I just modified reservations for a couple coworkers due to weather advisories WN has posted for travel to/from pit/phl/bwi/etc.

the self-serve fare protected system works very well, HOWEVER after trying a RR phone rep and the fare change system, it gives an error if you try to change cities.

Although this is 'by design', I feel that the system should let you pick a nearby, unaffacted airport.

Coworkers could have driven to pit, buf, or cle. CLE was the only airport without the weather delay, and nonstop flights were open. However WN wouldn't do the change without a ~$600 fare difference per person.

I've had the same issue when trying to change a flight from MCO to TPA due to bad weather forcing MCO to eventually close early. I booked full fare, and by the time I finished driving to MCO, and talked to the gate agent, they called Dallas to let us fly on the cheaper original MCO tickets.

All it would take is a programming change saying the origin *or* the arrival airport has to match the original reservation, instead of both. It could check mileage to make sure it's less than a few hours drive away from the original.

Just a wild guess that you're not a programmer?

What you suggest would be a huge undertaking that would have to be manually invoked city by city and you can imagine the compexity when an entire region would be affected and then city by city start to open up again.

Meanwhile a real person could change your destination on a case by case basis based on availability.