Hurricane Irma Airline Travel Waivers

Hurricane Irma has battered parts of the Caribbean and is bearing down on Florida.

As of 8:15 pm EDT, Irma is West of Cuba with winds of 175 mph. 

I’ve added travel advisories for WestJet and AirTranSat (thanks, JamesP) as well as Silver Airways.  The biggest thing of note for the larger airlines is the inclusion of airports in Georgia and South Carolina in a number of the waivers/advisories.

I’ll be updating this list with travel waivers from the various airlines and other key information.  I’ve included a short-cut of links up top to the actual waiver pages if you’re in a rush and copied/pasted/summarized the waivers below.  If you have any suggested updates, please leave them in the comments and I’ll add them to the post.

Just a note that I’ve started to see footage of the destruction Hurricane Irma caused in St. Maarten.  It’s just awful.  If you can get out of the path, please do.  I’ll be back later in the day to add more info.

Airlines With Travel Waivers For Hurricane Irma

• Air Canada
• Air transat
• Alaska Airlines (no waiver)
• American Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Frontier Airlines
• JetBlue
• Silver Airways
• Southwest
• Spirit
• United Airlines
• Virgin America (no waiver)
• WestJet

If you’re stuck with a long hold time to contact the airlines via phone, consider your alternatives:

• Are you near an airport that has a ticket counter you can visit (even if it’s not where you’re departing from)?
• Have you considered an overseas customer service phone line for your airline?  Wait times can sometimes be shorter.

Also, consider using social media.  Twitter has been effective for me in the past.

Here’s how to find the airlines on Twitter:

• Air Canada
• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Frontier Airlines
• JetBlue
• Southwest
• Spirit
• United Airlines
• Virgin America

American Airlines Travel Waivers (click for more info):

Cuba: Can postpone your ticketed travel until September 12th.  Origin and destination need to remain the same.

Bahamas: Can postpone your ticketed travel until September 12th.  Origin and destination need to remain the same.

Florida: Can postpone your ticketed travel until September 12th.  Can change your origin or destination to any city within 300 miles.  The following airports are currently included in the waiver:

• Key West, Florida (EYW)
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FLL)
• Miami, Florida (MIA)
• Palm Beach, Florida (PBI)
• Fort Myers, Florida (RSW)
• Sarasota, Florida (SRQ)

Leeward Islands And Puerto Rico: Can postpone your ticketed travel until September 12th.  Origin and destination need to remain the same.  The following airports are currently included in the waiver:

• Anguilla Wallblake, Anguilla (AXA)
• Antigua, Antigua (ANU)
• Beef Island, British Virgin Islands (EIS)
• San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)
• St. Croix Island, U.S. Virgin Islands (STX)
• St. Kitts, Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKB)
• St. Maarten, Saint Maarten (SXM)
• St. Thomas Island, U.S. Virgin Islands (STT)
• Cap-Haitien, Haiti (CAP)
• Port-au-Prince, Haiti (PAP)
• Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic (POP)
• Providenciales, Turks and Caicos (PLS)
• Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ)
• Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (SDQ)
• Santiago, Dominican Republic (STI)

United Airlines Travel Waivers (click for more info):

Florida: This affects all flights with an original travel date between September 5th and September 12th, 2017.  The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before September 15, 2017, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.​​  The following airports are included:

• Ft. Lauderdale, FL (FLL)
• Ft. Myers, FL (RSW)
• Miami, FL (MIA)
• West Palm Beach, FL (PBI)

Bahamas, Cuba and Dominican Republic: This affects all flights with an original travel date between September 5th and September 9th, 2017. The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before September 15, 2017, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.​​  The following airports are included:

• Havana, CU (HAV)
• Nassau, BS (NAS)
• Puerto Plata, DO (POP)
• Punta Cana, DO (PUJ)
• Santiago, DO (STI)
• Santo Domingo, DO (SDQ)

Puerto Rico: This affects all flights with an original travel date between September 5th and September 7th, 2017.  The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before September 11, 2017, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.​​  The following airports are included:

• Aguadilla, PR, US  (BQN)
• San Juan, PR, US (SJU)

Delta Air Lines Travel Waivers (click for more info):

There are two different groups of cities.  They both allow free changes to the allowable date range.  After the travel waiver period, changes can still be made without the change fee but any difference in fare will apply.

Frontier Air Lines Travel Waivers (click for more info):

With the expected impact from Hurricane Irma on travel conditions throughout the Caribbean and the Florida peninsula, Frontier has enacted the following guidelines aimed at assisting customers scheduled to travel between Tuesday, September 5, 2017 and Tuesday, September 12, 2017 to/from/through the following cities:

• Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL)
• Orlando, FL (MCO)
• Miami, FL (MIA)
• Fort Myers, FL (RSW)
• Tampa, FL (TPA)
• San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)
• Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ)

Customers who are ticketed to travel between Tuesday, September 5, 2017 and Tuesday, September 12, 2017, who purchased tickets on or before Monday, September 4, 2017, may make one itinerary change – rules/restrictions regarding standard change fees, advance purchase, day or time applications, blackouts, and minimum or maximum stay requirements will be waived.

Travel must be completed no later than Sunday, October 15, 2017. Origin and destination cities may be changed. Customers whose flights are cancelled may request a refund through our Online Refund Form.

Flight Cancellations:

• Tuesday, September 5, 2017
  • 1658 Orlando to San Juan
  • 1040 Philadelphia to San Juan
• Wednesday, September 6, 2017
  • 1041 San Juan to Philadelphia
  • 681 San Juan to Orlando
  • 104 Philadelphia to Punta Cana
  • 105 Punta Cana to Philadelphia

Other Useful Information

Tolls are suspended on all roads in Florida

Please be safe out there!

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