Hurricane Earl may disrupt travel; airlines waive fees

If you're planning to fly this weekend, expect some delays and cancellations, as Hurricane Earl likely will disrupt flights all along the coast, with the proverbial domino-effect potential for delays across the whole country. 

I experienced the Great JetBlue Valentine's Day Debacle firsthand back in 2007, when my flight to Nashville was delayed five hours and my return flight canceled altogether. Though airline employees were gracious and accommodating throughout the ordeal (and, admittedly, my ordeal wasn't that bad; I met other passengers who had been in the airport for 24 hours), I had to swallow the cost of the extra hotel night. Although no airline can be blamed for the weather, the industry has since learned a thing or two about how to handle these situations. New rules were written, and the Airline Passengers Bill of Rights implemented to avoid that sort of thing in the future.

With Earl looming today, several airlines have announced they're waiving fees associated with changing reservations, and others are likely to follow suit.

Continental will waive change fees for most passengers scheduled to fly to, from or through affected areas through Sunday. Customers will be able to rebook travel through Sept. 19 or apply for a credit for future travel. 

Delta: Passengers booked to fly through some East Coast airports, including those in New York, on Thursday or Friday can make onetime changes to their schedules without incurring fees. 

AirTran: Customers can make penalty-free changes to some flights booked for Wednesday through Saturday.

Frontier: Travelers booked to fly to or through Newport News, Va., or Raleigh, N.C., between Wednesday and Saturday will be able to reschedule without incurring a fee. But customers who haven't already begun traveling might end up paying higher fares.

Visit your airline's website for alerts, or call and ask if it has any policies in place that could save you money and aggravation.

Travel professional Bob Diener, who's president and co-founder of getaroom.com, is offering these 3 tips for saving time and money in the event the storm wreaks havoc with your Labor Day getaway plans:

1. Never stand in those long airport lines; a call from your cell phone will get results much, much faster.

2. Don't wait for the airline to book a hotel for you; call or go online and book it yourself as soon as you see your flight has been canceled.

3. Unlike hotel reservations, car rental reservations expire at midnight, regardless of flight delays; contact the rental company to change your booking for the next day.

Travel safely, everyone.