Craig

I don't think we'll have a problem with our Sunday morning flight on US Airways from Charlotte to Belize City. Weather looks to be fine. However, our very early morning flight from Hartford is threatened by a coastal storm that could dump 6" of snow and is expected to max out at about the time we are leaving (or just before). While US Airways has not posted any relief for changing plans yet, there is flight availability on Saturday afternoon and early evening when the weather will be not great, but probably better (more rain than snow). We have no problem with spending the night in Charlotte if that gets us to Belize for our pre-paid vacation. What would you do if you were in my shoes?

DonTopaz

I'd try to fly out as early as reasonably possible on Saturday. If US thinks that the weather at BDL will be sketchy, they'll cancel flights for Saturday afternoon & evening. Were that to happen, your Sunday morning flight would be canceled, coz the incoming plane for that flight would be one of the canceled Saturday flights.

Craig

We are going to shoot for a 2:45 flight on Saturday. The others leave very early. There are 3 afterwards, that will probably all get cancelled, in addition to our early morning flight on Sunday. At least if the 2:45 flight is cancelled, we will have options, including driving to Philly in a rental car and flying to CLT from there.

Kathie

Good luck, Craig, I'd do the same thing you are doing. I have flown to the gateway for my international flight the day before when there have been weather issues, and I've always been glad that I have.

tchoiniere

Id probably call US Air now and change (paying the change fees) rather than wait and be at their mercy. Don't they reimburse change fees for people that have already changed in this situation?

kayd

USAir may be getting its weather cancellation/change policies ready to announce any minute. This happened to me a few years ago -- when I first called, they said I could go a day early but would have to pay the change fee. I waited a while, got myself ready to leave early, and when I called back 6-8 hours later they were happy to put me on the earlier flight with no fee.

Craig

Just for info, I called this morning at 9 and no weather/change policies were in effect - more than $500 per person to change the flights. They told me they would not reimburse the fees under any circumstances so I chose to wait. 2 hours later the policies went into effect and I changed our reservations at no cost. We'll see if our 2:45 PM flight a day earlier works okay...

tchoiniere

Glad it worked out for you. Enjoy your trip. So slfar so good for weather in CT today

lcuy

I had a couple of friends who had your same experience the day before the Sandy storm. She was supposed to fly into NYC 2 day after the storm. They told her only the dyas of teh storm were elegible for free changes. She'd have to pay $250 and her ticket- exact routing -would need to be used within a year. Not only did she not want to pay the fees, but her ticket included a side trip to DC to see a friends closing performance in a show there. She had no desire to go there later.

She begged and pleaded to avoid the change fees, figuring she'd just do the DC trip when she did go. When JetBlue still refused, she decided to go as planned. She called back about 6 hours later and they refunded her entire ticket.

You picked a perfect time to escape CT for the warmth of Belize!