Nor'easter Flight Waivers: Change Northeast Flights Free This Weekend

Three major airlines are letting passengers change weekend flights in the Northeast for free as a nor'easter moves up the East Coast. American Airlines, United Airlines and JetBlue have all issued flight waivers covering travel from Friday through Sunday, letting passengers rebook without paying the usual change fees or fare differences. The waivers arrived ahead of the worst of the storm, expected Saturday, with gusts near 50 mph, as much as 8 inches of rain in some spots, and coastal flooding from North Carolina to Massachusetts, according to Fast Company's reporting on the airline advisories.

The storm is still strengthening. The Weather Channel reported the heaviest weather arriving Friday night into Saturday, with strong wind gusts continuing through Sunday before the system weakens and clears out Monday. The disruptions are already showing up in the schedules. As of Saturday morning, roughly 250 flights at Boston Logan had been canceled, about a quarter of the day's schedule, and on Friday nearly 600 flights at New York's LaGuardia were delayed, more than half of the airport's scheduled traffic, according to FlightAware data cited in travel coverage. Those numbers are expected to climb as the storm tracks north.

American, JetBlue and United waive the fees

American's flight waivers cover travel scheduled from Sept. 25 through Sept. 27, for tickets purchased by Sept. 23. Passengers can move their flights to travel between Sept. 24 and Sept. 29 without a change fee or fare difference. The waiver applies to itineraries that arrive, depart or connect through 16 airports, including New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia, Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington Dulles and Reagan, Richmond, Norfolk, Providence, Hartford, Manchester, Portland, Bangor and White Plains.

JetBlue's flight waivers cover flights originally scheduled from Sept. 25 through Sept. 27, with tickets booked before Sept. 24. The airline is waiving change and cancellation fees plus any fare difference for rebooked travel through Sept. 30, as long as passengers keep the same city pair and cabin and rebook before the original departure time. JetBlue also lets customers cancel outright for travel credit instead of rebooking, and passengers whose flights are canceled by the airline get a full refund to their original payment method. Eligible cities include Boston, Providence, New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia, Newark, Worcester, Islip, Hyannis, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Westchester County.

United's flight waivers apply to travel originally scheduled Sept. 25 through Sept. 27 on tickets purchased by Sept. 23. Passengers can rebook for travel between Sept. 23 and Sept. 29 in the same cabin without change fees or fare differences. The waiver covers 10 airports: Nantucket, Hartford, Boston, Newark, New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia, Manchester, Philadelphia, Providence and Portland.

What the waivers cover and what they do not

Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines had also published flexible rebooking options for Northeast travel as of Saturday, according to TravelExtra and other travel industry coverage, though their terms differ from the three above and travelers should check each carrier's advisory page directly.

All three flight waivers share the same basic structure: one free change, same origin and destination, same cabin, within the rebooking window. Miss the window or the purchase-by cutoff and the normal fees come back.

These flight waivers are the industry's standard response to a major storm, and they only help travelers who bought tickets before the airline issued the waiver. That is why each carrier set a purchase-by cutoff of Sept. 23 or Sept. 24. Travelers who booked after the flight waivers went live sit outside the policy and face the usual change fees, unless the airline cancels their flight outright.

How to use the waivers before you leave

For anyone flying through the Northeast this weekend, check flight status before leaving for the airport. If the itinerary looks shaky, rebook through the airline's app or website while the flight waivers are still active. If the airline cancels the flight outright, the passenger is entitled to a refund to the original form of payment under federal rules. The storm is expected to clear out by Monday, when schedules should start to return to normal.

More fall travel coverage on the site: what the still-delayed ETIAS authorization means for Europe trips and how lore-tripping is changing fall travel.