Airlines must now give automatic refunds for significant delays. Here's what to know.

Airlines are now required to give customers automatic refunds, under a new Department of Transportation rule that went into effect this week. 

While the new regulation won't make grappling with flight delays and cancellations less hellish, you are at least guaranteed to get your money back when an airline doesn't transport you from point A to B as promised, without having to file any paperwork. The law is also designed to incentivize airlines to minimize disruptions, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday when the rule went into effect.

"When an airline knows that all — instead of just a few of the passengers on a canceled flight — are likely to actually get their money back, it gives them a different set of reasons to put in the investment, and the realistic scheduling that makes those cancellations less likely to happen to begin with," he said. Flight cancellations this year are already below the traditional average of 2%, indicating the initiative is already having an effect, according to the DOT.