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If you are in Hawaii or have holiday plans, now is the time to buckle down and prepare for Hurricane Lane that may make landfall early Friday morning. Just like we have seen with Typhoon Cimaron recently off the Japan coast, some airlines tend to delay or cancel flights. Read on to see if you will be affected and what your airline policy will be.

The USA weather service has decided to upgrade the Tropical Storm Lane into a Category 4 Hurricane and might upgrade it to a Category 5 before it makes landfall. Generally, in such weather, planes will not be able to fly and many passengers will be stranded, putting a strain on airports, accommodation and resources.

What does this mean for flights?

If you are flying to Hawaii or you are flying from Hawaii over the next few days it is important to jump on board to your airline’s website to see what their current cancellation policy is and if they have cancelled any flights. Some airlines are offering to delay people now with no rebooking fees to ease congestion.

These policies only cover the following airports:

Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL)

Kona, Hawaii (KOA)

Kauai Island, Hawaii (LIH)

Kahului, Hawaii (OGG)

For the travel dates August 22 – 25, 2018 and with the tickets bought before August 21st.

Policies in alphabetical order:

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Airline Cancellation Policy Cancelled flights? Air Canada Has not issued a policy yet No cancelled flights yet Alaska We will waive the change fees and the difference in the price of the ticket if the new travel is booked to or from the affected cities in the same cabin and travel is completed on or before August 30, 2018. Additional taxes may apply. You may request a refund if you choose not to travel at all. No cancelled flights yet American When severe weather or other uncontrollable events impact your flight and travel dates, you may be able to change your trip with no change fee. Can change trip to August 21 – August 30, 2018 Don’t change your origin or destination city Advertisement: Rebook in the same cabin or pay the difference No cancelled flights yet Delta If you wish to cancel your trip as a result of a flight cancellation or significant delay (90 minutes or more), you are entitled to a refund for the unused portion of your ticket. Even if your flight is not cancelled, you may make a one-time change to your ticket without fee if you are scheduled to travel to, from, or through the following destination(s) on Delta, Delta Connection®, or Delta-coded flights. When rescheduled travel occurs beyond August 27, 2018, the change fee will be waived. However, a difference in fare may apply. Final travel must be completed by end of ticket validity, one year from date of original issue No cancelled flights yet Fiji Airways While flights to/from Honolulu are currently scheduled to operate as planned, guests are advised to consider alternative travel dates as there is a likelihood that flights to/from Honolulu on Friday August 24th may be affected. Guests are urged to monitor our Travel Alerts page and Flight Status for up-to-date information. Fiji Airways wishes to advise its guests that due to Hurricane Lane, flights to Honolulu on Friday 24th August 2018 have been cancelled. Hawaiian Effective immediately, guests holding tickets for travel on Hawaiian Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines codeshare flights departing to/from/within/via the State of Hawaii (LIH/HNL/OGG/JHM/MKK/LNY/ITO/KOA), from August 21, 2018 through August 26, 2018 will be permitted a one-time reservation change with waiver of change fee provided that: Affected flight(s) is/are originally scheduled for travel from August 21, 2018 through August 26, 2018 Changes must be rebooked and ticketed to new flights no later than September 9, 2018 Advertisement: New travel must commence no later than September 9, 2018 Some cancelled flights Qantas No policy revealed yet No cancelled flights yet United The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new United flights departing on or before September 9, 2018, as long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed. Some cancelled flights WestJet WestJet has made it easier for guests impacted by the following events to make changes to their itineraries. Guests who have made their booking through a travel agency should contact their travel agent directly. To find out more about the change and cancel options due to these advisories, please call: WestJet flights: 1-888-937-8538 WestJet Vacations: 1-877-737-7001 Some cancelled flights

*If you are affected by the above, be sure to read the cancellation policies in detail on the airline’s website as they may have changed by the time of publication or involve additional conditions.

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If there are major delays, even flights from Sunday afterward may be affected by the backlog. Many airlines offer passengers to fly much later, even all the way into September to ease congestion.

What if I live or am staying in Hawaii?

For emergencies and storm preparation, we are not the authority on these matters and will direct you to the National Weather Service here.

We would recommend ensuring that you have insurance that covers these scenarios. If you are going to be delayed by the hurricane, we suggest you go ahead and book your own accommodation, to beat the rush of tourists who will try and find emergency accommodation. In the worst case that you do not have access to power, we recommend ensuring you have plenty of drinking water and food.

Are you currently in Hawaii? We would love to know how you are preparing and if you have heard from your airline.