Consolidated List of Hurricane Sandy Flight Refund and Change Policies

The East Coast is battening the hatches as Hurricane Sandy bears down on it, and airlines have already issued travel advisories and cancellation/refund policies. The bad news is that 900 flights have been cancelled up and down the East Coast today already, and airlines expect that over 2,500 will be cancelled for Monday. The good news is that airlines are allowing customers to reschedule their travel plans and waiving customary change and cancellation fees.

If I had travel coming up anywhere in the affected zone and my plans were flexible, I'd try changing them as soon as possible, because the longer you wait, the less chance you'll have of rebooking anytime soon as the airlines scramble to adjust flight schedules for after the storm and their call centers become overwhelmed, so better to be proactive.

The major airlines have already posted links to their advisories and change policies specific to Hurricane Sandy on their homepages, but here is a consolidated list by airline of affected dates, airports and what fees you can expect to be waived as well as contact information for making changes.

AMERICAN AIRLINES

American's travel advisory is posted here. The airline is offering customers the ability to change their flight plans if traveling from affected East Coast airports and the ticket reissue charge will be waived for one ticket change.

Dates:

Travel was on the following dates: October 28 - 31, 2012
And your ticket was issued no later than: October 26, 2012
You may travel: October 26 – November 4, 2012

Airports:

• Baltimore, MD (BWI)
• Boston, MA (BOS)
• Buffalo, NY (BUF)
• Charleston, WV (CRW)
• Charlottesville, VA (CHO)
• Greensboro / Highpoint, NC (GSO)
• Harrisburg, PA (MDT)
• Hartford, CT (BDL)
• New York Kennedy, NY (JFK)
• New York LaGuardia, NY (LGA)
• Newark, NJ (EWR)
• Norfolk, VA (ORF)
• Philadelphia, PA (PHL)
• Pittsburg, PA (PIT)
• Raleigh / Durham, NC (RDU)
• Richmond, VA (RIC)
• Rochester, NY (ROC)
• Syracuse, NY (SYR)
• Washington Dulles, VA (IAD)
• Washington Reagan National, DC (DCA)
• Watertown, NY (ART)
• Westchester County / White Plains, NY (HPN)

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To change travel dates or for questions regarding destination changes, contact Reservations personnel at 1-800-433-7300 within the United States or Canada. If you are calling from outside the United States or Canada, please check the Worldwide Reservations Numbers page.

DELTA

You can find Delta's most current Travel Advisory information here. As of October 27th at 3pm ET Delta announced that flights that are cancelled or significantly delayed are entitled to a refund. Even if your flight is not canceled, you may make a one-time change to your ticket without fee if you are scheduled to travel to/from, or through the following cities on Delta, Delta Connection, or Delta-coded flights during the specified time periods listed below.

Changes to origins and destinations may result in an increase in fare. Any difference in fare between your original ticket and the new ticket will be collected at the time of booking.

Check flight status frequently for up-to-the-minute info about your flight plans, or get updates sent directly to your wireless device or email with Delta Messenger.

You can now edit your itinerary here at delta.com, or you may contact Reservation Sales to make changes to your itinerary. Changes to origins and destinations may result in an increase in fare. Any difference in fare between your original ticket and the new ticket will be collected at the time of booking.

JETBLUE

JetBlue has issued policies affecting travel to its Northeast hubs. You can find the most up-to-date information on fee waivers and affected airports here.

Here's the official line from their Travel Advisory:

Due to inclement weather we will waive change/cancel fees and fare differences for Customers traveling to/from the following cities:

Customers may rebook their flights for travel through the dates indicated above by calling 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583) prior to the departure time of their originally scheduled flight. Customers with cancelled flights may also opt for a refund to the original form of payment by calling 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583). Original travel must have been booked on or before the original booking date noted above.

All Customers traveling to/from the airports listed above are encouraged to check the status of their flights online prior to leaving for the airport. Customers with web-enabled cell phones/PDAs may check the status of their flight at mobile.jetblue.com

SOUTHWEST

For now, Southwest is operating their scheduled service to/from all airports, but that's likely to change in the next 24 hours. You can find up-to-date travel advisories here.

Here's the official statement:

Due to the uncertainty of the forecasted conditions and breadth of the storm's potential impact, Southwest is offering flexible travel accommodations for our customers who are planning to travel to/from:

• ORF
• DCA
• BWI
• IAD
• PHL
• EWR
• LGA
• ISP
• BOS
• BDL
• PVD

On Monday, October 29 and Tuesday, October 30.

If you would like to rebook online, please click reschedule your flight.

For customers who did not purchase their ticket via southwest.com, please call us at 1-800-435-9792 to rebook their flight in the original class of service or travel standby (within 14 days of the original date of travel between the original city-pairs) without paying additional charge.

We are closely monitoring the weather in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, and we will post updates about our operating status and flexible travel accommodations as the circumstances develop.

UNITED

You can find all this information on United's Travel Notices page. As the situation progresses, though, you can get all the up-to-date information on weather and operations at the airline's Operations page. You should be able to make changes online, or by calling 1-800-864-8331.

Dates:
Original Travel Dates: October 28, 2012 - October 31, 2012

Final Travel must be completed by:
End of Validity of ticket (one year from date of issue)

Airports:

• Allentown, PA (ABE)
• Albany, NY (ALB)
• Boston, MA (BOS)
• Burlington, VT (BTV)
• Buffalo, NY (BUF)
• Baltimore, MD (BWI)
• Charleston, SC (CHS)
• Charleston, WV (CRW)
• Erie, PA (ERI)
• Hartford, CT (BDL)
• Harrisburg, PA (MDT)
• Manchester, NH (MHT)
• Newark, NJ (EWR)
• New York, NY (JFK)
• New York, NY (LGA)
• Norfolk, VA (ORF)
• Philadelphia, PA (PHL)
• Pittsburgh, PA (PIT)
• Providence, RI (PVD)
• Portland, ME (PWM)
• Raleigh/Durham, NC (RDU)
• Richmond, VA (RIC)
• Roanoke, VA (ROA)
• Rochester, NY (ROC)
• Syracuse, NY (SYR)
• Washington, DC (DCA - Reagan National)
• Washington, DC (IAD - Dulles)
• White Plains, NY (HPN)
• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA (AVP)

Flight Changes:

• When rescheduled travel commences by November 4, 2012, change fees and fare differences will be waived.
• For all other dates and ticket uses, the change fee will be waived, but a difference in fare may apply.

Refunds:

• Refunds are permitted only if your flight is cancelled or delayed at least 2 hours.
• Policies also apply to consolidator, Internet tickets, and MileagePlus award tickets.

US AIRWAYS

The airline has posted its current travel advisory and policies here.

Dates:

10/28/2012 1:00 AM ET through 10/31/2012 11:59 PM ET

Cities Affected:

Hartford/Springfield, CT ; New Haven, CT ; Washington, DC (Dulles) ; Washington, DC (Reagan National) ; Portland, ME ; Baltimore, MD ; Salisbury, MD ; Boston, MA ; Manchester, NH ; Newark, NJ ; Albany, NY ; Binghamton, NY ; Buffalo, NY ; Elmira, NY ; Islip, NY ; Ithaca, NY ; New York, NY (Laguardia) ; New York, NY (JFK) ; Newburgh, NY ; Rochester, NY ; Syracuse, NY ; White Plains, NY ; Greenville, NC ; Jacksonville, NC ; New Bern, NC ; Raleigh/Durham, NC ; Allentown, PA ; Erie, PA ; Harrisburg, PA ; Philadelphia, PA ; Pittsburgh, PA ; Scranton, PA ; State College, PA ; Williamsport, PA ; Providence, RI ; Burlington, VT ; Charlottesville, VA ; Lynchburg, VA ; Newport News, VA ; Norfolk, VA ; Richmond, VA ; Roanoke, VA ; Charleston, WV ; Huntington, WV

Revised Ticket Policies:

We've relaxed our change-fee policies. If your trip is affected, you can change your trip online (in most cases) -- we'll waive your change fees!

Here's how:
• Book the same origin and destination
• If you are scheduled to travel October 28, 29, 30 or 31, your travel date may be changed to travel on October 26, 27, 28 or Nov 1, 2, 3 or 4.

You may have to pay to change your trip if:
• You change your origin and/or destination
• Your travel is outside the dates listed above
• There is a difference in fare

Please call if:
• Part or all of your trip is on another airline
• You don't see a 'Change my trip' link when you pull up your reservation

Change your trip online at usairways.com/manageyourtrip. If you need help, please call 800-428-4322.

VIRGIN AMERICA

Find the latest news and updates on the travel advisories page here.

Airports:

• Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
• Reagan National Airport (DCA)
• Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
• John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
• Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)

Affected guests who booked directly with Virgin America will be emailed by the Virgin America team with respect to any cancellations. However, if a booking was made through a third party service, Virgin America may not have access to the guest's contact details.

Travel waiver: Virgin America is encouraging travelers headed to or leaving from the impacted airports to take advantage of the airline's current travel waiver. Guests with confirmed flights departing to or originating from IAD, DCA, PHL, JFK, or BOS on October 28-31, 2012, may change their travel date without paying change fees or the difference in fares through November 10, 2012 to any available seat within the same cabin of service.

Alternatively guests may cancel their flight without penalty and receive a credit for future travel valid for up to one year. Guests flying on the above dates who have flexible travel plans and wish to avoid possible weather-related delays, may contact Virgin America to change their plans between the same cities. Changes must be made prior to originally scheduled departure time and original travel must have been booked on or before October 26, 2012.

How to change travel: To make a change to travel itineraries, Virgin America reservations can be reached at 1.877.FLY.VIRGIN (1.877.359.8474).** If you booked your flight through www.virginamerica.com and wish to cancel all remaining segments of your reservation for all guests listed on the itinerary, we encourage you to fill out our cancel form online at http://www.virginamerica.com/vx/cancellation-form to avoid potentially longer than usual hold times. We will process your cancellation within 72 hours and all fees will be waived.
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