Hot on the heels of a busy Labor Day weekend, Denver Airport is readying for a record-breaking winter storm over the next 24 to 48 hours. The airport is presently operating as per usual, but airlines are buckling in for some bad weather and starting to issue travel waivers for impacted passengers.

United Airlines puts into place a Denver specific travel waiver

Denver is a busy United Airlines hub, and the airline has a travel waiver in place for passengers traveling to or from Denver on September 8. United Airlines will waive the change fee. Any difference in fare will get waived to rebook onto United flights departing on or before September 11, 2020. Travel must get rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin and between the same cities as originally ticketed.

Counterpart American Airlines has a more generic travel waiver in place. As part of a generally unsettled flying environment in North America, American Airlines is letting passengers change their booking without a change fee.

"You’re allowed to make changes to your trip once. You can change it now, or cancel and rebook later. Keep in mind: The change fee will get waived, but you may still owe any difference in ticket price when you rebook your trip," says the American Airlines website.

This is a handy get out of jail free card. It applies not just to Denver flights but any flight across American's network up to the end of December.

New no-fee change policies across airlines come in handy

Likewise, Delta Air Lines does not appear to have a specific travel waiver in place for the Denver storms. Instead, Delta is relying on its recently implemented no change fee policy.

Currently, Delta Air Changes has waived all change fees for newly purchased flights. This waiver applies across all fare types through to the end of 2020. While it falls short of offering refunds, the policy is a handy catch-all clause that covers bad weather events.

Southwest Airlines has no specific Denver travel advisories in place, but Southwest's general travel advisory information on its website says;

"If you decide not to travel, as long as you cancel your flight at least 10 minutes before its scheduled departure, the funds used to pay for a nonrefundable ticket are normally valid for one year from the date of purchase.

"We will offer maximum flexibility and accommodate customers to the best of our ability."

Frontier Airlines least generous while Allegiant Airlines excels

Unless you are a Frontier Airlines passenger traveling on a Works fare, it looks like Frontier passengers may get slugged a US$119 change fee at this point. Frontier Airlines has no specific Denver travel waiver in place. The airline has made general changes to its change fee policy. However, the zero cost change fee for all fare types only applies for changes made at least 60 days out from travel. If you could predict these Denver storms 60 days out, good luck to you.

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Allegiant Airlines has a much more generous generic travel waiver in place. Its website says customers with reservations may make a one-time change to their travel plans without incurring change or cancel fees. Allegiant Airlines is offering two options.

First, passengers may change their flight to any other scheduled Allegiant flight at no additional cost. However, passengers may find themselves charged (or credited) for any fare differences.

Second, passengers may cancel their reservations. Passengers will receive a full credit in the form of an Allegiant voucher for future travel. This voucher is good for two years from the date of the initial reservation.

While this information is current at the time of publication, the situation is dynamic. Passengers traveling through Denver over the next couple of days should contact their airline to get the most up-to-date information.