kss5555

Just an FYI for those of you connecting in DTW tomorrow, we are expecting a winter storm to start tonight after midnight with the worst of the snow coming in the AM hours tomorrow. Looks like it is following the same track as the New Year's Eve storm however it is a tad colder this go around so more snow is possible. Have not seen a weather waiver on nwa.com yet.

...HEAVY SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 7 PM EST FRIDAY...

A HEAVY SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 7 PM EST FRIDAY.

SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE REGION TONIGHT...BECOMING HEAVY BY THE MORNING RUSH HOUR ON FRIDAY. SNOW... HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY...WITH TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE WARNING AREA...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. THE EXCEPTION LOOKS TO BE SOUTH OF M59...WHERE SNOW MAY MIX WITH OR BRIEFLY CHANGE TO SLEET... WHICH COULD CAUSE THE SNOWFALL TOTALS TO BE REDUCED BY A COUPLE OF INCHES. WINDS WILL ALSO INCREASE INTO THE 15 TO 20 MPH RANGE BY LATE TONIGHT... WHICH WILL CONTRIBUTE TO SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW.

A HEAVY SNOW WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

CaptainMiles

There is a weather waiver now. See here

I just rerouted my flight from EWR-DTW-AMS to EWR-MEM-AMS. An extra 1000 EQMs can't hurt EWR-MEM-AMS is not normally an allowed routing, but the wx waiver makes it happen. ^

BigLar

Thanks for the heads up!

I'm scheduled out tomorrow (Friday) IND-DTW at 6:41PM and DTW-BUF at 9:18 PM. In both instances, they're the last flights out. Not good.

So, I went to the website and they wanted $665 to re-schedule me. Off to the platinum elite line, where a friendly CSR named Al put me on the 11:18 AM flight (and a similar early flight to BUF) for no charge. Kudos to NW! ^

I'll probably get delayed, but I'll have all day and several later flights (and my PE card) to help ease the pain.

dyung

Is this allowed? The person I spoke with on the elite line said that you were not allowed to change the routing. I would love to change to a routing with more miles.

bk42

"Reschedule travel to begin between January 31 and February 5, 2008 in the same cabin of service as originally scheduled, without penalty or administrative change fees, subject to availability."

It doesn't say anything about routing, it is just subject to availability in the same class. Of course, not all agents are the same. Some do what they are told by their managers, some interpret the rules on their own. At least that is how I understand it.

CaptainMiles

It would make sense to allow routing changes. If the weather is in DTW, it seems that want they would want to reroute people to avoid DTW -- thereby minimizing hassles. Forcing people to take the same route through the same trouble spot would not solve much, unless they change their dates of travel. Therefore, it would seem to make sense that routing changes would be allowed. But then again airline rules have not always made sense

In my case, there were seats available on the nonstop EWR-AMS. I told the agent I would rather have EWR-MEM-AMS, and she had no problem with that. Perhaps she'd have a problem if I had wanted EWR-MSP-HNL-SEA-AMS.

bonoman

Ugh, I'm taking off from Albany tomorrow at 4pm connecting through DTW. I'm already planning on getting Priority Club points when I get stranded in DTW tomorrow night. ...If I even get that far.

dyung

That makes sense. I was trying to get the original routing I wanted of SEA-LAX-MSP-DTW-AMS instead of just SEA-MSP-DTW-AMS. :-) The bigger problem for me was that the SEA-LAX segment was on AS, and they couldn't do that.

sbagdon

Predication was 6-10", starting at midnight, falling through the morning. Right now, north of DTW has about 2.5-3.0", falling lightly. Schools are closed... wimps!

I've got a flight tomorrow night, and I'm expecting no issues. They'll spend the day today cleaning up, and it'll be a non-issues by tonight (IMO). I just don't envy those commuting home tonight.

Steve B.

dmitzel

NWS is still predicting upwards of 6" total - the high-moisture content of the snow, coupled with strong winds, will make clearing this a challenge. See below for the most-current report:

As far as the schools, my kids are home - as are most in the Detroit-Flint area - and my wife's evening post-grad class was likewise CX'ed. I see that many adults in my neighborhood have likewise "called-in," judging from the symphony of snowblowers outside my home.

That's the only downside of telecommuting... having no good reason to miss work due to weather. At least I don't have to fly anywhere today. ^

sbagdon

I'm about 15 miles north of DTW, and we had about 4-5" of accumulation. DTW probably got a bit less. FNT/GRR/etc might have gotten more. The weather radar seemed to indicate that DTW would see the edge of the system.

Either way, take advantage of those weather waivers, and enjoy the knowledge provided via FT.

Steve B.

natas43

This is my anniversary weekend, so I panicked a bit on Thursday. I was originally scheduled LAN>DTW>PHL on Friday, but due to the snow, I called and paid a total of $239 to change the flight to Thursday. I was scheduled in F on friday, but was in Coach on Thursday. Since there is a weather waiver, do you guys think I can call and get the amount refunded? Even if they just issue a voucher, I'll be happy!