New York City - Mass flight cancellations at NYC Airports during Xmas?

I am looking to go do SYD-LAX/SFO-NYC during Xmas/New year period for holiday. I have been to NYC before (April 2002) but will be first time for my better half and she really want to see NYC.

The only problem for NYC is that it seems that every winter I see horrific news stories of flight cancellations and people sleeping at airports for days because of the snow storms. Whilst I am looking to fly J (most likely UA) and also BD *G, my guess is that lounges will be overflowing with people if situation like this occurs. Obviously my better half does not want to go through this.

How often does this occur, especially with mass flight cancellations, and if so, Should I even take this risk?

Last winter was unusual, because we got hit by two storms in a row IIRC. In general, my feeling has always been that it doesn't really get "wintery" in NYC until February (and it doesn't get "hot" until August - that was way wrong this year, too). However, others who have lived here longer than I may have a different perspective. YMMV.

Of course, Xmas is always a difficult time to travel anywhere if the weather goes south. There are often fewer flights and bigger crowds. Of course, status and experience pay off more as well. I recall traveling with Mrs. dstan thru a blizzard at ORD. We made it there from LGA, but then nearly everything going out was canceled. A phenomenal (and well-known) AA lounge agent had us booked on three different routings to try to get out of there, and we eventually made it to CVG and a connection on DL.

Thank you for this. So from what you are saying, is that December is better than February in terms of travel to NYC?

Last time I was in USA in winter times (Feb-Apr 2002) I was based at ORD, and it seemed any little rain/snow could cripple all flights in and out of ORD. Once my flight ORD-SFO was delayed for only 2 hours (most other flights was like 6-7 hours) when a short localised downpour occurred, and I remembered the huge queue of people at service desks. I was flying Y and no status at that time.

Therefore with my experience with ORD rang a bell when I thought of NYC, hence my questions here and hopefully other FTers can advise.

But then again, I always thought ORD is one of those jinxed airport where it always have high probability of flight cancellations. Not sure how true this is though.

So from what you are saying, is that December is better than February in terms of travel to NYC?Yes. Last year was an anomaly. The snow storms hit starting around the middle of January. And we typically don't get much snow.

I think you'll be fine regarding your travels to/from NYC.

Thank you for this. So from what you are saying, is that December is better than February in terms of travel to NYC?

Last time I was in USA in winter times (Feb-Apr 2002) I was based at ORD, and it seemed any little rain/snow could cripple all flights in and out of ORD. Once my flight ORD-SFO was delayed for only 2 hours (most other flights was like 6-7 hours) when a short localised downpour occurred, and I remembered the huge queue of people at service desks. I was flying Y and no status at that time.

Therefore with my experience with ORD rang a bell when I thought of NYC, hence my questions here and hopefully other FTers can advise.

But then again, I always thought ORD is one of those jinxed airport where it always have high probability of flight cancellations. Not sure how true this is though.

Generally yes, but snow in December is still common. On whole, ORD is better at winter weather than LGA. But I would not try to plan travel based upon a weather forecast I would have no way of knowing.

i have once or twice been hung up in ny for snow, and also dc, and chicago. but it is nothing like the problems at lhr. the brits sold the airport to a company that cannot afford to maintain it. sat for 10 hrs to get deiced. waited 3 days to get luggage. cancelled a couple of times. muc is terrible in winter. fra is not much better. mxp and vce are not so very good in winter. fog shuts these places down as much as snow.

the big difference between nyc and say muc/fra/lhr, if there is a cancel, another plane is available in short order, even for transatlantic. get a cancel at fra/muc, the next plane for transatlantic will be tomorrow, and it may already be full. when nyc is down, you cannot get into nyc. when muc/fra has no planes, you will be sent there, and then find no plane, and have to overnight there.

since i am in DC, i try to avoid nyc in winter, a is it closed or screwed up more often than dc.

Can't control mother nature but NYC typically has good weather.

I think if you want to parallel - the blizzard last year in NYC was bad but airlines are very cautious of having planes stuck in the region. So, if they anticipate bad weather they simply cancel flights in advance and takes about 24-48 hrs to get things back to normal afterwards.

However, consider the Iceland volcano which impacted ALL Europeans flights over the holidays. The parallel would be never to book flights to EU over the holidays as there may be a volcanic eruption. Or not travel to Chile due to earthquake potential.

May be worth considering travel insurance as well - we always purchase it for our leisure international travel.

La Niña is supposted to be very strong this winter. lots of snow for north east.

The only problem for NYC is that it seems that every winter I see horrific news stories of flight cancellations and people sleeping at airports for days because of the snow storms. Whilst I am looking to fly J (most likely UA) and also BD *G, my guess is that lounges will be overflowing with people if situation like this occurs. Obviously my better half does not want to go through this.

How often does this occur, especially with mass flight cancellations, and if so, Should I even take this risk?

OP, the last time people were stuck in the airport for many days straight, by my definition, was during the European air traffic mess in 2010 when airborne volcanic ash prevented flights from landing in Paris and other major cities and tourists who had no money left had no place to stay when they found their flights were not leaving.

Am I understanding correctly that your concern is more with delay than actually having to sleep on the floor of JFK?

Yes. Last year was an anomaly. The snow storms hit starting around the middle of January. And we typically don't get much snow.


You mean you typically don't shovel much snow. :) Didn't you promise me last year you would send your super here with his snow blower?





since i am in DC, i try to avoid nyc in winter, a is it closed or screwed up more often than dc.

That's funny because my DC friends say that if you get a few raindrops, the District is completely FUBAR.

May be worth considering travel insurance as well - we always purchase it for our leisure international travel.

The best advice of this thread. ^ I would add that you need to make absolutely certain that the specific policy will pay to extend your hotel stay in the event of bad weather.

La Niña is supposted to be very strong this winter. lots of snow for north east.

Which means what? Should I start buying rock salt now?

You mean you typically don't shovel much snow. :) Didn't you promise me last year you would send your super here with his snow blower?With the exception of last year, in December, even I'm not going to see my super shovel much snow. ;)

That's funny because my DC friends say that if you get a few raindrops, the District is completely FUBAR.When I lived below the Mason-Dixon in DC, it could snow a whopping 1/4 of an inch and the city would panic. They'd send local newscasters to most any bridge and give LIVE reports of the "storm". :D

Thank you for everyone's responses.

Yes I always buy travel insurance whenever I go overseas so this is not the issue. For me I am not that stressed about being stuck at airport but it is more of making sure my better half is looked after, especially she can get cranky easily :p

I can sleep on the floor of JFK OK. Once I slept at AKL chairs overnight with my sister because we were too cheap to stay at hotel for our overnight connection from SYD to NAN via AKL. But I cannot see my wife doing this, or she can but then will "constantly remind me" the rest of my life .....

I did think about going to NYC via Europe but my European friends suggested against this because of heavy snow in Europe in winter.

In regard to La Nina it also affects Australia (lots of rain at summer) so I will look it up of how it affects NE USA.

Thank you for everyone's responses.

Yes I always buy travel insurance whenever I go overseas so this is not the issue. For me I am not that stressed about being stuck at airport but it is more of making sure my better half is looked after, especially she can get cranky easily :p

I can sleep on the floor of JFK OK. Once I slept at AKL chairs overnight with my sister because we were too cheap to stay at hotel for our overnight connection from SYD to NAN via AKL. But I cannot see my wife doing this, or she can but then will "constantly remind me" the rest of my life .....

You can also book a refundable hotel room as a backup plan – just don't forget to cancel it in time & before you depart!

I just did this during Hurricane Irene as we were not sure we were going to get out of ORD into LGA – I was even able to cancel the reservation via the Hilton iPhone app after we boarded!

My two cents with lots of NYC years under the belt is that a) February is the coldest month with the highest chance of snow, followed by January and then December or even early March; and b) Summer here really does start with Memorial day (end of May) and end after Labor Day at the start of September. I find mid-end July to generally be the hottest (IMHO of course).

Our seasons are a few weeks shifted from the technical definitions.

OP, anything can happen the week you are mentioning. It's more than likely to be fine but like anywhere in the Northern US, there is no completely safe time in the winter months.

Remember, everyone's talking averages. You toss your dice, you take your chances. If a delay would be a catasrophe, avoid cold weather airports. I lived in DC for several years, and, yes, things got screwed up with a light snow, as people weren't used to constant driving in bad winter weather, but if DC and surrounding cities really did always prepare for the worst-case scenario, including buying the equipment used in, say, Buffalo, costs would skyrocket. For me, ice was always the big concern. And those drivers of 4WD behicles who forgot that having 4WD doesn't help you stop quicker than other vehicles, even on snow, and especially not on ice.

I've been delayed by snow once at JFK, and that was just when the plane had to return to the terminal for de-icing since we'd been wiaitng on the tarmac too long. I think that was in January. I did spend most of Xmas Eve night at O'Hare many years ago, trying to connect on a flight from DC on to LAX. And one year I was out in L.A. when a big storm hit the East Coast, closing many airports for a few days. I think that was about 2002.