The monster winter storm Jonas wreaked havoc on east coast travel with 12,908 flight cancelations and 17,148 delays over the January 22 – 24, 2016 weekend. Covington Travel went into “Storm Alert” mode on Thursday before the storm by identifying our travelers who were likely to be impacted. Many clients were contacted and hundreds of flights, hotels and car rentals were changed even before the epic storm hit and created major travel disruptions.

After Jonas shut down airports from Virginia to New York, the Covington team kept working to aid travelers who were stuck or delayed. During major weather disruptions, airlines provide waivers for change fees, although phone hold times to obtain those waivers were up to four hours, so Covington support staff dialed and held on the line while agents took incoming calls from travelers who needed assistance. With record snows impeding our own roads, 75% of Covington’s Business Travel Agents worked from their homes if they couldn’t get into one of Covington’s offices. Agents worked beyond our normal operating hours – over the weekend changing flights, and in the wee hours of the morning to check the flight status for a group with an early departure.

Josée Covington, President and CEO of Covington Travel said, “I am very proud of what the Covington team accomplished during this record-breaking storm. Our staff really demonstrated their untiring care for the safety and comfort of our clients by going above the call of duty.”

While Covington Travel remains at the service of our travelers from the time of reservations through returning home, we offer these tips that can make rebooking during a travel disruption a bit easier and less stressful.

• Make use of airline mobile apps to get up-to-the-minute gate changes and flight status updates.
• Have your airline, hotel or cruise line phone number on hand to make direct contact if necessary.
• Call Covington Travel or the airline directly while standing in line (but don’t leave the line). Many times your problem can be fixed by phone before you reach the front of the line.
• Travel with a copy of your ticket numbers in addition to your itinerary record locator. Airports can sometimes encounter validation issues with code share e-tickets. With the ticket number available, an airline can easily retrieve the code share airline’s itinerary and work with the other carrier involved to reaccommodate travel.
• Lines and hold times can be maddening in a widespread disruption (for us, too!). Practice patience and good manners for the best result.
• Consider protecting any personal investment by purchasing travel insurance before the disruptive event, and have the phone number and policy number available while traveling.

When major travel disruptions happen, it’s difficult and frustrating for travelers, but rest assured that Covington is your partner in travel. We’ll spring into action as soon as the disruption is acknowledged by the airlines and will assist you every step of the way. To put Covington to work for you, contact us for your next trip.