unfortunately, there s no government regulation that states what an airline has to do in these situations. looking to the airlines individual contracts of carriage, there s a line of a force event or an act of god like you said, the airlines aren t obligated to give you anything but a but it doesn t hurt to ask, right, anne? you can ask for food vouchers, a hotel voucher. you know, maybe even some extra compensation. be specific what you re asking for and be calm. a lot of these agents at the airpo airport are stressed and dealing with lot of passengers. don t make demands. explain your situation and you might get lucky. they have some discretion. finally, say you re headed on a vacation and the flight is canceled and decide it is not worth it an i m just going to stay home. are you eligible for a refund?