1,200+ Flights Cancelled for Sunday as Powerful Winter Storm Sweeps Through Southeast

A powerful winter storm — dubbed “Diego” by The Weather Channel although the National Weather Service remains adamant that winter storms not be named — is sweeping across the Midwest and into the Southeast. Although travel impacts have been relatively light so far, the storm is expected to wreak havoc on Sunday as it moves into the Southeast along with a blast of cold air.

Currently, six states are under a Winter Storm Warning:

A large swath of North Carolina and Virginia are expected to get more than a foot of snow, with some isolated parts getting more than two feet of snow.

Through 6:45pm ET Saturday, FlightAware’s cancellation tracker has recorded at least 1,243 flight cancellations for Sunday. The hardest-hit airports so far are:

• Charlotte (CLT): 1,070 cancellations
• Raleigh-Durham (RDU): 107 cancellations
• Piedmont Triad Intl (GSO): 31 cancellations
• Chicago O’Hare (ORD): 30 cancellations
• Greenville/Spartanburg Intl (GSP): 26 cancellations
• Newark (EWR): 23 cancellations

As of 6pm ET Saturday, here are the travel waivers covering this storm:

In This Post

Allegiant Air

• Based on forecasted weather conditions, our scheduled service may be disrupted (flights may be delayed, diverted, and / or cancelled) to and from the following cities on the dates indicated below.
• Travel date: December 8 – 10
• Airports affected: Asheville, NC (AVL); Chattanooga, TN (CHA); Concord, NC (USA); Greensboro, NC (GSO); Greenville, SC (GSP); Knoxville, TN (TYS); Little Rock, AR (LIT); Memphis, TN (MEM); Nashville, TN (BNA); Northwest Arkansas (XNA); Oklahoma City (OKC); Raleigh Durham, NC (RDU); Roanoke, VA (ROA); Springfield, MO (SGF); Tri-Cities, TN (TRI); Tulsa, OK (TUL)

American Airlines

Southeastern US Severe Weather

• Travel date: December 9 – 10
• Airports affected: Asheville, North Carolina (AVL); Bristol / Johnson City / Kingsport, Tennessee (TRI); Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT); Greensboro / High Point, North Carolina (GSO); Greenville / Spartanburg, South Carolina (GSP); Knoxville, Tennessee (TYS); Lynchburg, Virginia (LYH); Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina (RDU); Roanoke, Virginia (ROA)
• Must have purchased your ticket by December 6
• Rebook travel anytime between December 6 – 15
• You can’t change your origin or destination city. Must rebook in same cabin or pay the difference.
• Avoid the phone queue. Changes available on both AA’s website and in the AA app.

Winter Storm Diego

• Travel date: December 7 – 8
• Airports affected: Amarillo, Texas (AMA); Fort Smith, Arkansas (FSM); Joplin, Missouri (JLN); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (OKC); Springfield / Branson, Missouri (SGF); Stillwater, Oklahoma (SWO); Tulsa, Oklahoma (TUL); Northwest Arkansas / Bentonville, Arkansas (XNA)
• Must have purchased your ticket by December 6
• Rebook travel anytime between December 6 – 11
• You can’t change your origin or destination city. Must rebook in same cabin or pay the difference.
• Avoid the phone queue. Changes available on both AA’s website and in the AA app.

Delta

Southeastern US Winter Weather

• Travel dates: December 9 – 10
• Airports covered: Asheville, NC (AVL); Charlotte, NC (CLT); Greensboro, NC (GSO); Greenville-Spartanburg, SC (GSP); Knoxville, TN (TYS); Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU); Roanoke, VA (ROA); Tri-Cities, TN (TRI)
• Ticket must be reissued on or before: December 15
• Rebooked travel must begin no later than: December 15
• When rescheduled travel occurs beyond December 15, the change fee will be waived. However, a difference in fare may apply. Final travel must be completed by end of ticket validity, one year from date of original issue.
• If travel is not able to be rescheduled within these guidelines, customers may cancel their reservation and apply any unused value of the ticket toward the purchase of a new ticket for a period of one year from the original ticket issuance. Applicable change fee and fare difference will apply for new travel dates.

Southern Plains Winter Weather

• Travel dates: December 8
• Airports covered: Fayetteville, AR (XNA); Fort Smith, AR (FSM); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (OKC); Springfield, MO (SGF); Tulsa, OK (TUL)
• Ticket must be reissued on or before: December 11
• Rebooked travel must begin no later than: December 11
• When rescheduled travel occurs beyond December 11, the change fee will be waived. However, a difference in fare may apply. Final travel must be completed by end of ticket validity, one year from date of original issue.
• If travel is not able to be rescheduled within these guidelines, customers may cancel their reservation and apply any unused value of the ticket toward the purchase of a new ticket for a period of one year from the original ticket issuance. Applicable change fee and fare difference will apply for new travel dates.

Frontier

Winter Weather System

• Travel dates: December 7 – 8
• Airports covered: Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX (DFW); Oklahoma City, OK (OKC); Tulsa, OK (TUL); Little Rock, AR (LIT); Wichita, KS (ICT)
• Must have purchased ticket by December 6
• Rebooked travel must be completed no later than: December 15
• Customers who are ticketed to travel on December 7 or 8 who purchased tickets on or before December 6 may make one itinerary change — rules/restrictions regarding standard change fees, advance purchase, day or time applications, blackouts and minimum or maximum stay requirements will be waived.

Winter Storm Diego

• Travel dates: December 8 – 9
• Airports covered: Memphis, TN (MEM); Nashville, TN (BNA); Knoxville, TN (TYS); Greenville/Spartanburg, SC (GSP); Charlotte, NC (CLT); Raleigh/Durham, NC (RDU)
• Must have purchased ticket by December 7
• Rebooked travel must be completed no later than: December 15
• Customers who are ticketed to travel on December 8 or 9 who purchased tickets on or before December 7 may make one itinerary change — rules/restrictions regarding standard change fees, advance purchase, day or time applications, blackouts and minimum or maximum stay requirements will be waived.

JetBlue

• Travel dates: December 9
• Airports covered: Richmond, VA (RIC)
• Must have purchased ticket by December 8
• Customers may rebook their flights for travel through: December 12
• Travel dates: December 9 – 10
• Airports covered: Charlotte, NC, (CLT) and Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU)
• Must have purchased ticket by December 8
• Customers may rebook their flights for travel through: December 13

Spirit

• Travel dates: December 9 – 10
• Airports covered: Asheville, NC (AVL) and Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC (GSO)
• Modification Charge/Fare Difference waived through: December 13
• After this date, the modification charge is waived, but a fare difference may apply.

Southwest

Winter Storm Diego

United

Winter Storm Diego

• Travel date: December 7 – 8
• Airports covered: Albuquerque, NM (ABQ); Amarillo, TX (AMA); Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX (DFW); Fayetteville, AR (XNA); Liberal, KS (LBL); Little Rock, AR (LIT); Lubbock, TX (LBB); Oklahoma City, OK (OKC); Santa Fe, NM (SAF); Springfield, MO (SGF); Tulsa, OK (TUL); Wichita, KS (ICT)
• The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before December 11, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.​​

Southeast Winter Weather

• Travel date: December 9 – 10
• Airports covered: Asheville, NC (AVL); Charlotte, NC (CLT); Chattanooga, TN (CHA); Columbia, SC (CAE); Fayetteville, NC (FAY); Greensboro, NC (GSO); Greenville-Spartanburg, SC (GSP); Knoxville, TN (TYS); Raleigh, NC (RDU); Roanoke, VA (ROA)
• The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before December 15, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.​​

No waivers (yet) from: Alaska.

Protect Your Travels

This winter storm is another reminder to book flights with a card that offers solid trip delay and cancellation insurance. When I got stuck in Japan for four extra days due to a typhoon, I was very grateful for the Citi Prestige’s trip delay protection, which reimbursed $1,000 of our expenses.

Although Citi Prestige used to be my go-to for booking flights, a recent devaluation to the card’s travel benefits knocked it out of its top spot. Currently, I’m using my Chase Sapphire Reserve Card to book my flights going forward. Other top choices are the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard and the Citi Premier Card.

Source: thepointsguy.com