As Hurricane Joaquin continues to swirl, some airlines are offering waivers on cancellation and change fees to customers who want to adjust their flight plans.
Right now, some travel alerts just mention flights to or from the Bahamas; others reach beyond that. As always, check with your airline for the most recent policy updates.
Winter storms continue to mess up travel plans all over the country, with FlightAware already reporting more than 1,900 canceled flights for Wednesday as the clock struck midnight on the east coast on Tuesday night.
Here are links to travel advisories and change fee waivers posted by airlines for Midwest and East Coast travelers as of late Tuesday night (Feb 4).
As always, it is a good idea to check (and check back…) with your airline before heading to the airport.
American Airlines:
Midwest U.S. advisory: for travel through February 5 to, through or from a long list of Midwest cities, the airline will allow you travel instead through February 9th. Details here.
Eastern U.S. Travel Policy: For travel scheduled through February 6 to, through or from a long list of cities in the east, the airline will waive the change fee if you travel instead by February 9th. Details here.
Delta Air Lines has posted a Northeast Winter Weather advisory for travel to, through or from a long list of cities for travel scheduled through February 5th. Details here.
Frontier Airlines has posted its winter storm advisory rules here for a long list of cities in the Midwest.
JetBlue has issued a Winter Storm Nike Fee Waiver advisory offering to waive change/cancel fees for flight to, through or from a long list of cities on the east coast. Details here.
Southwest Airlines has posted a weather advisory through February 5 for a long list of cities. Details here.
Spirit Airlines has rules for its current Weather Buster policy here.
United Airlines has a long list of cities covered by the advisories listed for the Midwest and East Coast storms. Details here.
US Airways has listed the cities affected by its winter storm advisory here.
Virgin America also has a travel advisory posted for the Midwest and the East Coast for many of the cities it serves. Details here.
Some airlines are offering waivers for passengers scheduled to fly to or from SFO, in light of the Asiana Airlines crash.
So far:
(More to come…)
Lots of flights diverted today to other airports due to the crash of an Asiana Airlines plane at SFO. Here’s a report sent out at 5:53 west coast time tonight on the flights diverted to Sea-Tac Airport:
“In total we had six international diversions, all flights inbound to SFO diverted on their way. SEA recorded three domestic flight cancellations from SEA-SFO (two Virgin American, one United). With the reopening of runways at SFO, several are now on their way to their destination. For further details, check with the specific airlines.”
List of international diversions (note updates on some flight numbers):
British Air #285 from London, held at gate, now departed to SFO
Emirates #225 From Dubai, held at gate, now departed to SFO
United #902 from Frankfurt, flight cancelled, passengers accommodated overnight
United #927 from Frankfurt, diversion was scheduled to arrive at 6:30pm, but is now going to Portland.
SwissAir #38 from Zurich, refueled and departed to SFO
Air France #84 from Paris, held at gate and departed to SFO
For updates, see the SEA flight information page.
At Sacramento International Airport, spokesperson Rosemary Barnes reports that SJC received 25 diverted flights from SFO today, four of which where still planning to land this evening. Two of these 25 flights were international; one each from GDL (Guadalajara) and PVR (Puerto Vallarta).
“All passengers have deplaned and were transported off-site through a number of methods, including coach buses chartered by some of our airlines.”
And, here’s a link to the FAA statement sent out Saturday evening in regard to this crash.
Updated: February 7, 2013
Another winter storm – named Nemo – is on the way and airlines are getting ready for it by issuing weather-related fee waivers and encouraging travelers to change their flight dates, postpone travel or re-route their trips to and from a long list of cities in the northeast.
Here’s are links to most of the airline waiver policies: