jerseykeebs

I'm flying out of Newark on Saturday, and the weather forecasts are calling for the potential of 1 foot of snow, so I'm a bit worried about my flight's chances.

Is there anything I can do to prepare for possible irrops? Get to the airport earlier than usual? Ask to be put on an earlier flight? I've never paid attention to any of the weather-related travel waivers before, what's the usual process when you know there's a chance but nothing's happened yet?

threeoh

United posts travel waivers here:

https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/tra...elnotices.aspx

As of this writing they haven't posted one for EWR for this upcoming weekend. They often wait till 1-2 days before to let the forecast firm up.

If they do post a waiver, that opens up one level of flexibility for you: you can change to an earlier or later flight -- even by several days -- without any fees, even if just one seat is available. If you were just connecting in EWR, you'd be able to change to a different routing to avoid EWR entirely, but generally you have to keep the same origin and destination cities as listed on your ticket. Supposed to be available through the app/website but often you have to call.

If your specific flight is actually cancelled or delayed significantly (irrops), a second level of flexibility opens up: you can get a refund, use your funds on another unrelated flight within a year, or often (agent dependent) switch to near-by airports or even other carriers. Most of these options are available through the app/website, but for some you might have to speak to an agent.

Even without either of these, if you think the risk of cancellation later in the day is high and you'd rather fly earlier, you can switch to any flight same day with SDC, $75 for non-status or free for Gold or higher, requires same fare class to be available. There's a thread on this: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...ions-wiki.html

jerseykeebs

Thanks for the in-depth response.

By the time I read your response, they updated the link to include waivers for Fri/Sat out of Newark for the storm. Surprised it happened so soon, my local reports say we won't have a confident forecast or storm track until tomorrow.

So since there's a travel waiver, I have to decide if I can "beat the storm" by getting an earlier flight. I don't know enough about airport operations to feel like I can make an informed guess on that. Is there a rhyme or reason to how they do things? I'm assuming that to a regular consumer it'll look like an on-the-fly decision based on current conditions. Any thoughts?

I'm flying ewr-jax to visit a friend, on a BE N-fare. Does the storm waiver override BE fares being non-changeable?

Brandinho1

dilanesp

Did the Weather Channel pay United for the reference to their stupid storm naming system?

Brandinho1

fearless2357

I got a waiver for a flight to the midwest (SFO-MCI). Was able to change to change for free into other flights and fare classes. Now upgraded my fare from a G to a Y class ticket. Thank you bad weather!

dinoscool3

threeoh

Generally int'l, long-haul mainline, etc. tend to get priority while short-haul, United Express, etc. tend to get cancelled first. But it really depends on where crew and planes are and where they're needed, how many people are connecting, etc. Very hard to predict with certainty.

If you can get out before the storm is scheduled to hit, or delay until after it passes, I would. Changing flights within the storm window is kind of hit or miss. You could easily switch from a flight that goes out on time to one that is delayed or cancelled.

I'm pretty sure the answer is "yes, you should be able to change", but I've never done it personally. There are scattered reports that UA will be less willing to put you on another carrier in the case of irrops and will insist you take the next United seat even if it is several days in the future. But with the waiver you should be able to switch to any United flight to your destination within the stated window regardless of fare type.

threeoh

One we should welcome! More time to plan and less crowded phone lines.

cfischer

you should be very worried. Bad idea to book separate tickets and via LHR ... not much you can do here other than trying to get onto the first LHR flight out that night to increase the layover you have at LHR.

eng3

Have a flight sunday, got the following email:

Who is writing these emails now? the twitter team?

cfischer

usually, but not a guarantee. Yes, normally that also means you can use a GPU.

jsloan

The TATL BE fares are new enough that I'm not sure we have any evidence about whether or not they'd retain their "no upgrades / no changes" behavior during IRROPS / under a weather.

That said, if you were to apply a GPU successfully, it's almost a guarantee that you would not get the 150% PQM. IME, the only time I get the PQM bonus is when I don't get upgraded. If I end up sitting up front, it correctly figures out the original class of service.

dinoscool3

Well I can seem to change it (although I haven't pressed submit). Interestingly, it is also giving me the option to pay for J on the change screen.