in overnight hotels or taking the train instead. 

Here's how to get compensation for your flight cancelation — particularly Southwest.

You are entitled to a cash refund, not travel credit

According to the Department of Transportation, customers are entitled to a refund in the case of flight cancelations, regardless of reason or fare type. This includes weather, staffing shortages, or even if the ticket was non-refundable.

The agency is clear that the refunds cannot be travel vouchers, so do not accept anything but a full refund if given the option to take flight credit instead. 

Check the DoT's Airline Customer Service Dashboard

The DoT's Airline Customer Service Dashboard outlines what travelers are entitled to — including a hotel and transportation due to an overnight delay or cancelation. For disruptions that resulted in a three or more hour wait, a meal voucher or meal cash will be provided. 

If you end up taking a later flight that results in a hotel stay, airlines have committed to providing these accommodations to impacted travelers in the case of "controllable" disruptions — including Southwest. While the carrier has blamed the weather on the chaos, it may extend goodwill gestures to passengers, so it doesn't hurt to ask.

Email Southwest for reimbursement

In some cases, travelers will decide to receive a refund for a canceled flight and rebook their own transportation, like a flight on a different carrier, a rental car, or a train. 

According to Southwest's website, passengers impacted by cancelations or significant delays between December 24 and January 2 can email the airline with receipts for "meals, hotel, and alternate transportation."

The carrier says it will "honor reasonable requests."

Contact your credit card issuer

Travelers should also check if their credit card comes with trip insurance.

Banks like Chase and American Express have credit cards that come with travel insurance that covers unexpected expenses due to flight disruptions. This includes hotels, meals, and transportation, and can be acquired via a claim to the bank.

In the case of Southwest's meltdown, those with travel insurance attached to their card must purchase their hotel and other expenses with the same card to receive compensation, and the original flight must have also been purchased with that credit card.