Airlines Release Travel Waivers Ahead of Yet Another Winter Storm
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Update 2/12/17 10:42 am: Air Canada, Southwest, and Virgin America have released travel waivers for this storm. Toronto (YYZ) has already had 177 flights cancelled today. Boston (BOS) has chalked up 155 cancellations and Newark (EWR) has 77 cancellations so far.
Just days after a storm dumped up to 20 inches of snow on the Northeast, forcing the cancellation of over 3,000 flights in NYC and Boston alone, the Northeast is facing another blizzard on Sunday and Monday. Some forecasts are predicting up to another two feet of snow in Maine.
If you're scheduled to fly through the area, remember that airlines aren't going to be responsible for paying for your meals or hotels in the case of weather-related delays/cancellations. But airlines are releasing travel waivers to allow flexible travelers the chance to rebook themselves on flights through other airports or on other dates.
Note that you can sometimes get quite creative with these travel waivers, as TPG's own Zach Honig did recently on his HNL-EWR flight. He was able to succesfully change to HNL-MAJ-KWA-KSA-PNI-TKK-GUM-NRT-EWR, before having to change it back due to work scheduling conflicts.
If you can't delay your itinerary, 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).
The following airports are covered by at least one of the waivers below:
As of this writing, here are the available travel waivers for Sunday/Monday:
- Travel date: February 12-13
- Must have bought your ticket by February 10. Rebook travel anytime between February 10-15. You can’t change your origin or destination city. Must rebook in same class or pay the difference.
- Travel date: February 12-13
- Ticket must be reissued and rebooked travel must begin by February 15.
- When rescheduled travel occurs beyond February 15, the change fee will be waived. However, a difference in fare may apply.
- Upstate New York and New England Fee Waiver
- Travel date: February 12-13
- Customers may rebook their flights for travel through Thursday, February 16, prior to the departure of their originally scheduled flight. Customers with cancelled flights may opt for a refund. Original travel must have been booked on or before Friday, February 10.
- NY Metro Area Fee Waiver
- Travel date: February 12
- Customers may rebook their flights for travel through Thursday, February 16, prior to the departure of their originally scheduled flight. Customers with cancelled flights may opt for a refund. Original travel must have been booked on or before Friday, February 10.
- Travel dates: February 12-13
- Airports: Boston, MA (BOS); Niagara Falls, NY (IAG); Plattsburgh, NY (PBG)
- Modification Charge/Fare Difference waived through February 15, 2017. After this date the modification charge is waived, but a fare difference may apply.
- Travel dates: February 12-13
- The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new flights departing on or before February 16, as long as travel is rescheduled in the same cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.
No alerts yet from Frontier Airlines, Southwest or Virgin America.
