Flight plans when storms approach

Is Atlanta your final destination? Can you change your flight to arrive earlier? Would you want to be there during such weather? Postpone the trip? Are your tickets refundable? Changeable? Is this a vacation or are you attending something critical? Too many unknowns.

If the weather is that bad, the flight will likely be cancelled in PDX.

Rebook a red eye flight if possible and see if early check in at hotel available if staying in hotel.

If the storm gets very bad it's possible that flights will be canceled. If they are, you can rebook at no extra charge.

Sometimes, when bad weather is expected airlines will announce that you can change plans at no cost.

Other than that, you can reschedule and pay whatever fee might be attached to it as well as the fare difference.

It's really a personal choice.

I don't quite understand what you are asking. Is Atlanta your final destination or a connection, and if you're connecting, what time is your flight scheduled to leave ATL? Is the 3 hour shuttle from your home to the airport where you are flying to ATL or is it a 3 hour trip from the Atlanta airport to your final destination?

We've generally had good luck rescheduling flights out of Denver or Colorado Springs for similar reasons - though in our case it's usually a winter snowstorm that causes the problem. Delta and United in particular have been easy to work with while sorting out my options in these situations.
Rather than using the airline website I make it a point to call the customer service number to speak with a human being, explaining the situation, and discussing what can be done - the agent will have more current information regarding rescheduling policies than that shown on the airline website, and can generally help you navigate the process with a minimum of stress.
It looks like the weather forecast for ATL will indeed be concerning for both Sunday and Monday, so good for you for thinking and planning ahead. If you have the latitude to modify your travel plans now it might be prudent to do so ... maybe sooner rather than later while most of your options are still available.

Not really clear on what you're asking but your best bet is to keep your notifications on the airline app on your phone on, and haunt their website to see if you can reschedule for no charge.

Unless the airline issues a travel waiver, which is unlikely due to thunderstorms here in ATL you possible moves are very limited.. Any change to an earlier flight would be at your expense. The weather you are worried about is pretty normal except for the Tornados and.. it's not like God tells the airlines where they are going so...they won't issue waivers like they do for Hurricanes

If at the last minute they cancel because of weather you can get a refund or they rebook you

But what generally happens is you take off from PDX and if the airport closes due to storms you go into the "stack" and circle until (A) they open the airport or (B) you hit the fuel critical stage at which point you land in Greensboro, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Birmingham (Probably others those are just the ones I have landed at !), refuel and get back in the stack until you eventually land.

The last time I was home and getting ready to head back to Paris, we were expecting winter storms in Tulsa coming in late the next morning (my departure day) - with a scheduled 11:20 departure time for my flight to Atlanta and then on to Paris. I was in a different situation, because Tulsa is much closer for me than your departure airport is for you, and my parents and I were already there for a doctor's appointment. So I just went to the airport the day before and asked the guy at the Delta desk if he had any way of getting me out earlier the next morning - in other words I gave Delta the opportunity to help me before I became a "problem" for them to solve the next day.

Indeed, he put me on the (horribly early 6:30) flight the next morning (at no cost to me), and I was long gone before the storm came in.

Sometimes it doesn't hurt to ask.

My husband has had the same experience as Kim with Delta letting him opt out of being a potential problem for them. My husband thinks that the customer service people at Delta have more discretion to use their own judgment than do those at some of the other airlines.

I'm scheduled to fly through Atlanta on Monday and I did a text chat with Delta this morning due to this thread. Basically, I have the economy tickets so it would cost $200 each for my daughter and me to change our flights right now, since they haven't issued delays or cancellations yet. As of right now we'll head to the airport Monday morning as planned and hoping for the best as far as weather goes.
I hope you have a good trip!

Thanks everyone for your input and hand-holding. You're right, it wasn't clear what I was asking; I was just panicking. The reminder about a red-eye flight was particularly helpful. I've always tried to take an overnight flight south in the past (after the night where I ended up sleeping on the airport floor) but was seduced by a nonstop flight. Atlanta is my final flight destination; after that I have a ground shuttle to Athens. I was able to rebook on an overnight flight that will get me in Sunday morning before the storms are predicted. It's a long layover in Seattle, but I was going to be hanging out at PDX anyway because there is only one shuttle a day to PDX from where I live. And I had booked with miles, so it cost me a few more miles and another $6 but nothing else. Whew!

That is great news ! Well worth the $6 to eliminate the worry. Hope you have smooth travels and a fun trip !

Just a note... if you want customer service on Delta... don't use chat LOL! Their goal is to get you OFF chat not to actually assist you!
I once had them cancel a flight because "oh I got confused" (NOTHING in our chat had indicated that they should cancel my flight) The chat person then also just ended the call.

I screen shot the entire mess and spent almost 3 hours on the phone with DL getting my flight back at the price I originally paid.

I constantly read things they say that are totally wrong! They are useless for anything but the date/time and I'd check that with a more reliable source!

Carol, thanks for that warning. What a headache !!!!!! That is definitely something to be wary of.

I knew there was a reason I literally thought it was easier to stop by the airport than to try to call or chat ! And now I know for sure. Thank you .

And the reason the airlines don’t proactively cancel and reschedule because of the weather forecast?

I’m sitting here in Atlanta on Sunday evening it rained and that’s it. Nothing else has happened. All of the bad weather predicted in the first post has not come true. There’s no thunderstorms.

Carol, you are so right. I too am enjoying a pleasant Sunday night in Athens. These storms have a level of unpredictability and we passengers make our best educated guess. But it still helped my trip anxiety a lot to have rescheduled and I expect the flights today that crossed the midwest were pretty bumpy, whereas mine was smooth all the way. Also, although the red-eye was tough on my old body, with my extra time at Sea-Tac I did get to have a piece of that famous coconut cake at Floret near Gate A1!

“with my extra time at Sea-Tac I did get to have a piece of that famous coconut cake at Floret near Gate A1!”

Oh my word! I've been following your weather/flight question but did not expect your last sentence! So funny! I hope you enjoyed it and the sugar soothed you for your flight!

Heart heart heart … where are those emojis?