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Yet another storm is threatening flight operations Wednesday, with winter weather expected to affect travel up and down the East Coast. Airlines are offering free weather waivers to allow travelers flying through affected areas a chance to rebook their flights on different dates or through different airports.
The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings, winter weather advisories and ice storm warnings for the following stretch from Texas to Maine:
Over a foot of snow is expected in some parts of the Northeast:
Already, FlightAware’s flight cancellation tracker has recorded 695 flight US flight cancellations for Wednesday — with 187 of these involving Newark (EWR) flights and 175 flights in/out of Boston (BOS).
So far, six airlines are offering weather waivers far and wide to help flexible travelers rebook to avoid airports during this storm. As of 8pm Tuesday, the following airports are covered by at least one of the waivers below:
Remember, if you can’t delay your itinerary, airlines aren’t going to be responsible for paying for your meals or hotels in the case of weather-related delays/cancellations. But some top cards have flight delay/cancellation insurance that will reimburse you for weather issues, including the Citi Prestige ($500 per passenger for 3+ hour delay), the Chase Sapphire Reserve ($500 per ticket for 6+ hour or overnight delay) and Chase Sapphire Preferred ($500 per ticket for 12+ hour or overnight delay).
As of 8pm Eastern Tuesday, here are the travel waivers covering this storm:
American Airlines
- Travel date: February 7
- Airports affected: Akron / Canton, Ohio (CAK); Albany, New York (ALB); Allentown, Pennsylvania (ABE); Baltimore, Maryland (BWI); Bangor, Maine (BGR); Boston, Massachusetts (BOS); Buffalo, New York (BUF); Burlington, Vermont (BTV); Cincinnati, Ohio (CVG); Cleveland, Ohio (CLE); Columbus, Ohio (CMH); Dayton, Ohio (DAY); Erie, Pennsylvania (ERI); Evansville, Indiana (EVV); Fort Wayne, Indiana (FWA); Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (MDT); Hartford, Connecticut (BDL); Indianapolis, Indiana (IND); Islip, New York (ISP); Ithaca, New York (ITH); Lexington, Kentucky (LEX); Louisville, Kentucky (SDF); Montreal, Ontario Canada (YUL); New York Kennedy, New York (JFK); New York LaGuardia, New York (LGA); Newark, New Jersey (EWR); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PHL); Portland, Maine (PWM); Rochester, New York (ROC); State College, Pennsylvania (SCE); Stewart Newburgh, New York (SWF); Syracuse, New York (SYR); Toledo, Ohio (TOL); Toronto, Ontario Canada (YYZ); Washington Dulles, Washington D.C. (IAD); Washington Reagan, Washington D.C. (DCA); Watertown, New York (ART); White Plains / Westchester County, New York (HPN); Wilkes-Barre / Scranton, Pennsylvania (AVP)
- Must have purchased your ticket by February 6
- Rebook travel anytime between February 6-10
- 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
- Travel dates: February 7
- Airports covered: Allentown, PA (ABE); Baltimore, MD (BWI); Boston, MA (BOS); Cincinnati, OH (CVG); Evansville, IN (EVV); Lexington, KY (LEX); Louisville, KY (SDF); New York, NY – Kennedy (JFK); New York, NY – LaGuardia (LGA); Newark, NJ (EWR); Newburgh, NY (SWF); State College, PA (SCE); Washington, DC – Dulles (IAD); Washington, DC – Reagan (DCA); White Plains, NY (HPN); Wilkes Barre, PA (AVP)
- Ticket must be reissued on or before: February 10
- Rebooked travel must begin no later than: February 10
- When rescheduled travel occurs beyond February 10, 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
- Travel dates: February 7
- Airports covered: Buffalo, NY (BUF); Cleveland, OH (CLE); Cincinnati, OH (CVG); Columbus, OH (CMH); Detroit, MI (DTW); Grand Rapids, MI (GRR); Indianapolis, IN (IND); New York LaGuardia, NY (LGA); New York MacArthur/Islip, NY (ISP); Pittsburgh, PI (PIT); Philadelphia, PA (PHL); Providence, RI (PVD); Trenton, NJ (TTN); Washington National, DC (DCA); Washington Dulles, DC (IAD)
- Must have purchased ticket by February 6
- Rebooked travel must be completed no later than: February 21
- Customers who are ticketed to travel on Wednesday, February 7 who purchased tickets on or before Tuesday, February 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.
JetBlue
Southwest
United
- Travel date: February 7
- Airports covered: Allentown, PA (ABE); Albany, NY (ALB); Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA (AVP); Hartford, CT (BDL); Bangor, ME (BGR); Boston, MA (BOS); Burlington, VT (BTV); Buffalo, NY (BUF); Baltimore, MD (BWI); Cleveland, OH (CLE); Columbus, OH (CMH); Cincinnati, OH (CVG); Washington-National, DC (DCA); Erie, PA (ERI); New York/Newark, NJ (EWR); White Plains, NY (HPN); Washington, DC — Dulles (IAD); New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK); Lexington, KY (LEX); New York-LaGuardia, NY (LGA); Harrisburg, PA (MDT); Manchester, NH (MHT); Portland, ME (PWM); Rochester, NY (ROC); State College, PA (SCE); Louisville, KY (SDF); Syracuse, NY (SYR); Montréal, QC, CA (YUL)
- The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before February 10, 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, Spirit, Virgin America
Source: thepointsguy.com