How many factor in hurricane season in their travel plans

By the way, the Atlantic hurricane season goes from June through end of November, so that's a long time window! During that time, I avoid travel to areas in the US like the Gulf Coast (inc. Texas and Louisiana), Florida, Georgia, and Carolinas, as well as Mexico (Yucatan) and the Caribbean. It's not only due to hurricane potential, but more so to escape extreme humidity and heat. I prefer travel to Europe in the off-season, so I would not say my European travel plans are directly affected (although I have gone over Labor Day in the past). I'm not sure how many Europe-bound flights originating in DC, Mid-Atlantic or NE outside the hurricane belt are affected directly. It's possible (and probably likely) given the hub system and the need for some planes need to arrive from a hub that's in the hurricane zone.

I think we may underestimate all the linkages and spillover affects even in areas that seem too distant or relevant. A hurricane in a central airline hub ripples through the entire flight network and affects other airports and flights. Right now DFW (Dallas Fort Worth), AUS (Austin Bergstrom), and SAT (San Antonio) airports are probably much more busy than normal because flights had to be rerouted from IAH (Bush Intercontinental) and HOU (Hobby).

We Probably considered it more this year than others, and it looked like it was a wise thing to do. We finalized plans for a trip next week as Harvey was forming (using airline miles for a week long trip) and had considered Mexico, New Orleans, Florida, and a couple of islands. So with aftermath of Harvey and what will be aftermath or remnants of Irma, almost all of those places are affected. We decided to head to Amsterdam and Belgium, even our connecting flights avoided Atlanta, GA and Charlotte, NC.

That said, most years are not an issue. I guess the best advice is be flexible, use a shorter planning time, and know what your cancellation options are. I do not think I would plan an extensive big "once in a lifetime" trip to the region during these months. Ironically, either way it could wind up being a once in a lifetime experience.

We pay no attention to the weather when planning European travel. We are after low airfares.

Fall cruise pricing often gets very favorable in the Gulf and the Caribbean. We did once sit on a cruise ship 2 days in the middle of the Gulf when the Mississippi River was closed. The storm was close to being a hurricane. We were in no danger but sitting dead in the water in 65 mph winds was interesting.

I don't know if I think about hurricanes for travel to Europe. However, I do live in South Florida and we camp so we do think about the weather (all kinds) for that. Our general rule of thumb is no camping in June, July and August (too hot and humid) and then start again in early November and pray that we don't get a late storm. Prayers to all in the path. There has been long lines for water (if you can find it), gas, money etc. Everyone appears to be calm until you talk to them. I had a good friend that said, "hurricanes bring out the best in people especially after". I know this is true after living through a few...neighbors bring food out and barbecue together, next door neighbors who have never met help with shutters, FPL trucks get standing ovations when the come by and water is offered to them. We are set cars gassed up, water and shutters up. Our essential supplies have been bought M and M, wine and chips. So ready to go. STAY SAFE EVERYONE.

They don't get hurricanes in Europe. Flying to Europe is a great circle route which goes over the north Atlantic, so completely avoids the hurricane zone. If you draw it on a map, a great circle route seems out of the way. If you measure it on a globe, however, it's the shortest route.

A young couple I know got married Monday. They were looking to honeymoon in the Carribean. I suggested Aruba because it's out of the hurricane zone (and hurricane season is June to November) but they decided on Jamaica. I hope it's not too bad there.

Having lived in Houston most of my life, I have gotten used to planning trips to anywhere other than the hurricane zone during hurricane season. But I never restricted my travel to other places. Yes, a hurricane blowing through the day you were scheduled to fly off for your grand European adventure does put a damper on your plans, but most storms only close the Houston airports for a day or two and the airlines are more than willing to let you move to another airport nearby at no charge to start your journey (if you can get there of course).

There was no great swell of travelers on rerouted flights to surrounding airports during Harvey. There were no rerouted flights. The airlines just cancelled all their flights to Houston (both airports) and simply parked the planes that should have been in Houston elsewhere until the storm passed and the airports were ready to reopen. Since no one who did't live in Houston actually wanted to go there during the storm, everyone just wanted to leave, it worked out OK for the airlines. After being essentially closed for a week, IAH was super busy especially with the international visitors trying to get back home before their visas expired. I flew out after being there for 2 weeks through the storm and there was nearly an hour wait to clear TSA for the international terminal while the terminal my flight left from had only me in the line.

Living on the west cost I fly direct from here. I also travel in the spring. However this year I am going to Europe in December. The one thing I won't do it travel through East coast airports in the winter. Being a California native, flying in possibly snowy weather makes me nervous as well as the possibility of closures.

Unfortunately this often means paying more for my air fare.

My thoughts are with those in Texas and those in Irma,s possibl path.

There was no great swell of travelers on rerouted flights to
surrounding airports during Harvey. There were no rerouted flights.

IAH is a major hub for flights to and from Mexico to the US (it serves something like 30 destinations in Mexico). Houston may not be the final destination but rather a connection hub (from there, people could go on to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, etc). How would those folks not be rerouted through say, DWF or another airport, instead? If I were to travel to Mexico City from DC, I'd have to go through IAH if I could not take a direct flight. With the airport being shut down during Harvey, that would not be possible. When I go to Los Angeles via United at least once a year, I also connect through Houston IAH (as I'm sure many people do - the alternatives are Newark or Chicago).

Thanks for the responses.

Two quick points. Though hurricane season does extend for several months, August and September are the prime months. Before August and after September, hurricanes are fewer and weaker, and I'll play the odds.

And for some living in hurricane-prone areas, I can understand how travel to Europe during hurricane season makes sense. But for many, there are houses to protect, and elderly parents, children and other family members, as well as pets, to be concerned about. Before people evacuate, there can be a great deal of preparation work to be done (not to mention, if the hurricane does hit, the uncertainty over how badly damaged your home may be and the recovery work that might need to be done). That's what I was talking about. You don't need to be at your house when the hurricane hits. But you need to take care of a number of things before a hurricane hits.

I plan for hurricanes, tornadoes, etc., in my travel plans in exactly the same way I plan for earthquakes and terrorists attacks. All have about an equal chance of affecting my travel.

As these posts show, you get totally different answers depending where you live. When I lived on the west coast (in Southern CA), I never gave hurricanes a second thought. Now I pay more attention because the weather patterns in the Mid-Atlantic are totally different, and I visit more places that are in hurricane zones (but avoid completely during summer heat and hurricane season).

I can fully understand not wanting to be abroad (in Europe or elsewhere) when a pending hurricane may destroy your property or that of loved ones. Especially if you live in a flood zone or lack insurance for flood damage. Makes perfect sense.

I consider weather issues in general, as in not flying through southern gateway cities in summer (Atlanta or Dallas) or through northern cities in winter (Minneapolis, Chicago). If I lived in the Southeast, I'd take my chances and plan for hurricane season travel anyway, since the odds are with you in any given year.

Richard and others - thanks for sending good thoughts and prayers our way. I have nine cats and they are our children. Right now I am prepping to possibly move them to TN should we be in danger. My pet sitters could not take my cats with them as they each have many of their own, so I am not comfortable traveling to Europe especially in August and September. We are due to leave for Europe early October. That trip will now depend on if my home is damaged by this storm. Keep thinking of us!

Nance, I see you live in the Jacksonville area. Your concerns are precisely those that prompted my original post. I am not sure that those not living on the Gulf Coast or near the Atlantic, especially in the Southeast, fully understand what it is like when a major hurricane approaches, how extremely difficult the evacuation of a major metropolitan area can be, and how many lives can be altered if a category 3 and up hurricane hits. And it is not simply a matter of whether you live in a flood zone (I don't and have never flooded, but we have never had 50 inches of rain in a short period like Houston) or have flood insurance (I do, though the deductibles are substantial).

Nance, good luck to you and your family. Stay safe. Let us know how things turn out.

I grew up with hurricanes and so I am aware of their "season" and realize the risk I take booking flights out of the east coast during those months.

They don't get hurricanes in Europe

Yes we do, and tornadoes, earthquakes, volacanoes, avalanches and every other weather event you can name.

The most significant one in the UK was in 1987 where there was substantial damage and claimed 18 lives.

We tend to visit Florida and other areas in the South during peak hurricane season because that's often the only time we can!

Thank you Richard. Evacuation will be horrible and maybe impossible for some. We are likely to try to find back roads to get out of here. Many years ago, when Floyd was supposed to hit here we had a weird situation. We were both teachers in Ga. and they hadn't called off school. The school wasn't open when we had to leave, the radio had no announcements of school being called off, so to work we had to go. We drove all the way up there, hardly any traffic on the road. When we got there they said school was called off, go back home. We were the only car going south. Our side of the interstate was empty except for us. When we got to 1-10 there was five lanes of interstate traffic just stalled, Floridians fleeing from south of us. We came on home and stayed put. Many of our Ga friends who fled under mandatory evacuation were trapped on the interstate. Gas stations ran out of gas. Hotels were full or wouldn't allow pets. Many sat trapped on the interstate for 1-2 days. The hurricane bypassed us and struck NC. Many swore to never evacuate again, but the key is to evacuate as soon as you are sure it is coming your way. Otherwise you aren't getting out. So, our tv is trained to the weather channel right now. Things are almost prepped. We wait. btw - one of the things that will be in our cars besides cats is our backpacks filled with our travel clothes! Ha!

I was in Italy when Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida (I lived in Miami at the time). I came back two days late because the Miami airport was closed on the day I was supposed to arrive. I took a taxi to my house and the water and electricity came back on while I was looking for damage with a flashlight.

Prayers for all who are in the path of storms.

Agnes,

Yes, PEOPLE were rerouted around Houston where they could to make it to their destinations. But there were no PLANES rerouted because of the storm. They were just grounded at airports outside the storm area. This is according to the multiple United spokespeople the news in Houston showed all during the storm. Once the storm passed, the planes needed by United to resume service on the day they decided to start flying again were flown back to Houston, empty, and waited.

Not the best process in my opinion, but with the lack of open gates and landing and takeoff slots at most airports, flying extra planes to unimpacted airports around the storm would probably cause a nightmare of logistics issues vs. simply parking the planes out of harm's way.

I used a bad choice of words, but meant that people were rerouted (not literally the plane)...meaning more passengers connecting through other airports because two were offline.

Living in south Florida, hurricanes definitely affect travel but there's no way to predict months in advance if one will be "in the box" when you purchase tickets for a trip. In 2005, I had tickets from West Palm Beach to Zurich. I was scheduled to leave on Sunday, October 16th. One of my employees nagged me incessantly to leave on Saturday. As her father was an airline exec, I finally listened and got the last available seat out on Saturday. I arrived in Switzerland and Sunday afternoon, I sat in an Internet cafe in Lucerne watching the eye of the storm chugging its destructive path across Palm Beach County and into the Atlantic. Lucky me. The airport closed late Saturday night and did not open till Friday morning. Vacation saved! And, luckily, my house was ok. Last year, it was Hurricane Matthew. I was in Sardinia for that one.

Unfortunately this year's trip to Sicily is in November so I'll be here for my friend Irma. And maybe Jose.

We had always been nervous about leaving Florida during hurricane season because we need to be here if the house gets damaged. We went to Europe in Sep/Oct 2014 with no issues, and Australia last year. This year some cheap flights came up and we'd been anxious to get to Croatia, so we booked flights for Orlando to Venice.

I'm not sure what to do now because the flights are on Tuesday the 12th. Irma will hit Florida on the 10th. We live in the southwest of Florida so we could be in its path, or if not, it'll still be highly likely we get damage. Boarding up today with plywood as we don't have hurricane shutters, and doing all the other prep stuff outside. So if the house is damaged on Sunday, we can't leave. If we get lucky and there's no damage, the power will likely still be out and other problems might occur. We have great neighbors but don't want to impose on them to deal with anything for us just so we can go off gallivanting to Europe, as they'll be busy enough themselves. I'll look into my cancellation options and hopefully the insurance will cover it. Luckily I only booked the first 5 nights with AirBnB and 3 nights have generous cancellation options. Bummer. I was so looking forward to Slovenia and Croatia! :-(

I'm back. We got our power back this afternoon and were very, very lucky to have no storm damage, just lots of debris which we've already shoveled to roadside like the rest of town. I hear the storm started breaking up before it go here. Thank goodness. Our neighbors to the south were not so lucky, but most of you knew that before I did.

Nance - glad you fared okay. We used to live in Jax and have been watching the flooding there. None of our friends had flooding, thankfully. My mother lives on the Georgia coast and came here, just left today to go back home but still doesn't have power. I hope all the rest of our Florida friends here on the forum are okay.

In California, we have to plan around the earthquake season, which sometimes changes ;-)

I meant to say, too, that although I have lived almost my whole live in the hurricane zone, I never consciously scheduled vacation around hurricanes, but I don't tend to travel in that time of year anyway.
That said ... My stepdaughter scheduled their honeymoon in St. John in early November. Caneel just announced they're closed for the rest of the year, so they're having to figure out something else on fairly short notice. If anyone has any suggestions, please share. They're as interested in the nature as the beach, and are considering Costa Rica, or maybe Grand Cayman. I'm not much help, we're not really beach people.

I have always been told that hurricane season starts in September which has translated in my head as do not travel to Florida in the early fall. -shrugs- I have been there in late November, which is probably still hurricane season, but we've been lucky.

We travel year round. We try to be mindful of possible issues - snow delays in the winter, hurricane delays in the fall, etc. - but sometimes it just doesn't work out in your favor. I try to put in an extra one to two days before any tour we take, just to account for any odd weather or mechanical issues.

Nance, great to hear that you fared relatively well in the hurricane. It could have been far worse.

Two more storms forming in the Atlantic. My issue is nothing compared to the problems facing so many whose lives have been shattered by hurricanes in the last few weeks. But I am scheduled to leave on Tuesday. Will monitor the weather reports and try to make an informed decision on Monday on whether to proceed.

My lesson is never book a trip overseas from August through the first week in October. And I realize that hurricane season does not technically end in early October. But from decades of living on the Gulf Coast, I can say that for those near the Gulf the frequency and especially the intensity of hurricanes diminish after September.

Richard,

I hope your trip goes without a hitch. I forgot that you had said you were going to the Saints game!
Hubby and I are from south Louisiana (LSU and USL) We will be looking for the Saints game on tv.
Our relatives are still there but they came out ok from Harvey. I hope yours are doing well.

To all of you from Florida, I hope things are looking up and that you are not dealing with too much damage. My friends in Ft. Myers and Key West were lucky. As someone from south Louisiana, we are very careful about planning trips during hurricane season. Can't always be avoided, but we try.