Dealing With the Winter Storm

That radar image doesn't look all that fun, huh?

A big winter storm will be affecting the Mid-Atlantic today and tomorrow, and it's perfectly positioned to have a very negative effect on cities like Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and New York, which are both major cities and important hubs. Many airlines are dealing with the problem already by pre-emptively canceling their flights. In fact, Southwest has already announced that it's not doing any flying out of Philadelphia or Baltimore on Saturday.

Naturally, so many cancellations makes for disappointed and annoyed travelers - especially disappointed Superbowl fans! So what's there to do to deal with the weather? Fortunately, while it can be expensive to change nonrefundable fares most of the time, those rules are thrown out the window once weather comes into play. So first, check with your airline to see if they have put up a weather advisory for a city where you are departing, connecting, or arriving - usually that means you can change your ticket without having to pay a punitive change fee.

The next thing to do is know your options. Of course, airline staff are skilled and know what they're doing, but oftentimes it might be handy to have some ideas already planned out. For example, whenever I deal with a situation like this I usually tell the airline agent that I'm willing to fly out of Boston instead of Providence if there are some more convenient itineraries. Knowing where an airline flies out of your airport might be a good idea as well. If you don't like a trip an airline plans for your, there's nothing wrong with providing a suggestion of your own.

Finally, be patient and courteous to airline staff! I've seen passengers in airports act as if the airline decided to cause winter storm just to annoy its passengers. Being kind to airline staff is not only common dignity, but it can also help you.

If you have travel plans this weekend, good luck!