Storm replace: Kona storm disrupts journey to Hawaii

A strong Kona storm, a kind of seasonal cyclone, has been blowing by means of the Hawaiian Islands this weekend, inflicting flooding, washed-out roads, wind advisories and flight cancellations, and a few islands have been affected greater than others.

Maui obtained the brunt of the storm on Saturday, whereas Hawaii Island is because of get heavy showers and winds Sunday-Monday.

Here’s a information on what to do in case you have a visit deliberate to Hawaii within the coming days.

Is it secure to journey to Hawaii?

If you’ve got a visit deliberate, we advise checking together with your airline and resort for the standing of your reservations. Many vacationers at the moment in Hawaii are stranded on a few of the islands no less than till Wednesday attributable to airline cancellations from the weekend (extra on that under).

On Maui, flooding within the standard city of Kihei washed out roads, as reported by Hawaii News Now. There are a number of different street closures on the island as nicely; up to date info is obtainable on the Maui County government website.

It seems the storm is shifting south and hovering over the island of Hawaii right this moment, with circumstances there expected to persist through Monday. The Hawaii Tourism Authority web site listed a storm warning banner urging all guests to verify their flight standing.

In brief, whereas it is usually secure to journey in Hawaii for the time being, circumstances range relying on the island and particular area, so remember to keep updated on climate advisories in your space.

Which islands in Hawaii at the moment have journey advisories?

Depending on the place you might be planning to journey, you need to verify in on native climate and particular person island climate websites to see if the areas you may be in are at the moment or will proceed to be impacted.

Maui County has a flood watch in impact till Monday, March 16 at 6:00 a.m. native time as famous on its emergency alert website. The well-known Road to Hana on Maui is closed as a result of storm, permitting native site visitors solely, with no estimated reopening date given.

Oahu County (the place Honolulu is situated) noted a wind advisory in effect, however acknowledged that climate circumstances have been enhancing.

Farther south on Hawaii Island, the storm continues to be in full power with conditions expected to persist into Monday, in response to the Hawaii Department of Emergency Management and the Weather Channel.

Hawaii Airport delays and cancellations 

So far on Sunday, March 15, there are a number of delays and cancellations at Hawaiian airports. According to FlightAware information by airport, at time of publication, these have been the present circumstances at Hawaii’s main airports:

Several different smaller Hawaiian airports have been additionally impacted.

Airline journey advisories to Hawaii

As of publication, the next airways have been posting journey advisories and versatile change and cancellation insurance policies to the listed airports.

Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines’ travel advisory page notes the next versatile journey coverage in impact.

Airports: HNL, OGG, LIH, KOA, ITO

Dates: Applicable to tickets bought on or earlier than March 11, 2026, for journey March 11-21, 2026.

You can change your journey and not using a price or fare distinction for brand new journey in the identical cabin, or cancel your journey and not using a price and obtain funds deposited into your account pockets or obtain a credit score certificates for future journey.

This applies to tickets issued by Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines, with flights operated by Alaska (AS), Hawaiian (HA), Horizon (QX), or SkyWest (OO)

American Airlines

According to American Airlines’ travel advisory page, the next versatile journey coverage in impact.

Airports: HNL, OGG, KOA

Dates: Tickets booked by March 10 for unique journey dates of March 12-15. You should change your journey by March 15 to fly by March 18, and can’t change your origin or vacation spot metropolis. There are not any fare variations if you happen to rebook in your unique cabin. You can even change your dates to journey inside a yr of the unique ticket date, however a fare distinction would possibly apply.

Delta Air Lines

Delta doesn’t at the moment have a journey advisory in place for Hawaii on its web site, although it has cancelled a number of flights to and from KOA on March 15, together with these between KOA and Los Angeles and Seattle.

Southwest Airlines

Southwest doesn’t at the moment have a journey advisory in place for Hawaii.

United Airlines

According to United’s travel advisory page, the next versatile journey coverage is in impact for Hawaii.

Airports: HNL, KOA, LIH, OGG

Dates: For tickets bought on or earlier than March 11, for journey between March 12-15.

If your flight is affected, you’ll be able to reschedule your journey with no change charges or fare variations. But you need to e book a brand new United flight departing between March 11-22 and tickets have to be in the identical cabin and between the identical cities as initially booked.

What to do in case you have a resort or trip rental booked in Hawaii

If you’ve got upcoming journey to Hawaii, you would possibly need to contact your resort or trip rental immediately to make sure that its facilities will likely be open and functioning as regular.

For now, the key resort firms together with Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott, wouldn’t have any journey advisories or waivers in place for vacationers with future plans. However, in case you have an upcoming journey that you’re having second ideas about, verify your reservation to see if you’re nonetheless throughout the eligible cancellation window so you’ll be able to modify your plans in response to your consolation degree.

If you booked a nonrefundable room charge, you are possible out of luck if you happen to do need to change your plans.

As for trip leases with companies like Airbnb, many of those have major disruptive events cancellation policies that embrace extreme climate, although you’ll possible have to indicate that your plans have been completely thrown astray (i.e., your flights are canceled or your rental will likely be inaccessible attributable to street closures or main utility outages) to be eligible. If the coverage applies to your rental, you’ll be able to cancel your reservation and obtain a refund or journey credit score with out further charges.

Will your bank card or journey insurance coverage cowl adjustments or disruptions? 

TPG has a complete information on bank cards that covers journey cancellation and interruption and what journey disruptions would possibly qualify as a pure catastrophe or attributable to antagonistic circumstances like a significant storm.

Related: 4 occasions your bank card’s journey insurance coverage may also help with journey woes, and seven occasions it will not

This sort of insurance coverage usually covers nonrefundable bills if you should cancel your journey (or the rest of your journey) attributable to a pure catastrophe. However, bank card insurance coverage insurance policies range, so verify your advantages information for particular exclusions.

And bear in mind, bank card journey insurance coverage solely applies to purchases made on that card, so if you happen to used a special cost methodology for parts of your journey, you will not be lined for that.

Bottom line

If you’ve got a visit to Hawaii deliberate within the subsequent week or so, proactively control the information and your airline flight standing as some airways have issued journey waivers extending by means of March 21.