Experiences with weather waivers?
 

A couple days ago Delta notified me that I was eligible for a weather waiver because my connecting flight through JFK to Barcelona would probably be delayed due to the weather. So while waiting on hold for a while to speak to someone at Delta, I found an article that mentioned that weather waivers usually allow you to not only forgo to change fee, but also the difference in fares as long as your destination and cabin class remain the same.

I saw a flight routing through Atlanta that I would've been glad to take at no extra charge, since being a last minute booking it would cost over 3 times what my original ticket costed. But then when I spoke to Delta they said that only the change fee would be waived, and I'd still have to pay any difference in fare. No way I was going to pay over 3 times as much for the ticket, and then the flight did end up getting canceled and I lost a day in Barcelona.

Is charging the difference in fares for weather waivers common practice among airlines, or is Delta one of the few who do that? I will say it was a bit odd when after waiting on hold to speak to someone at Delta for nearly an hour, I called United out of curiosity and not only was I instantly connected to someone, they also said they didn't see any weather waivers issued for their flights at JFK at the time.

Who wrote the article? You can't rely on what is written in articles. I would think it is airline discretion as to whether they will charge the fare differential if you are rerouting in addition to what they offered which is change of dates at no extra charge.

The weather was very bad at JFK last night, thunderstorms, fog etc and many flights delayed.

I have never heard the term "weather waiver". I mostly fly JetBlue and they often have a banner on their webpage indicating a city with bad weather and that they will waive the change fee or cancellation fee. I have used this option a couple of times - once to cancel since it was a short weekend and not worth flying a day late and once to fly 12 hours earlier and avoid weather. I have never seen anything indicating they will waive route change fee.

>>I found an article that mentioned . . .<<

You don't say when/where/what media you read this. We have no idea if you interpreted it accurately or who wrote it so who the heck knows?

But waiving a change fee is common, waiving fare difference is something I have not heard of.

Here's the article, written January of this year at Investopedia:
http://www.investopedia.com/news/wea...escape-clause/

And the section I'm talking about:
"Waivers are a good deal: Not only do passengers get a pass on the $200 fee, but they also can usually buy replacement tickets without paying whatever extra a new ticket might cost (and the new ticket, since it’s purchased at the last minute, is almost always significantly more)."

rcz - I read that to mean if you were originally flying from A to B on May 23 and weather prevents that, you get to fly from A to B on an alternate date - not that you get to fly from A to B via C. You get to fly the same routing on a different date. But that is just how I read it.

Even that article says >>New ticket must be for travel between the same cities as the original fare.<<

Atlanta > Barcelona is not the same as JFK > Barcelona.

In such situations, it might work out to the airline's benefit to reroute through a different airport. They have to have to the seats and fare class open on those new flights to do it. It will be what's convenient for the airline, not for the passenger. :-(

So it turns out my connection through JFK was too delayed to be worthwhile, so I missed another day and NOW Delta will let me fly through Atlanta tomorrow at no extra charge. Oh well, one day in Barcelona is better than none.