To get holidays off the ground, prepare for stormy weather

‘Tis the season for ... weather-related flight cancellations. Weeks before this first official day of winter, passengers felt its icy hand when storms stranded thousands at East Coast airports.

Heavy air travel compounds such delays. “Holiday seasons are always tough,” says David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Assn., a passenger advocacy group. “If something happens, there’s no room on another airline to accommodate you.”

If a storm delays or prevents your flight, your airline may be helpful -- or not. No federal law requires airlines to get you on another flight within a specified time, put you up in a hotel or otherwise accommodate you if foul weather delays or cancels your flight, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The carriers’ written policies typically disavow responsibility for problems caused by factors beyond their control, including weather and labor strikes.

The airlines may help you anyway, as Nelda Lockamy of Greensboro, N.C., learned when bad weather turned her weekend getaway into an ordeal.

Lockamy, traveling with her husband, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, spent the night of Dec. 4 at the Charlotte, N.C., airport after an ice storm and power failure canceled their US Airways flight to Miami, along with scores of other flights.

US Airways worked with the American Red Cross to supply cots, coffee, juice and bagels to about 3,000 passengers stuck at its hub airport. “People fought over the cots,” Lockamy says. She went without.

The Lockamys had a special problem: They needed to catch a cruise out of Miami at 4 the next afternoon. When it became clear they were going to miss the boat, the airline put them on a nonstop flight to the next major port, Nassau, Bahamas, and paid for an overnight at the Wyndham resort there. The Lockamys joined the four-night cruise on its second night.

The airline was “very gracious,” says Lockamy. “They did it at no additional cost.”

The Lockamys, however, incurred some costs, especially because Nelda’s luggage was missing for most of the cruise.

“We did end up spending several hundred dollars on meals, taxi fares and clothes,” she says. Fortunately, she and her husband had travel insurance. When I talked with her, they were poring over the forms to see what was covered.

Airlines are not always as helpful. Dan McGinnity, a travel insurance executive, told me that when Chicago area thunderstorms canceled his Friday afternoon flight from O’Hare to Newark, N.J., an airline agent made no offer of compensation and told him: “You’ll be leaving Sunday morning.”

“I stood in his face until I got a different answer,” McGinnity said. He got on a flight that day.

Obviously, persistence can pay off when rights and responsibilities are so vaguely defined. Several airlines told me they react to weather delays on a case-by-case basis.

“You can’t always go by the book,” says US Airways spokesman David Castelveter. “We want our employees to be empowered to make the right decisions.” The airline’s Charlotte station manager made the call to provide food to stranded passengers, he adds.

After the Dec. 4 storm, US Airways said it would allow customers whose flights were canceled to rebook without penalty Dec. 5 and 6 for travel within seven days. It didn’t charge a rebooking fee, but customers had to pay any fare difference between the original and rebooked flights, Castelveter says.

American Airlines customers traveling to or from storm-affected states had until Dec. 7 to rebook without penalty. They didn’t owe any difference in fares unless they upgraded, spokesman Todd Burke says.

Airlines generally say they try to book you on their next available flight. If they don’t have room, they may put you on another carrier, at no cost to you. Most, but not all, major airlines have agreements to do this.

If no such arrangement is made and you approach another airline to rebook on your own, you may have to buy a new ticket.

“If you have a nonrestricted ticket, say on American Airlines, we would accept that but not a more restricted ticket, like a nonrefundable,” says Castelveter. “Nonrefundable” refers, of course, to the low-fare, advance purchase tickets that many leisure travelers favor.

Some airlines told me they wouldn’t accept a ticket from another airline, regardless of the fare you were traveling on, in this situation; others declined to say what they would do. Southwest has no interline pacts, so if it can’t accommodate you, you’ll have to buy a ticket on another carrier. (You can fly standby on your unused Southwest ticket up to a year.)

So it may be wise to buy a full-fare ticket on a major airline if stormy weather is likely. Some other suggestions from experts:

Book a nonstop flight so you’re less apt to be trapped between destinations.

Sign up for flight notification alerts. Some Internet travel sellers and airlines will notify you by pager or cell phone if your flight is canceled. That gives you a jump on making alternate plans. (Visit their Web sites for details on how to register.)

Buy insurance. Many travel insurers sell policies that cover hotels, meals and other expenses if your trip is canceled or delayed by weather. They may also reimburse you if you must buy a new plane ticket or miss part or all of a cruise because your flight to the embarkation point is late. Premiums typically are 4% to 8% of the trip cost for bundled policies that include these coverages. Be sure to read the fine print because provisions vary.

Call your travel agent, if you used one. Although US Airways paid for Nelda Lockamy’s Nassau stay, a travel agency found and booked the hotel for her.

Pack a toothbrush, a change of clothes and some food in your carry-on. Lockamy, an experienced traveler, says she didn’t do this because she figured her flight out of Charlotte would be “a straight shot to Miami.”

Don’t forget to take along patience and a sense of humor too. They can be your best allies in this uncertain season.

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Jane Engle welcomes comments and suggestions but cannot respond individually to letters and calls. Write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or e-mail jane.engle@latimes.com.