What To Know If You're Traveling For Independence Day

If you're one of the lucky people that are starting their Fourth of July holiday early, a few of the most popular airlines have news for you. Thanks to a huge storm that's hitting the northeast, flights are already being diverted, cancelled, or delayed.

Travel + Leisure reports that American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Delta, and United Airlines are all waiving flight-change fees for travelers affected by the storm. Anyone with a flight scheduled to or from Virginia to Maine this week (or even just passing through) should check with their respective airline to see whether or not they can opt for a later or earlier flight to avoid the storm. Delta is even extending the fee waiver to a whole year, so anyone that cancels won't lose out on any cash that they spent. They can put it towards a new one.

To qualify for the fee-free changes, customers generally need to have a flight scheduled for June 19. The ticket needs to have been purchased before June 18 and most airlines are drawing the line for the changes to dates before June 23. It's not often that airlines are so generous with weather-related changes. T+L points out that they're under no obligation to compensate travelers in any way for delays associated with the weather, so consider this loophole one way to get an early Fourth of July vacation off on the right foot.

The Points Guy has a more detailed map for travelers who are traveling to or have a layover in the Northeast. And just because the airlines are waiving the rebooking fee doesn't mean that flights are an equal one-to-one swap. Of course, if changes make flights more expensive, passengers will have to pay the difference.

JetBlue, Spirit, Virgin America, and Frontier haven't issued any statements on the storm or any changes to their respective fare-change fees.