flight cancellations

Trouble for travelers: blizzard + Global Entry closure. TSA PreCheck: open.

Weather, , ,

Major woes for travelers are piling up.

First, there’s the winter storm, named Hernando, making its way along the east coast, especially in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, accompanied by blizzard warnings for many areas.

Airlines have already proactively canceled thousands of flights and offered passengers the option to cancel or change their flight plans with no fees.

Mid-afternoon on Sunday, flight tracking site, Flightaware, was showing more than 3,000 flights within, into or out of the United States canceled, as well as more than 4,000 delays.

More than 4,500 flights are currently canceled for tomorrow.

Airports and airlines are on the alert.

If you do have plans to fly in the next few days, make sure to prioritize your safety (and your sanity) and rearrange plans if you can.

The map below was shared by the National Weather Service early Sunday morning.

DHS shuts down Global Entry, but changes course & decides to keep TSA PreCheck open

As if the travel woes from the winter storm aren’t enough, at 6 am on Sunday morning the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shut down Global Entry, the Custom and Border Protection program that offers expedited entry into the United States at airports and at border crossings.

The reason? The DHS says it is due to the partial government shutdown.

TSA PreCheck was initially included in that announcement, but the agency has decided to keep PreCheck open.

For now.

Both PreCheck and Global Entry are paid programs designed to move vetted travelers through security lanes faster.

Round-up of airline travel advisories & fee waivers

Airline policies, Weather, , ,

SnowglobeUpdated 2:45 EST January 21, 2014

Another winter storm is on its way to the east coast and airlines are canceling flights and posting travel advisories and change fee waivers.

If you’re traveling to, through or from an east coast city, there’s a fair chance your flight will be canceled due to weather. If your flight isn’t canceled (yet…) you want to change your plans anyway.

Here’s a rundown of cancellation and change fee waiver policies posted by many airlines as of Monday evening, January 20, 2014.

And as always, it’s always a good idea to check with your airline before you head to the airport.

Alaska Airlines: East coast travel advisory details here.

American Airlines: Travel advisory in effect for January 21-22. Change fee waivers apply to, from or through a long list of east coast cities. Details here.

Delta Airlines: Travel advisory posted for January 21-22 for tickets that must be reissued before January 25th. Change fee waiver applies to a long list of east coast cities. Details here.

JetBlue: Travel advisory applies to flights scheduled January 21-22. Waivers for cancellations or changes to, through or from a long list of east coast cities. Details here.

Spirit Airlines has a weather buster travel advisory in place. Details here.

United Airlines: United’s travel advisory covers January 21 (for now…) and applies to cities affected by weather in the New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. areas. Details here.

US Airways: Travel advisory in effect through January 22, 2014 for a long list of east coast cities. Details here.

Virgin America: Northeast travel advisory covers flights through January 22 for flight to, through or from BOS, EWR, JFK, PHL, IAD and DCA. Details here.

Southwest Airlines  has its travel advisory information posted here.