Stuck with a storm – a backup option that won’t cost a fortune

It’s that time again. A winter storm warning is in effect for the Washington D.C. area, and Dulles airport is expected to be closed from Friday afternoon through Saturday.

For passengers booked through the weekend, airlines are being flexible to allow changes, if passengers can find space on another flight. And when a plane is definitely going to be canceled, it’s an easy decision to take the backup option, assuming fliers can reach an airline or if their travel agent does it for them.

But what about the gray areas? For travelers on Sunday, for example, it’s not so simple. The storm should be over, but these things are not exact sciences. Plus, snowplows and road clearing are an even more inexact science that weather forecasting. The airport no doubt will be open as soon as humanely possible, but if crew members cannot get there because the streets are still covered in snow, well, the planes aren’t going anywhere.

Ditto, a major storm can disrupt planes that happen to be in the right locations (or wrong, as in this case). Hence, many airlines are trying to cancel flights proactively, to help avoid this problem, but these best laid plans don’t always work and the wreak havoc on schedules leading up to big storms.

So what to do? If you have the airline change your Sunday flight to Monday, and it turns out that flights will be operating normally, there is not much chance of getting your original flight back at the last minute. Especially since people from canceled flights earlier in the weekend will be flooding the waitlists

On the other hand, if you keep the Sunday ticket, and if it is canceled closer to flight time, next-day options are likely to be sold out (with the same people whose flights were canceled earlier). Or, they’ll be ridiculously expensive.

And no, airlines will not let you hold both your original and a backup reservation. Plus an unticketed reservation on another carrier will be canceled within 24 hours.

Now, often this is the kind of situation where you’re just forced to roll with the punches. But sometimes it’s absolutely critical that you be at your destination as soon as possible. In those cases, there may be a moderately priced option.

Buy the cheapest possible ticket, in advance, on a backup date, on another airline. In a few markets, there are even moderately priced refundable tickets. Most tickets, however, do have a change fee, but it’s only $150 to reuse the ticket as long as it’s canceled in advance. (And Southwest gives you full value towards a future trip.)

In addition, while you cannot count on it, you MAY be able to cancel your backup ticket for a full refund within 24 hours of ticketing, depending on the airline or your travel agents.

If you can find an inexpensive backup return ticket, and your original flight is canceled, you will get a refund on the first ticket. If the original flight is NOT canceled, then you may be able to use it again fora penalty (usually $150). Or you may be able to write to the first airline involved and say that you expected the plane to be canceled due to weather and “would they consider a refund or voucher?”

The issue with your original ticket is the most complicated. Certain tickets require a round-trip and do not allow a routing change. So this means you can’t turn a Washington to San Francisco ticket, say, into a New York to San Francisco ticket later.

Checking the rules on a original ticket, however, can be easily done in advance, and again, writing to customer relations explaining the storm situation could help out. But don’t count on it.

On the other hand, if there is an inexpensive option to guarantee a flight on a later day, losing the cost of the original ticket or the penalty would be well worth it for having the option. In this case, it might be the best money you ever wasted.

Photo: Anirudh Koul/Flickr/Creative Commons