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Flying During This Week’s Snowstorms? 6 Airlines Have Weather Waivers at 40 Airports

JT Genter
Articles
JT Genter is a digital nomad who travels full-time.
Feb. 11, 2019
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6 min read
Snow Storm Snarls Air Traffic From Chicago To East Coast
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Nearly half of the states in the US are covered by a National Weather Service winter alert as dueling storms are set to dump heavy amounts of snow from coast to coast. If you're flying this week, here's what you need to know about the storm and your options.

The winter storm dubbed "Maya" by The Weather Channel — the NWS still feels it's misleading to name winter storms — is expected to drop between 18 and 24 inches of snow in parts of the Northeast by Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, a new storm is plowing ashore on the Northwest coast. Snow totals are expected to surpass three feet in parts of Washington and Oregon through the end of the day Tuesday.

Thankfully, you've got options if you're traveling this week — even if you didn't book the trip with a credit card that provides trip delay expense reimbursement from weather-related delays and cancellation. Many airlines have issued travel waivers that allow flexible travelers the option to rebook their flights — whether that's through a different connecting airport or on a different travel date. After all, airlines don't want you stuck sleeping on the airport floor either.

Through 6:30am ET Monday, here are your options on Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest and United for flights Feb. 11 and onward. Combined, these airline waivers cover 40 airports:

Image generated by Great Circle Mapper.
Image generated by Great Circle Mapper.

Alaska

  • Travel dates: February 8-11
  • Airport covered: Seattle (SEA)
  • Must have purchased your ticket by February 8
  • Rebook travel anytime between February 11-18

American Airlines

  • Travel date: February 12
  • Airports covered: Albany, New York (ALB); Boston, Massachusetts (BOS); Burlington, Vermont (BTV); Hartford, Connecticut (BDL); Islip, New York (ISP); Manchester, New Hampshire (MHT); Newark, New Jersey (EWR); New Haven, Connecticut (HVN); New York Kennedy, New York (JFK); New York LaGuardia, New York (LGA); Portland, Maine (PWM); Providence, Rhode Island (PVD); Stewart Newburgh, New York (SWF); White Plains / Westchester County, New York (HPN); Worcester, Massachusetts (ORH)
  • Must have purchased 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 cabin or pay the difference.
  • Avoid the phone queue. Changes available on both AA’s website and in the AA app.

Delta

Pacific Northwest Winter Weather

  • Travel dates: Feb. 8-11
  • Airports covered: Eugene, OR (EUG); Medford, OR (MFR); Portland, OR (PDX); Redmond, OR (RDM); Seattle, WA (SEA); Vancouver, BC, Canada (YVR)
  • Ticket must be reissued on or before: Feb. 14
  • Rebooked travel must begin no later than: Feb. 14
  • Must have purchased ticket by: Feb. 7
  • When rescheduled travel occurs beyond Feb. 14, 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.

Northeast Region Winter Weather

  • Travel date: Feb. 12
  • Airports covered: Albany, NY (ALB); Boston, MA (BOS); Hartford, CT (BDL); Manchester, NH (MHT); New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK); New York-La Guardia, NY (LGA); Newark, NJ (EWR); Newburgh, NY (SWF); Providence, RI (PVD); White Plains, NY (HPN)
  • Ticket must be reissued on or before: Feb. 15
  • Rebooked travel must begin no later than: Feb. 15
  • Must have purchased ticket by: Feb. 10
  • When rescheduled travel occurs beyond Feb. 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.

JetBlue

  • Travel date: Feb. 12
  • Airports covered: Albany, NY (ALB); Boston, MA (BOS); Buffalo, NY (BUF); Burlington, VT (BTV); Hartford, CT (BDL); New York, NY (JFK); New York, NY (LGA); Newark, NJ (EWR); Newburgh, NY (SWF); Providence, RI (PVD); Rochester, NY (ROC); Westchester County, NY (HPN); Worcester, MA (ORH)
  • Original travel must have been booked on or before February 10
  • Customers may rebook their flights for travel through February 15 online in the ‘Manage Flights’ section of jetblue.com or 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.

Southwest

  • Airports covered (February 12): Albany, NY (ALB); Boston Logan, MA (BOS); Hartford, CT (BDL); Long Island/Islip MacArthur, NY (ISP); Manchester, NH (MHT); New York LaGuardia, NY (LGA); New York Newark, NJ (EWR); Portland, ME (PWM); Providence, RI (PVD)
  • Airports covered (February 8-11): Portland, OR (PDX); Seattle, WA (SEA); Spokane, WA (GEG)
  • Airports covered (February 10-11): Kansas City, MO (MCI); Omaha, NE (OMA); St. Louis, MO (STL)
  • Airports covered (February 10-12): Baltimore, MD (BWI); Chicago Midway, IL (MDW); Des Moines, IA (DSM); Washington Dulles, DC (IAD); Washington Reagan National, DC (DCA)
  • Airports covered (February 11-12): Detroit, MI (DTW); Grand Rapids, MI (GRR); Milwaukee, WI (MKE); Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP); Philadelphia, PA (PHL)
  • 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

Pacific Northwest Winter Weather

  • Travel dates: February 8-11
  • Airports covered: Eugene, OR (EUG)​; Medford, OR (MFR)​; North Bend, OR (OTH)​; Pasco, WA (PSC)​; Portland, OR (PDX)​; Redmond, OR (RDM)​; Seattle, WA (SEA)​
  • The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before Feb. 10, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.​​

Chicago

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  • Travel dates: February 10-11
  • 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 ​​Feb. 14, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.​​

Northeast Winter Weather

  • Travel date: February 12
  • Airports covered: Albany, NY (ALB); Boston, MA (BOS); Hartford, CT (BDL); Manchester, NH (MHT); New York/Newark, NJ (EWR); New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK); New York-LaGuardia, NY (LGA); 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 Feb. 15, 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: Frontier, Spirit

Protect Your Travels

This winter storm is another reminder to book flights with a card that offers solid trip delay and cancellation insurance. Cards with solid trip protection include the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

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.