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How to Change Your Flight for Free if It's Affected by Winter Storm Grayson

By:
Brad Tuttle
Last Updated: Jan 03, 2018 | 6 min read
Winter Storm Grayson is expected to cause travel delays and flight cancellations along the East Coast this week. - Scott Eisen—Getty Images
Winter Storm Grayson is expected to cause travel delays and flight cancellations along the East Coast this week. Scott Eisen—Getty Images

Winter Storm Grayson is expected to dump a frigid, treacherous mix of snow and ice from northern Florida through New England this week, causing chaos for anyone hoping to travel along the East Coast.

Winter storm flight cancellations for Jacksonville, Boston, and many airports in between seem likely, but have yet to be announced as of Wednesday midday. Still, travelers scheduled to fly on Wednesday through Friday may want to get ahead of winter storm and change their flights. Major airlines including Delta and American Airlines are helping customers out by waiving normal flight change fees, in many cases.

Each airline's policy is a little different, so click on your carrier's link below for the exact details. For the most part, the airlines are waiving change fees for travelers scheduled to fly to, from, or through airports affected by the upcoming winter storm. Note that in order to change flights without incurring fees, customers must rebook flights in the same class of service, with the same departure and arrival cities, for departures in the very near future.

Bear in mind also that if your are affected by winter storm flight cancellations, and you haven't already rebooked your trip, your rights as a traveler generally entitle you to a refund of the unused portion of your trip. For example, the Delta flight cancellations fine print stipulates: "If you wish to cancel your trip as a result of a flight cancellation or significant delay (90 minutes or more), you are entitled to a refund for the unused portion of your ticket."

With or without winter storm flight cancellations or delays taking effect, here's how travelers can change tickets without incurring fees.

American Airlines will waive normal change fees if you were scheduled to fly via an airport in the Southeast (northern Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas) on Wednesday or Thursday, or via an airport in the Northeast (Newark and everywhere north) on Thursday or Friday. To incur no fees, you must rebook in the same class of service as your original ticket, and your new flight must depart by January 7 or January 8, depending on your itinerary. Travelers flying within the U.S. and Canada can rebook flights online or call American Airlines' customer service at 800-433-7300.

Delta Air Lines says that it will waive normal change fees for customers who are scheduled to fly on January 3 or 4 in the Southeast or Mid-Atlantic region, so long as the new departure takes place by January 7. Likewise, Delta customers scheduled to fly on January 4 or 5 in the Northeast can change flights without normal fees if the new departure takes place by January 8.

Even as it waives change fees, "however, a difference in fare may apply," Delta states. In other words, you may not have to pay the usual $200 fee for changing your ticket, but you may have to pay extra if the current price of the new flight you are booking is higher than the cost of your original flight. Changes can be made online or by calling Delta customer service at 800-221-1212.

JetBlue Airways has issued a fee waiver for travelers scheduled to fly to or from Savannah or Charleston on January 3: So long as customers rebook the same itinerary for departure by January 10, there will be no change fees and no fare differences applied. Similarly, JetBlue customers scheduled for departures in the Northeast (Philadelphia and everywhere north) on January 4 can rebook with no change fees or fare differences if the new departure takes place by January 10. You can make changes online or by calling JetBlue customer service at 800-538-2583.

Southwest Airlines customers scheduled for travel via airports along the East Coast this week may be able to rebook flights or travel standby within 14 days of the original departure date, with no additional fees. Travelers can rebook online or call Southwest customer service at 800-435-9792.

Spirit Airlines flyers scheduled to travel to or from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on January 3 or 4 can reschedule flights with no fees and no airfare difference if the new departure takes place by January 7. If you were scheduled to travel to, from, or through Atlantic City, Boston, Hartford, New York (La Guardia or Newark), or Philadelphia on January 4 or 5, you can reschedule your flight with no fees and no airfare difference if the new departure takes place by January 10. If your new departure is later than the dates specified above, you can still change the ticket without incurring a change fee—but you may have to pay a difference in the airfare cost. Changes can be made online or by calling Spirit Airlines customer service at 801-401-2222.

United Airlines customers scheduled to travel in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast—basically, Pennsylvania to northern Florida—on January 3 or 4 will have change fees and airfare differences waived if changing to a new departure on or before January 7. United travelers scheduled to fly in the Northeast (New Jersey and anywhere to the north) on January 4 or 5 can change tickets with no fees and no airfare difference for departures by January 8.

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