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Tropical Storm Cindy is nearing landfall on the Gulf Coast close to the border between Louisiana and Texas. The storm is anticipated to reach land overnight tonight, although the winds aren’t expected to be the major story of Cindy — the rainfall and flooding will likely be the lasting legacy.
Flooding is already a major issue in parts of Louisiana:
While there aren’t any significant delays in the area yet, airlines are happy to let customers avoid this area over the next few days. So, they’ve released travel change fee waivers stretching from Houston to the Florida panhandle. Here’s a map of all of the airports included in at least one of the waivers below:
If you’re flying to/from the affected airports, you can utilize these change fee waivers to rebook yourself on a different date. Or, if you’re just connecting through the area, you can use these change fee waivers to reroute yourself through different airports or on different dates.
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).
As of this writing, here are the available travel waivers for today:
American Airlines
- Travel date: June 22
- Airports affected: Baton Rouge, Louisiana (BTR); Beaumont / Port Arthur, Texas (BPT); Destin / Fort Walton Beach, Florida (VPS); Gulfport / Biloxi, Mississippi (GPT); Houston George Bush Intercontental, Houston, Texas (IAH); Houston Hobby, Houston, Texas (HOU); Lafayette, Louisiana (LFT); Lake Charles, Louisiana (LCH); Mobile, Alabama (MOB); New Orleans, Louisiana (MSY); Pensacola, Florida (PNS)
- Must have bought your ticket by June 20. Rebook travel anytime between June 20-25. You can’t change your origin or destination city. Must rebook in same cabin or pay the difference.
Delta
- Travel date: June 22-23
- Airports affected: Alexandria, LA (AEX); Baton Rouge, LA (BTR); Houston, George Bush Intercontinental, TX (IAH); Houston, William Hobby, TX (HOU); Lafayette, LA (LFT); Monroe, LA (MLU); New Orleans, LA (MSY); Shreveport, LA (SHV)
- Rebooked travel must begin no later than: June 26
- When rescheduled travel occurs beyond June 26, 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.
Frontier
- Travel dates: June 21-22
- Airports affected: Houston Bush Intercontinental, TX (IAH) and New Orleans, LA (MSY)
- Must have bought your ticket by June 20.
- Rebooked travel must begin no later than: July 10
- Origin and destination cities may be changed.
- One change available. Rules/restrictions regarding standard change fees, advance purchase, day or time applications, blackouts, and minimum or maximum stay requirements will be waived.
JetBlue
Southwest
Spirit
United
- Travel dates: June 21-22
- Airports affected:Alexandria, LA (AEX); Baton Rouge, LA (BTR); Beaumont/Port Arthur, TX (BPT); Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, FL (VPS); Gulfport, MS (GPT); Houston, TX (IAH); Lafayette, LA (LFT); Lake Charles, LA (LCH); Mobile, AL (MOB); New Orleans, LA (MSY); Panama City, FL (ECP); Pensacola, FL (PNS)
- The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before June 25, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.
Source: thepointsguy.com