Travel Deal of the Day (February 14, 2008)

The recent bad weather in the Northeast and Midwest forced many airline cancellations. As has been mentioned in the past in this blog, bad weather brings very lenient airline and hotel cancellation policies, even on the most restrictive fares.

When bad weather occurs, most airlines and some hotels offer to waive cancellation fees even on the most restrictive fares/rates. Most airlines will allow you to change the date of your ticket (within a limited range of dates) or use the value of your ticket towards a completely new ticket even if your flight is not cancelled. If your flight is cancelled, most airlines will refund your fare, even if the ticket was a non-refundable ticket. Hotels will often waive the cancellation fee or allow you to change your dates when especially extreme weather occurs at the location of your hotel (or even, in some situations, at your home location when you are traveling from your home to that hotel).