Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 21, 2006)

If you have been following the news you know that Denver got two feet of snow, forcing the airport to shut down for up to 48 hours and forcing many travelers to get stranded (probably for many days). These people have few alternatives because most flights at holiday time are already sold out or overbooked. There are some ways that people, however, can avoid getting stuck when a major weather event occurs.

The Deal:
It is important when a big weather event occurs to follow certain rules to attempt to avoid catastrophe, especially near holiday time periods where most, if not all flights, are completely full. Planning ahead and utilizing flexible travel policies of airlines and hotels will help you avoid catastrophe during major weather events.

How:
There are various rules to abide by when traveling during major weather events (snowstorm, hurricane, tornado…):

1) Monitor the weather at your origination, connection and destination cities at least one day in advance of your travel.

2) When traveling during a major weather event, most airlines and hotel companies will waive almost all restrictions associated with your reservation. Airlines and hotels will usually implement such a policy and post the details on their website (either on the main section of the homepage or in the press release area of the website). If such a policy is put in place, you may no longer be required to abide by advance purchase, minimum stay, maximum stay or capacity control requirements associated with your reservation.

3) If you find that your travel will involve a major weather event, take advantage of the loosened restrictions and avoid the cities affected by the weather event.

Inside Scoop:
The key to effectively using the flexible travel policies during major weather events is to act before the weather event occurs. Usually airlines and hotels will put these policies in place 24 hours in advance of the event to avoid stranding people in the city with the major weather event. Unfortunately, many people ignore the early warning. You must act when the policy is first put in place to reschedule your travel. If you wait too long, many people will already have been rebooked - so there will be few, if any, alternatives for you to rebook.