Winter Storms Threaten to Cancel Flights From Coast to Coast on Friday
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Despite its northern location, Seattle usually only gets around half a foot of snow each year. But, the city is facing another "potentially crippling snowfall" for the second time in February. Meanwhile, a winter storm continues to impact flights in the Midwest as officials have gone so far as to issue a "no travel" advisory in parts. To help travelers out, five airlines have issued change fee waivers for 52 different airports.
The National Weather Service in Seattle notes that "travel could be very difficult" from 12pm PT Friday to 12pm PT Saturday in areas around the Seattle airport -- which is the US' ninth busiest airport. The NWS recommends residents to "avoid travel" Friday through Sunday morning:
Airlines have already cancelled 110 flights to/from Seattle Airport on Friday with another 82 cancellations so far for Saturday.
For flexible travelers with flights scheduled during these storms, airlines have issued waivers covering a combined 52 US and Canadian airports:
As of 7:45am Friday, here are the weather waivers that have been issued so far:
Alaska
- Travel dates: February 8-9
- Airports covered: Seattle (SEA) and Portland (PDX)
- Must have purchased your ticket by Feb. 7
- Rebook travel anytime between Feb. 9-15
- Minors traveling unaccompanied and pets traveling in the hold or shipped via Alaska Air Cargo will not be accepted on flights to or from the affected cities from Friday, 5 pm PST to Sunday, 12 am PST
Allegiant
No free changes are available. Allegiant has only issued a warning that "based on forecasted weather conditions, our scheduled service may be disrupted to and from the following cities on the dates indicated below."
- Travel dates: February 8-9
- Airports affected: Albany, NY (ALB); Appleton, WI (ATW); Bellingham, WA (BLI); Billings, MT (BIL); Boise, ID (BOI); Bozeman, MT (BZN); Cedar Rapids, IA (CID); Des Moines, IA (DSM); Eugene, OR (EUG); Fargo, ND (FAR); Flint, MI (FNT); Fort Wayne, IN (FWA); Grand Forks, ND (GFK); Grand Rapids, MI (GRR); Great Falls, MT (GTF); Idaho Falls, ID (IDA); Kansas City, MO (MCI); Medford, OR (MFR); Missoula, MT (MSO); Moline, IL (MLI); Pasco, WA (PSC); Peoria, IL (PIA); Providence, RI (PVD); Rochester, NY (ROC); Rockford, IL (RFD); Sioux Falls, SD (FSD); South Bend, IN (SBN)
- Travel dates listed below may be disrupted due to the weather conditions. Please continue to monitor this page for updates regarding your flight (s). Customers may also call Allegiant Customer Care at 702-505-8888 at any time 24 hours per day, seven days a week for assistance.
American Airlines
Winter Storm Maya - Northwest U.S.
- Travel dates: February 8-9
- Airports covered: Eugene, Oregon (EUG); Spokane, Washington (GEG); Medford, Oregon (MFR); Portland, Oregon (PDX); Redmond, Oregon (RDM); Seattle, Washington (SEA); Vancouver, British Columbia (YVR)
- Must have purchased your ticket by Feb. 7
- Rebook travel anytime between Feb. 7-12
- 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. 8-9
- 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. 12
- Rebooked travel must begin no later than: Feb. 12
- Must have purchased ticket by: Feb. 7
- When rescheduled travel occurs beyond Feb. 12, 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.
Northern Plains Winter Weather
- Travel dates: Feb. 7-8
- Airports covered: Aberdeen, SD (ABR); Alpena, MI (APN); Appleton, WI (ATW); Bemidji, MN (BJI); Brainerd, MN (BRD); Cedar Rapids, IA (CID); Central Wisconsin, WI (CWA); Des Moines, IA (DSM); Duluth, MN (DLH); Escanaba, MI (ESC); Fargo, ND (FAR); Grand Forks, ND (GFK); Green Bay, WI (GRB); Hibbing, MN (HIB); International Falls, MN (INL); Iron Mountain, MI (IMT); La Crosse, WI (LSE); Marquette, MI (MQT); Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP); Pellston, MI (PLN); Rapid City, SD (RAP); Rhinelander, WI (RHI); Rochester, MN (RST); Sault Ste. Marie, MI (CIU); Sioux Falls, SD (FSD); Traverse City, MI (TVC)
- Ticket must be reissued on or before: Feb. 11
- Rebooked travel must begin no later than: Feb. 11
- Must have purchased ticket by: Feb. 5
- When rescheduled travel occurs beyond Feb. 11, 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.
Southwest
Winter Storm Lucian
- Travel dates: February 6-8
- Airports covered: Des Moines (DSM) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP)
- 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.
Winter Storm Maya
- Travel dates: February 8-9
- Airports covered: Portland (PDX), Seattle (SEA) and Spokane (GEG)
- 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.
No waivers (yet) from: Frontier, JetBlue, United, Spirit (current waivers only through Feb. 7 flights), Sun Country
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.
