Mass Delays and Cancellations Cripple Flights Across the East Coast

It’s been a really, really rough 2018 so far for New York City airports. And, Friday afternoon, we are getting “deja vu all over again” with over 4,000 flight delays and over 800 cancellations so far as of Friday afternoon.

The worst-hit airports so far are:

• New York – LaGuardia (LGA): 326 delays and 203 cancellations
• New York – Kennedy (JFK): 318 delays and 155 cancellations
• Newark (EWR): 233 delays and 100 cancellations
• Boston Logan (BOS): 257 delays and 77 cancellations
• Reagan National (DCA): 252 delays and 63 cancellations
• Nashville (BNA): 92 delays and 53 cancellations

Tens of millions of Americans are under Winter Storm Warnings, stretching from Mississippi up to the Vermont/New Hampshire border:

The National Weather Service predicts up to 16.8 inches of snow in parts on top of a thick layer of ice:

Friday morning, we wrote about the airline waivers available to rebook yourself out of the path of the storm. Here’s an update on the waivers available as of 3:00pm ET.

American Airlines

• Travel dates: January 12
• Airports covered: Albany, New York (ALB); Allentown, Pennsylvania (ABE); Boston, Massachusetts (BOS); Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (MDT); Hartford, Connecticut (BDL); Islip, New York (ISP); Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts (MVY); New Haven, Connecticut (HVN); New York Kennedy, New York (JFK); New York LaGuardia, New York (LGA); Newark, New Jersey (EWR); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PHL); Portland, Maine (PWM); Providence, Rhode Island (PVD); Stewart Newburgh, New York (SWF); White Plains / Westchester County, New York (HPN); Wilkes-Barre / Scranton, Pennsylvania (AVP)
• Must have purchased your ticket by January 11
• Rebook travel anytime between January 12-15
• You can’t change your origin or destination city. Must rebook in same cabin or pay the difference.

Delta

• Travel date: January 12
• Airports covered: Newburgh, NY (SWF); New York – Kennedy, NY (JFK); New York – LaGuardia, NY (LGA); Newark, NJ (EWR); White Plains, NY (HPN)
• Ticket must be reissued by: January 15
• Rebooked travel must begin no later than: January 15
• When rescheduled travel occurs beyond January 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.

Southwest

United

• Travel dates: January 12-13
• Airports covered: New York/Newark, NJ (EWR); New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK); New York-LaGuardia, NY (LGA)​; White Plains, NY (HPN)​
• The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before January 16, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.

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 can 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).

Source: thepointsguy.com