Story highlights
More than 2,000 flights have been canceled Friday
Follow airports and airlines on social media for the latest updates
Patience and common sense are your best bets for safe travels
The arctic weather just keeps pounding people on the move.
Here are some tips to ease the trip home, but above all else, patience – and caution – will be key.
Rebook your flight for free. Airlines rolled out their customary winter weather waivers this week, so most passengers traveling to, from or through affected areas can make one itinerary change without paying a change fee. Delta, American, US Airways, United, Southwest/AirTran and JetBlue have all posted weather policies on their websites.
Act quickly. Rebook your itinerary as soon as possible. Other passengers are snapping up open seats as you mull over a new itinerary. Be sure that your airline has your e-mail address and phone number, advises Rick Seaney, CEO of airfare tracker FareCompare.com. If you didn’t provide this information when you purchased the ticket, go online and add it.
Follow your airline and airport on social media. Many airlines and airports post the speediest updates to their Twitter feeds, so start following them now. Sign up for airline alerts to get flight updates e-mailed to your smartphone.
Winter weather grips U.S.
If you’re stranded, multitask. Get online, get on the phone and get in the ticketing line (if you’re already at the airport). With thousands of flights delayed or canceled, competition will be fierce for seats when operations start humming again. Get airline apps for your phone and try to contact your airline on Twitter, Seaney suggests.
Elite fliers should use their loyalty program hot lines and head to frequent flier lounges for better access to airline reps. “This might be the time to spring for a lounge day-pass just to gain access to these folks,” Seaney wrote in an e-mail.
Use the NextFlight app and type in your city pair to get the next flights for the major airlines, suggests Benet J. Wilson, Aviation Queen travel blogger. Then, call the airline on your cell phone and give them your preferred options.
Charge your devices. Hopefully, you’re not among those travelers stranded at the airport, where jockeying for electrical outlets is inevitable. Charge up before you head out, and keep a car charger and a power pack or a few battery chargers for your portable electronic devices handy.
Check your flight, no matter where you’re going. Think you don’t have to worry about bad weather because you’re flying from sunny California to sunny Florida? Not so fast.
“Because airlines operate networks, a storm affects not only flights in its immediate location but even those in far-removed locations not affected by the storm,” said Cynthia Barnhart, an MIT engineering professor who teaches airline schedule planning.
Check your aircraft’s journey on your airline website or with an app like Flightview.
Don’t be a jerk. “The airline representatives did not make it snow,” Seaney reminds travelers. “We’ve heard many anecdotal stories over the years from airline representatives who tell us it’s a lot easier to find a good flight for a pleasant passenger than for one who is screaming at you.”
Use common sense: Don’t drive into a storm. It’s treacherous out there. Monitor your local and regional forecasts, and don’t drive if you don’t have to.
AAA advises motorists to check tire pressure and make sure car batteries, cooling systems and antifeeze levels are in order. Keep gas tanks close to full, the automobile association advises, so that you’ll be able to run the engine for heat in case you get stranded.
AAA suggests keeping the following items in your car: a shovel and a bag of sand, a snowbrush and ice scraper, jumper cables, a spare tire, windshield wiper fluid, a cell phone and car charger and blankets, gloves, hats and food, water and essential medication.
CNN’s Katia Hetter contributed to this report.