U.S. airlines are already encouraging travelers to make adjustments to their flight plans in anticipation of a potentially historic winter storm expected to impact a large swath of the country later this week and into the weekend.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines are among those carriers waiving change fees for impacted customers from the Plains to the Northeast.
“Weather forecasts predict impactful winter weather, including freezing rain, sleet and ice accumulation across Texas, the Southeast, including Delta’s Atlanta hub, and into the Northeast over the next several days,” Delta said. “The safety of Delta customers and our people remains first and foremost as we closely monitor forecasts to determine necessary schedule adjustments.”
“To help customers manage their travel plans and minimize disruptions, Delta is offering flexibility to customers with existing bookings to change their travel with no fees,” the airline added. “If you would like to adjust your travel, visit Delta.com or the app. As always, if a flight is canceled or a delay causes a misconnect, Delta will work to rebook customers on the next available flight.”
American is waiving change fees for flights to and from nearly three dozen airports for travel between Friday, January 23, and Sunday, January 25, provided tickets were purchased by January 19 and are rebooked by January 25.
Delta’s travel alert includes many of the same airports for the same travel dates. However, customers have until Wednesday, January 28, to rebook. Nonetheless, customers with both carriers must complete rebooked travel by January 28 to avoid potential differences in fares.
United is also allowing travelers with flights into and out of the southern U.S. this weekend to make changes without penalty, but they must complete travel by January 29.
Southwest has issued a travel advisory of its own for a slew of U.S. airports between January 23 and January 26.
Travelers should anticipate other carriers to follow suit this week and are encouraged to monitor their flight status closely, checking with their airline before arriving to the airport.
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