CKBA

Potential for severe disruption along the US East/Northeast coast this coming week.

Where: Washington (IAD/BWI), Philadelphia (PHL), New York (EWR/JFK), Boston (BOS).

When: Monday (13th) evening through Wednesday (15th)

What: Snow from developing Nor'easter.

Currently this looks like starting to affect IAD/PHL after about 6pm Monday, moving NE-wards to affect PHL, EWR/JFK late Monday and BOS Tuesday. Amounts could be significant - NYC currently looking at 12"+, which will cause disruption not only at the airports, but getting to/from them.

At a guess, on Monday BA216 (IAD-LHR) will probably be fine, BA228 (BWI-LHR) could be delayed/cancelled, as might BA292 (IAD-LHR), similarly for the PHL-LHR. From JFK and BOS, I would expect the last flights on Monday to be impacted, and all flights on Tuesday - with knock-on effects on Wednesday.

Up to date information at http://www.weather.gov/

hanmer

Ive been watching the storm. I start my HNL holiday on Monday. Flying MAN-PHL staying overnight in Philadelphia, then Tuesday morning flying PHL-LAX-HNL. Fingers crossed I can fly on Tuesday, Ive packed for a sun/beach holiday not a winter one.

Bri

CKBA

Good luck with that one!

I presume that the MAN-PHL is with AA? While they should be able to get into PHL okay it is not unlike them to cancel to avoid having a snowed-in plane. Nevertheless, leaving Tuesday morning might be more problematic though.

JumboJet

There is a blizzard warning for us now

"A Blizzard Warning is an advisory issued by the NWS of the US which means sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph / 15 m/s or greater with heavy snow is forecast for a period of 3 hours or more."

It looks like its going to be ugly.

Often1

AA has already posted a "weather waiver" for PHL. This means that so long as you do not change your origin or destination, AA will waive change fees and reroute you.

Given the waiver, why not look at all of the MAN-HNL options which avoid the AA/BA East Coast gateways. Easiest might well be LAX, but ORD, DFW, and PHX are all connection points as well.

I would grab the opportunity to make the fee free change now rather than waiting. Once a cancellation occurs, whatever is left on those other flights will be gone in a second and AA will likely use it for its own elites first.

dwugson

I'd get rebooked as soon as possible, PHL will most likely be closed Tuesday and potentially from late Monday depending on the speed of the storm. It'll be chaotic once the storm hits and, as others advise, do it now before alternatives are booked up and while change fees waived. Good luck and let us know how you do.

rockflyertalk

My parents are on a JFK - MIA on Wednesday 11am, whats the best options for them? I think AA have asked if they want to change the flight...

Any ideas on this?

Fraser

As a New Yorker and regular AA person the weather waivers are usually very flexible indeed. You're basically just bound by seat availability, not necessarily in your booking class. The last waiver I was involved with (about 3 weeks ago during the SoCal rainstorms) I was emailed which prompts a lot more people to call the airlines so do this as soon as possible.

For those looking to connect through the NE to get to HNL or other places don't bother, don't assume this will work. Connect through MIA if you need/want tier points (AA have 777s on the flights between MIA and LAX) or DFW and elsewhere.

The latest weather has the snow hitting NYC at 2am Tuesday morning so expect that day to be a complete washout. JFK will have vehicles out plowing the runways and taxiways during the quieter nighttime hours but you can expect big delays.

I would be reasonably confident of a Wednesday morning on JFK-MIA, but see if they can switch to late afternoon/evening flights instead. I flew last year in the evening a couple of days after a large snowstorm (similar to this one) and things were getting close to normal.

Egoldstein

I am reading that the snow should end Wed early am; and would be interested in locals on how quickly things can be plowed and rectified. I am due to fly from DFW to New York on early afternoon of Wed the 15th; and then JFK to LHR on the 16th. I would guess the 16th would be mostly okay, possibly crowded with a backlog of passengers; but I am wondering what people think of the 15th, and should I just try to see about a DFW to LHR direct and attend the 16th meetings by conference call?

bse118

I'm on LGW-JFK on Wednesday, connecting onwards on AA on Thursday. We'll see what happens.

It's a BA ticket, so AA's waiver does me no good. I'm not sure what BA typically does with weather waivers, so waiting on that.

hanmer

So called the American Airlines number in the travel alert on my reservation. Informed the operator that I would like to check my re-route options due to the storm as I land in PHL on Monday and fly out from there to LAX on the Tuesday morning. After ten minutes or so she asks if it is okay to fly from MAN-LHR-LAX-HNL rather than MAN-PHL-LAX-HNL. I say that is okay as long as I avoid the storm. She puts me on hold and says that she will come back to me when reservations have altered my itinerary.

Five minutes later she comes back and says that reservations cannot alter my original flights and I will have to fly my original route, and there is nothing more she can do! So it looks like I am at the mercy of the Storm on Tuesday. My flights are all booked on AA.com, are all AA flights and appear to fall within their travel alert dates, start and end destination are the same etc.

For info my flights are:

on 13/03/17:
AA735 MAN-PHL

on 14/03/17:
AA597 PHL-LAX dep 1035hrs
AA297 LAX-HNL

The only thing that has changed on my reservation is that this morning I checked in for my first flight (MAN-PHL) tomorrow and I am no longer checked in. The AA app and their website is asking me to check in again.

Bri

kingcole974

I'm routing via PHL to LAS next week, and I'm sure the snow will have cleared by then. But interesting to read about the flexibility when the weather is coming.

If one was to choose a re-route. Say to LAX then onto LAS would I get the original tier points? I've only stopped in PHL to earn the extra 280 that I need for gold.

Fraser

As mentioned in my other post I'd say for the 15th in the afternoon you should be OK. I'd risk it, as a local NYer with experience of AA Ops around the time of heavy snow. The only proviso would be that if your aircraft is coming from the NE then things can sometimes go a bit awry. Flightradar24's desktop version should be able to tell you your operating aircraft's previous flights so you can get a handle on it.

Often1

Call back. This time, the US number. The agents who answer are the same agents who can rebook you.

Your mistake (not to berate you) was to ask for options. Always propose what you want.

Provide the agent with the specific reroute you want. Have the flight numbers handy and read them off. If something is not available, ask why. If it is not available because there is no space, so be it. If it is not available because there is no space in your fare bucket, that is not a requirement under the weather waiver (print that out from the AA website) and be prepared to read it out and ask for a supervisor if need be.

If reroute #1 does not work, move on to #2.

Bear in mind, that the easier you make it, the more likely you are to get what you want. In addition, if you show that you have an endless list, you show that you won't be off the line until you have something.

Finally, do not omit the readback. Have the agent read back your new routing by date & flight and follow along. Make certain that it is correct. The time to get things fixed is before you hang up.

Polite and firm will pay off in these situations.

Egoldstein

Thank you. Yesterday, I used Flightradar to identify the plane that was to take me to a very tight connection at DFW was running a delay. I was impressed w/ AA's ground staff and standby policy that allowed me to feel good about being OW Sapphire (BA Silver).

I am leaning to keeping things as they are, as the meetings on Thursday would be superior if I'm there in person. But the thought of 18 inches of snow is a bit daunting; I don't have the right clothing.