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Travel disputes kit

Pick the problem and where you are. You get the rules that apply with a link to each source, what to gather, the dates for a credit card dispute, and a letter to the business or your card issuer. Nothing leaves your browser.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and depend on your policy, your contract and where you are. Check the source shown on each rule before you rely on it.

1. The problem and where you are

You had a confirmed room and the hotel did not give it to you, or moved you elsewhere.

Which rules do you want to see? Use where you live or where the business or your card is based.

2. Rules that may help

What counts as a billing error

A billing error includes a charge for goods or services not delivered as agreed when you bought them, and a charge you ask the issuer to explain with documentary evidence. A hotel room you were not given, or a tour that did not run, can fall under the first; a rental-car damage charge with no proof can fall under the second.

This covers credit cards. We have not sourced the rules for debit cards or bank transfers: see your bank.

Source: 15 U.S.C. 1666(b): billing error defined, checked 30 Sep 2026

Credit card billing error: 60-day written notice

Under the Fair Credit Billing Act you dispute a credit card charge by writing to the card issuer at its billing-error address (not the payments address). The letter must reach the issuer within 60 days after the first statement showing the error was sent to you.

Source: 15 U.S.C. 1666: Correction of billing errors, checked 30 Sep 2026

Also: FTC: Disputing credit card charges

What the issuer must do, and what you can withhold

The issuer must acknowledge your notice in writing within 30 days and resolve it within two complete billing cycles, and in no event later than 90 days. While it investigates you can withhold payment of the disputed amount and related finance charges, but you must pay the part of the bill that is not in dispute.

Source: FTC: Disputing credit card charges, checked 30 Sep 2026

Also: 15 U.S.C. 1666(a)

Disputes about quality, not delivery

A separate provision lets you raise claims and defences against the card issuer when you are unhappy with the quality of a purchase, but it has limits: the amount must exceed a threshold and the purchase must have been made in your home state or within 100 miles of your billing address, with exceptions. Try to sort it out with the merchant first. Because of these limits, do not rely on it for a trip abroad.

We have not confirmed the current threshold amount or the exceptions: read the section.check

Source: 15 U.S.C. 1666i: claims and defences against the card issuer, checked 30 Sep 2026check

What no rule we can source covers: We have not found a general law that says what a hotel must pay when it walks a guest, in any region. Many hotels have their own policy, often to move you to a similar hotel and pay for the first night. Ask for what you are owed in writing and check the booking terms.

3. What to do

Practical steps that usually help. They are not legal rules.

  1. 1
    Get it in writing before you leave the desk

    Ask the hotel to confirm in writing that they could not honour the reservation, and where they are sending you.

  2. 2
    Ask what they will cover

    Transport to the new hotel, the room rate difference and a phone call or message home are common asks.

  3. 3
    Keep proof of the booking and what you paid

    Confirmation email, card receipt and the terms shown at booking.

  4. 4
    If you booked through a site or app

    Contact the platform as well: it may have a rebooking or refund process.

  5. 5
    Then the card

    If the money is not returned, send a billing-error notice to the card issuer. The chargeback timeline below shows the dates.

4. Evidence to gather

0 of 6 ticked

Ticks are saved on this device only.

5. Credit card dispute dates (US)

For a US credit card the Fair Credit Billing Act generally gives you 60 days from the statement that first shows the charge to get a written billing-error notice to the issuer. Enter that statement’s date.

Today's date is not available yet.

Source: 15 U.S.C. 1666: Correction of billing errors, checked 30 Sep 2026

Credit cards only. We have not sourced the rules for debit cards or bank transfers.

Other countries and card types: Outside the US credit card rule above, chargeback deadlines for card payments are set by the card schemes and the issuer, not by statute. Ask your card issuer for its window now, and do not wait for the trip or the refund to finish.check

6. Letter

A first letter to the business. It cites a rule only when a sourced one matches your region and booking type, and makes no threat beyond saying you will use other routes.

Fields you leave blank stay as [brackets] for you to fill in. Attach copies, not originals.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and depend on your policy, your contract and where you are. Check the source shown on each rule before you rely on it.