CNN is reporting that an earthquake of magnitude 5.9 hit the Virginia area today. This may affect travel in the Northeastern United States. What does this mean for you as a traveler?
As in any situation of this nature, first, don’t pick up the phone and call your airline as more than likely the phone lines will be busy. Instead, check their web sites, facebook fan pages and twitter for the latest information. As the event just occurred, there will be no information within the first hour or so. This does not mean that they are not doing anything, it just means that they are not done with the information they wish to communicate just yet. So please be patient.
Just keep checking the web sites for details. Calling initially just clogs the system and benefits no one as the agents have no information since the airline has not yet issued a policy. As soon as the policy is issued, then the agents can assist you when you call.
In addition, once the policy is issued, some airlines such as Continental allows you to make the changes on their Website by entering your confirmation number and last name. If your reservation requires special handling, you will be given a phone number to call for assistance.
Your best bet is to use the mobile tools that are available to you since the flight statuses are updated realtime and the mobile tools will pick up the information. You should already have these tools on your mobile devices, but not to worry, here is a partial list:
- Air Canada – iPhone App, mobile.aircanada.com
- Air France – Android App, mobile.airfrance.com
- airTran – http://www.airtran.com from your mobile phone
- Alaska Airlines – iPhone app, mobile.alaskaair.com or flyasqx.com
- American Airlines – iPhone app, mobile.aa.com, Android App
- British Airways – iPhone App, ba2go.com, Android App
- Continental Airlines – iPhone App, pda.continental.com, Android App
- Delta Air Lines – iPhone app, mobile.delta.com, Android App
- frontier Airlines – no mobile applications
- jetBlue Airways – mobile.jetblue.com
- Lufthansa – iPhone App, mobile.lufthansa.com, Android App
- Southwest Airlines – iPhone App, mobile.southwest.com, Android App
- United Airlines – iPhone App, mobile.united.com
- US Airways – http://www.usairways.com/mobile from your mobile phone
- Virgin America –
- Virgin Atlantic – iPhone App, Android App
- WestJet – mobile.westjet.com
If you have any additional tips that can help travelers during this time, please feel free to add it below.
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