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Airline Waivers Issued for Hawaii, Caribbean as Hurricanes Near Landfall

JT Genter
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JT Genter is a digital nomad who travels full-time.
Sept. 10, 2018
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5 min read
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While Category 4 Hurricane Florence is grabbing all of the headlines, there are also two hurricanes bearing down on popular vacation destinations: Hawaii and the Caribbean. As Hurricane Olivia (Hawaii) and Hurricane Isaac (Caribbean) move closer to landfall, airlines are releasing waivers to allow travelers to rebook — either to get out of the way of the storm early or delay their trip to the affected area. Here's the latest on the two storms:

Hurricane Olivia (Hawaii)

As of the 2:00pm ET (8:00am Hawaiian) intermediate advisory, Hurricane Olivia is still maintaining its hurricane strength. However, it's expected to weaken overnight on Tuesday before making landfall on the Hawaiian islands Wednesday morning. Tropical storm warnings are currently active for the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe and the Big Island.

Due to the mountainous terrain of Hawaii, residents are warned that there might be "localized areas of strongly enhanced winds and rainfall, even well away from the tropical cyclone center."

As of 4:25pm ET, the following airlines have issued waivers for Hurricane Olivia:

Alaska Airlines

  • Travel dates: September 10-12
  • Covered airports:
  • Honolulu, Oahu (HNL)
  • Kona, Big Island (KOA)
  • Lihue, Kauai (LIH)
  • Kahului, Maui (OGG)
  • Tickets must have been purchased by September 10
  • Rebooked travel must occur between September 10-20

American

  • Travel dates: September 12-13
  • Covered airports: Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL); Maui, Hawaii (OGG)
  • Must have purchased ticket by: September 10
  • Rebooked travel must occur between September 10-16
  • The change fee may be waived if you are traveling on an American Airlines flight, and you don’t change your origin or destination city. Rebook in the 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: September 11-12
  • Airports covered: Honolulu (HNL); Kona (KOA); Lihue (LIH); Maui (OGG)
  • Tickets must be reissued by: September 15
  • Rebooked travel must begin no later than: September 15
  • When rescheduled travel occurs beyond September 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.

United

  • Travel dates: September 10-13
  • Airports covered: Hilo, HI (ITO); Honolulu, Oahu, HI (HNL); Kahului, Maui, HI (OGG); Kailua-Kona, HI (KOA); Lihue, HI (LIH)
  • The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before September 17, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.​​

No waivers have been issued (yet) from Hawaiian Airlines.

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Hurricane Isaac (Caribbean)

Joining Hurricane Florence in the Atlantic is a much weaker Category 1 Hurricane Isaac. As of the 11:00am National Hurricane Center update, Isaac is barely holding onto hurricane status. Minor strengthening is expected over the next 24 hours before the hurricane starts to weaken just before hitting the Lesser Antilles.

Isaac is forecast to remain a small hurricane, which means that uncertainty in the forecast of the hurricane's path is greater than normal. So, travelers to and residents of the eastern and southern Caribbean should monitor the storms path closely.

As of 4:25pm Eastern, only American Airlines has issued weather waivers for this hurricane:

American

  • Travel dates: September 12-14
  • Covered airports: Antigua, Antigua (ANU); Cap Haitien, Haiti (CAP); Dominica, Dominica (DOM); Port Au Prince, Haiti (PAP); Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic (POP); Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ); San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU); Santiago, Dominican Republic (STI); Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (SDQ); St. Croix Island, U.S. Virgin Islands (STX); St. Kitts, Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKB); St. Lucia, Saint Lucia (UVF); St. Maarten, Saint Maarten (SXM); St. Thomas Island, U.S. Virgin Islands (STT)
  • Must have purchased ticket by: September 10
  • Rebooked travel must occur between September 10-17
  • The change fee may be waived if you are traveling on an American Airlines flight, and you don’t change your origin or destination city. Rebook in the same cabin or pay the difference.
  • Avoid the phone queue. Changes available on both AA’s website and in the AA app.

No waivers have been issued (yet) from: Alaska, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, United

Protect Your Travels

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