Free Flight Changes in Northeast Due to Strong Storms on Wednesday
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
A strong cold front is expected to move through the Northeast on Wednesday, bringing gusty winds that could cause significant flight delays and cancellations. In preparation, some airlines have already released weather waivers to allow flexible travelers the option of changing their flights.
This strong weather front caused over 200 reports of severe weather on Tuesday from Texas up to Pennsylvania. While the effects are expected to be less severe on Wednesday, the blustery winds of up to 50mph are likely to cause air traffic capacity controls in the tightly-scheduled Northeast airspace. And, as we've learned from past storms, these delays can have a domino effect.
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 will reimburse you for weather issues, including the Chase Sapphire Reserve ($500 per ticket for 6+ hour or overnight delay) and Chase Sapphire Preferred Card ($500 per ticket for 12+ hour or overnight delay).
As of 6:40am Eastern Wednesday, here are the travel waivers covering this storm:
American Airlines
- Travel date: April 4
- Airports covered: Allentown, Pennsylvania (ABE); Boston, Massachusetts (BOS); Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (MDT); Hartford, Connecticut (BDL); Islip, New York (ISP); New York Kennedy, New York (JFK); New York LaGuardia, New York (LGA); Newark, New Jersey (EWR); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PHL); Providence, Rhode Island (PVD); Stewart Newburgh, New York (SWF); White Plains / Westchester County, New York (HPN)
- Must have purchased your ticket by April 3
- Rebook travel anytime between April 4-7
- 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.
United
- Travel date: April 4
- Airports covered: Boston, MA (BOS); Hartford, CT (BDL); New York/Newark, NJ (EWR); New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK); New York-LaGuardia, NY (LGA); Philadelphia, PA (PHL); Providence, RI (PVD); White Plains, NY (HPN)
- The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before April 7, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.
No waivers yet from: Alaska Airlines, Delta, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit, Virgin America