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Airline Waivers Stretch Across 21 States as Flight Cancellations Top 4,000 From Winter Storm

JT Genter
Articles
JT Genter is a digital nomad who travels full-time.
Jan. 29, 2019
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8 min read
Massive Winter Storm Brings Snow And Heavy Winds Across Large Swath Of Eastern Seaboard
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After wreaking havoc on flights across the Midwest this past weekend, a powerful winter storm -- dubbed Jayden by The Weather Channel -- is cancelling thousands of flights across the Northeast, Midwest and into the Southeast.

According to FlightAware's cancellation tracker, there were 312 flights cancelled Sunday and 1,986 flights cancelled on Monday. By 8:30am, Tuesday's flight cancellation total has already surpassed 1,000 -- plus another 562 flights have already been cancelled for Wednesday.

So far, the hardest-hit airports for Tuesday and Wednesday are:

  • Chicago Midway (MDW): 607 cancellations
  • Atlanta (ATL): 317 cancellations
  • Chicago O'Hare (ORD): 160 cancellations
  • St. Louis (STL): 149 cancellations
  • Baltimore (BWI): 98 cancellations
  • Milwaukee (MKE): 84 cancellations
  • LaGuardia (LGA): 71 cancellations
  • Nashville (BNA): 69 cancellations

The storm has already dumped more than 15 inches in parts of the Midwest, but it's not done yet. Parts of New York are expected to get more than 12 inches of snow with parts of the Midwest and Northeast getting a widespread 8+ inches of snow:

Image generated by Weather Underground.

As of 8:00am ET Tuesday, airlines have issued waivers for a combined 49 airports for travel from Tuesday-Thursday:

Here are the current weather waivers:

American Airlines

Chicago

  • Travel dates: January 27-30
  • Airports covered: Chicago O'Hare (ORD)
  • Must have purchased your ticket by January 25
  • Rebook travel anytime between January 25 - February 3
  • You can’t change your origin or destination city. Must rebook in same cabin or pay the difference.
  • Avoid the phone queue. Changes available on both AA’s website and in the AA app.

Northeast U.S. and Canada

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  • Travel dates: January 29-30
  • Airports covered: Albany, New York (ALB); Allentown, Pennsylvania (ABE); Bangor, Maine (BGR); Boston, Massachusetts (BOS); Buffalo, New York (BUF); Burlington, Vermont (BTV); Cleveland, Ohio (CLE); Erie, Pennsylvania (ERI); Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (MDT); Hartford, Connecticut (BDL); Islip, New York (ISP); Ithaca, New York (ITH); Manchester, New Hampshire (MHT); Montreal, Canada (YUL); Nantucket, Massachusetts (ACK); New Haven, Connecticut (HVN); New York Kennedy, New York (JFK); New York LaGuardia, New York (LGA); Newark, New Jersey (EWR); Ottawa, Canada (YOW); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PHL); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (PIT); Portland, Maine (PWM); Providence, Rhode Island (PVD); Rochester, New York (ROC); State College, Pennsylvania (SCE); Stewart Newburgh, New York (SWF); Syracuse, New York (SYR); Toronto, Canada (YYZ); Watertown, New York (ART); White Plains / Westchester County, New York (HPN); Wilkes-Barre / Scranton, Pennsylvania (AVP); Williamsport, Pennsylvania (IPT); Worcester, Massachusetts (ORH)
  • Must have purchased your ticket by January 28
  • Rebook travel anytime between January 28 - February 2
  • You can’t change your origin or destination city. Must rebook in same cabin or pay the difference.
  • Avoid the phone queue. Changes available on both AA’s website and in the AA app.

Delta

Atlanta Winter Weather

  • Travel dates: January 29-30
  • Airports covered: Atlanta, GA (ATL)
  • Ticket must be reissued by: February 2
  • Rebooked travel must begin no later than: February 2
  • Must have purchased your ticket by: January 27
  • 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.
  • When rescheduled travel occurs beyond February 2, the change fee will be waived. However, a difference in fare may apply.

Northeast Winter Weather

  • Travel dates: January 29-30
  • Airports covered: Akron, OH (CAK); Albany, NY (ALB); Allentown, PA (ABE); Bangor, ME (BGR); Buffalo, NY (BUF); Burlington, VT (BTV); Cleveland, OH (CLE); Elmira, NY (ELM); Erie, PA (ERI); Harrisburg, PA (MDT); Hartford, CT (BDL); Ithaca, NY (ITH); Manchester, NH (MHT); Montreal, QC, Canada (YUL); New York, NY – Kennedy (JFK); New York, NY – LaGuardia (LGA); Newark, NJ (EWR); Newburgh, NY (SWF); Ottawa ON, Canada (YOW); Philadelphia, PA (PHL); Pittsburgh, PA (PIT); Portland, ME (PWM); Rochester, NY (ROC); Scranton, PA (AVP); State College, PA (SCE); Syracuse, NY (SYR); Toronto ON, Canada (YYZ); White Plains, NY (HPN)
  • Ticket must be reissued by: February 2
  • Rebooked travel must begin no later than: February 2
  • Must have purchased your ticket by: January 27
  • 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.
  • When rescheduled travel occurs beyond February 2, the change fee will be waived. However, a difference in fare may apply.

Frontier

  • Travel dates: January 27-29
  • Airports covered: Chicago O’Hare, IL (ORD)
  • Must have purchased ticket by: January 26
  • Rebooked travel must be completed by: February 13
  • Customers may make one itinerary change – rules/restrictions regarding standard change fees, advance purchase, day or time applications, blackouts, and minimum or maximum stay requirements will be waived.

JetBlue

  • Travel dates: January 29
  • Airports covered: Albany, NY (ALB); Buffalo, NY (BUF); Chicago, IL (ORD); Rochester, NY (ROC); Syracuse, NY (SYR)
  • Customers may rebook their flights for travel through February 1
  • Original travel must have been booked on or before Saturday, January 28

Southwest

  • Airports covered (Jan. 27-30): Cleveland (CLE)
  • Airports covered (Jan. 29-30): Albany (ALB); Atlanta (ATL); Baltimore (BWI); Birmingham (BHM); Boston (BOS); Hartford (BDL); Long Island MacArthur (ISP); Manchester (MHT); Nashville (BNA); New York LaGuardia (LGA); Newark (EWR); Philadelphia (PHL); Pittsburgh (PIT); Portland, Maine (PWM); Providence (PVD); Washington Dulles (IAD); Washington Reagan National (DCA)
  • Airports covered (Jan. 27-Feb. 1): Buffalo/Niagara Falls (BUF); Chicago Midway (MDW); Milwaukee (MKE); Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP); Rochester (ROC)
  • Customers who are holding reservations to/from/through the cities above on the corresponding dates may rebook in the original class of service or travel standby (within 14 days of their original date of travel between the original city-pairs and in accordance with [Southwest's] accommodation procedures) without paying any additional charge.

United

Chicago Winter Weather

  • Travel Dates: January 27 - February 1
  • Airports covered: Chicago-O'Hare, IL (ORD)​
  • The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before ​​February 4, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.​​

Northeast US Winter Weather

  • Travel Dates: January 29
  • Airports covered: Akron/Canton, OH (CAK); Albany, NY (ALB); Allentown, PA (ABE); Bangor, ME (BGR); Buffalo, NY (BUF); Burlington, VT (BTV); Cleveland, OH (CLE); Elmira, NY (ELM); Erie, PA (ERI); Harrisburg, PA (MDT); Ithaca, NY (ITH); Manchester, NH (MHT); Montréal, QC, CA (YUL); New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK); New York-LaGuardia, NY (LGA); New York/Newark, NJ (EWR); Ottawa, ON, CA (YOW); Philadelphia, PA (PHL); Pittsburgh, NY (PIT); Plattsburgh, NY (PBG); Portland, ME (PWM); Presque Isle, ME (PQI); Quebec City, QB, CA (YQB); Rochester, NY (ROC); State College, PA (SCE); Syracuse, NY (SYR); White Plains, NY (HPN); Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA (AVP)
  • The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before ​​February 1, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.​​

No active waivers by: Alaska, Spirit, Sun Country

Protect Your Travels

As we move deeper into winter, these storms are another reminder to book flights with a card that offers solid trip delay and cancellation insurance. When I got stuck in Japan for four extra days due to a typhoon, I was very grateful for Citi Prestige’s trip delay protection, which reimbursed $1,000 of our expenses from the last-minute four-day extension to our visit.

Although Citi Prestige used to be my go-to for booking flights, a recent devaluation to the card’s travel benefits knocked it out of its top spot. For now, I’m using my Chase Sapphire Reserve to book all of my flights to get 3x earnings on the airfare purchase plus solid trip protection benefits that kick in when a weather delay or cancellation stretches past six hours. Another top choice for getting solid mileage earning and trip protection when booking flights is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

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Featured image by Getty Images
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.