During the busiest travel times of the year, most people are aware that it is important to ask this question. Passengers who are flying over the holidays should allow themselves an additional hour or two of travel time to get to their gate due to a large number of passengers, the lengthy check-in lines, the congested highways, and the winding security lines.

This Christmas, however, passengers may want to think about getting to the airport not just a couple of hours sooner than they normally would, but maybe even a full day or two earlier than they normally would.

Travel plans over the holidays might be affected by winter weather.

This is because a big winter storm is now making its way through the country and is threatening to deliver hazardous weather to airports across a large portion of the United States, including several of the nation's largest airline hubs.

The storm, which The Weather Channel is calling a possible "bomb cyclone," was already delivering severe weather to the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday. Cancellations and delays at key airports such as Seattle/Tacoma International (SEA) and Portland International (PDX) in Oregon were over usual levels.

As the storm moves eastward in the days running up to Christmas, there is a good chance that travel delays may become much more severe this week.

Snow is anticipated to fall over a large portion of the Great Plains and Midwest from Wednesday night into Thursday, and some areas might see blizzard conditions and accumulations of more than two feet of snow. It is also anticipated that snow, ice, and rain may strike the East Coast as the storm system moves eastward. Airports in the Northeast might see delays due to the heavy rain and high winds.

After the storm has passed, unusually cold weather will make travel more difficult, with temperatures plunging into the teens in locations as far south as Houston and Atlanta. This will make it difficult for people to leave their homes. Temperatures in the low 20s are forecasted to reach as far north as New Orleans, Louisiana, and as far south as Jacksonville, Florida, later this week. This might result in ice conditions on highways or delays in deicing operations at airports that don't often experience severe cold.

And since the worst of the storm is expected to strike the Midwest and East Coast only two days before Christmas this coming Sunday, stranded passengers will likely have little alternatives to find alternate routes to get home before the holiday.

However, there are potential alternatives to merely crossing one's fingers and hoping for the best, as the major airlines in the United States have rolled out flexible rebooking waivers to provide passengers with the ability to adjust their plans to escape the storm.

When and where exactly will tourists be impacted by this issue?

The storm has already made landfall in the Pacific Northwest, and there have been reports of flight cancellations and delays due to the storm's presence. According to the flight-tracking website FlightAware, almost one out of every five planes that were scheduled to depart from Seattle on Tuesday were either cancelled or significantly delayed.

The storm was expected to travel to the east, bringing snow to the Great Plains and Upper Midwest by Wednesday night. Then, on Thursday, the snow was expected to spread into the Great Lakes, where it would remain through Friday. On Thursday and Friday, heavy rain and wind were expected over most of the East Coast. This included the New York and Philadelphia airports, which are among the most prone to experiencing delays in the Northeast. Temperatures below freezing are forecasted to hit the Deep South on Thursday and continue through Friday.

Even if aircraft delays and cancellations are a possibility as a result of this weather system, it is very unlikely that the effects will be confined just to the transportation industry. Drivers in all of the affected areas should be prepared for challenging conditions on the roads.

Should you take an early flight?

The specifics of your trip, as well as when and what kind of weather is forecasted for your region, will determine whether or not you should adjust your travel plans for the next holiday week to leave a day or two sooner than you had originally intended (s).

This week, drivers may encounter circumstances that are exceptionally challenging in many parts of the country. As a result, the National Weather Service is advising travellers to think about whether or not they should change their plans in light of the weather.

An alert issued by the National Weather Service said that "the finest Christmas present you can offer this year is to be around for next Christmas." The statement was made about the impending storm. "Start making preparations now to postpone, change, or cancel your vacation plans."

Air passengers will also have difficulties, which will be made more difficult for them if their vacation plans require them to fly through an airport that is in the path of the storm.

People travelling in the East and Midwest who can switch aircraft should seriously consider departing early to be at their destinations before the storm causes travel delays.

At this time of year, planes have already reached capacity, which means that customers who are forced to find alternative transportation due to flight cancellations or missed connections are likely to find very few available seats. To put it another way, if you can be proactive and change your plans before numerous aircraft full of potential passengers attempt to do the same thing, you may have more alternatives available to you.

Where do we stand with those weather exemptions for airlines?

Customers are permitted to make one adjustment to their itinerary without incurring any further fees or paying any additional cost difference while using the majority of these exemptions. For instance, United Airlines has a rebooking window that runs from December 19, 2022, all the way through December 28, 2022, and it covers well over one hundred airports that are now exempt from the waiver requirement.

Because the dates and airports covered differ for each airline, you should look up the specifics for your carrier to see whether or not it is feasible to modify your itinerary.

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• Delta Air Lines
• JetBlue
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• Spirit
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• Bottom line

If you are flying on a plane that does not come equipped with reindeer, this may be the year that you need to check the weather reports more than once and give some serious consideration to changing your flight plans if your current itinerary takes you to a location that has an unfavourable weather forecast. Santa may still make it to the North Pole on time on Christmas Eve, but if you are flying on a plane, you should do so.