Historic Winter Storm Elliott continues its push across the United States, threatening holiday travel plans for millions of Americans. The National Weather Service (opens in a new tab) (NWS) warns that this storm will cause disruptive and potentially measurable impacts on up to 110 million people across the central and eastern United States.
Meanwhile, AAA (opens in a new tab) expects 2022 to be the “third busiest year for holiday travel” since the organization began collecting travel-related data in 2000, with 112.7 million people taking trips of 50 miles or more away from home from December 23rd to January 2nd. a 14% increase over last year, and nearly 7.2 million Americans are expected to fly. Nearly 102 million Americans will drive to a vacation destination. An additional 3.6 million people will travel by bus, rail or ferry, a 23% increase compared to 2021.
If you take to the skies, your scheduled flight to your vacation destination may be delayed or canceled. So what should you expect from a hurricane, and how can you get your money back if you get hit?
Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
Be a smarter and smarter investor.
Save up to 74%
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with Kiplinger’s best advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more – straight to your inbox.
Profit and prosper with the best Kiplinger expert advice – straight to your inbox.
Winter Storm Warning
NWS (opens in a new tab) expect cold and dangerous air for the Great Plains and eventually the eastern half of the United States on Friday. Widespread light to moderate snow and strong winds will produce strong winds across the Midwest, disrupting travel and straining infrastructure.
The Weather Channel (opens in a new tab) reports that the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast will experience freezing rain and localized snow, followed by strong winds, rain or snow. This northeasterly system will be preceded by a wave of bitterly cold air that may produce freezing lightning, causing icy and dangerous conditions.
Flight cancellations are expected
CBS News (opens in a new tab) reports that several airlines have announced contingency plans for storms, freezing temperatures and the threat of delays and mass cancellations. United Airlines said its corporate team is monitoring the situation and “will make adjustments as necessary.” American Airlines is working with “all hands on deck” to minimize disruption to passengers, particularly by relying on de-icing crews that have been preparing for the storm on winter to summer.
Major airlines like Southwest, American, Delta and many others have already started offering vouchers that allow customers to rebook their flights without a change fee.
However, the airline does not have a very customer-friendly track record, especially in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic with constant disruptions and staffing problems, which have created new frustrations for of passengers. So runners should still prepare for the worst.
How you can get a refund
So your flight was canceled or delayed — now what? Visit the American Airlines (DoT) Customer Service Dashboard. (opens in a new tab)where you can compare the return and refund policies of the 10 largest US airlines.
According to DoT information, Alaska, American, United, Delta and JetBlue are the top carriers for helping customers with disrupted travel. Frontier and Spirit are the worst.
Find your flight in the chart below and see if your disruption is covered by their policy.
(Image credit: US Department of Transportation)
(Image credit: US Department of Transportation)
Airline Customer Service List
Once you’ve decided whether your airline meets your situation, contact them through their respective customer service websites:
More air passenger protection
On top of the dashboard, the DoT has been quite aggressive this year in going after airlines for abusing customers.
In August, the DoT announced a long-awaited rule (opens in a new tab) to enhance the protection of customers seeking refunds for airline tickets. The rule was made in response to years of complaints from customers with non-refundable tickets that did not fly because the airline canceled or significantly changed the flight, or because the customer decided not to fly due to infectious causes, such as health problems.
The proposed rule would require customers flying domestically or internationally to receive a full refund based on their original payment method, even if it was cash, in all cases:
- If your flight is cancelled.
- Every delay of at least three hours for domestic flights or at least six hours for international flights, if the pilot leaves the flight.
- Whenever the airport of departure or arrival is changed or the number of connections on the trip is increased.
- If the original aircraft must be replaced, but there is a big difference between the equipment offered and the overall travel experience.
Recently, the DoT fined six airlines (opens in a new tab) November totaled $7.25 million due to failure to make timely refunds after flights were canceled or customers changed significantly.
