travel waivers

Hurricane Ian Still Tormenting Travel

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Courtesy The Weather Channel

Hurricane Ian was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane late Wednesday evening, but that doesn’t mean the travel woes that wild weather brings are ended.

Early Thursday morning, FlightAware listed close to 2,000 flight cancellations within, into, or out of the United States. Not surprisingly, the airports with the most canceled flights were in Florida and the southeast.

A handful of airports remain closed for commercial operations

Orlando International Airport (MCO) ceased commercial operations Wednesday morning but remains open to open to accept emergency/aid and relief flights, if necessary. In preparation for Ian’s arrival, airport personnel tied down the jet bridges and covered the ticket counters. The airport’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is in full activation. And, depending on damage assessment, commercial operations are expected to resume Friday, MCO said in a statement.

Here are some of the other airports that closed in advance of Hurricane Ian’s arrival.

Airports open, with delays & cancellations.

Key West International Airport (EYW) plans to reopen at 7am on Thursday, September 29.

Airlines offering alerts and travel waivers

Here are links to the travel alerts and travel waiver offers from many domestic airlines. Many now cover flights to, from, or through airports in cities throughout Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.

If you’ve got a flight scheduled, be sure to keep checking back.

Alaska Airlines

American Airlines

Delta Air Lines

Frontier Airlines

JetBlue

Spirit Airlines

Southwest Airlines

United Airlines

Airlines continue coronavirus response

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Alaska Airlines has added a “Peace of Mind’ cancellation and fee waiver policy to help travelers worried about what might happen next with the coronavirus.

The peace of mind waiver doesn’t apply to flights you may have booked months ago, only for new bookings.

But if you book a flight prior to March 12 and then decide by that date to change or cancel your trip, this might help. If you decide to cancel, Alaska is offering full travel credit for a flight up to one year from the issuance of your credit. Although fare differences when you rebook will appy.

JetBlue announced a similar program earlier in the week:

“Due to evolving coronavirus concerns, we are suspending change and cancel fees for all new flight bookings made between February 27, 2020 and March 11, 2020 for travel through June 1, 2020,” JetBlue says.

The airline notes that there are no current travel restrictions to the locations they fly. But it seems travelers have jitters and airline bookings are down everywhere. So JetBlue, Alaska and likely others shortly – will be taking action to reassure travelers and encourage them to continue getting on planes.

How are coronavirus concerns affecting your travel plans?

Airlines offering waivers to/from Hawaii’s Big Island

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Courtesy USGS

Don’t cancel that Hawaiian vacation just yet.

Although there’s increased volcanic activity and a new flow of lava from the Kīlauea volcano on the island of Hawaii (the Big Island), the Hawaii Tourism Authority website is reassuring visitors that no flights into airports anywhere in Hawai‘i are being affected and that the area where the lava is coming to the surface is very far from resort areas.

For updates, photos and webcam views of the volcano activities, see the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) website.

That’s the good news.

The bad news: due to the volcanic activity there is a no-fly zone over Kīlauea volcano and on Friday Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park was closed until further notice because of damage caused by earthquakes and aftershocks in the area.

So helicopter tours and visit to the park are out.

There’s still plenty to do on the Big Island, but some airlines are offering travel waivers for those who don’t want to head that way right now.

For those with tickets issued on or before May 3 and scheduled to travel to/from Hilo (ITO) or Kona (KOA) on  Hawaiian Airlines through May 13, the airline is offering change fee waivers for flights no later than May 20,

United Airlines is offering to waive change fees for those traveling to/from or through the Hilo (ITO) and Kailua-Kona (KOA) airports for those with tickets for travel through May 13 for new flights departing on or before May 16.

Other airlines flying to Hawaii may post waivers later today and this, of course, is a changing situation, so be sure to check your airline’s website and the USGS alerts for current news.