Travel delays mount as winter storm moves into Tri-State Area, causing flight cancellations right before holidays
NEW YORK -- The winter storm sweeping the country is causing major travel disruptions.
The powerful weather system is bringing whiteout conditions and subzero temperatures. There are wind chill warnings from the Northwest to the Eastern Seaboard.
And as you can imagine, it's slowing down people trying to reach their holiday destinations.
READ MORE: First Alert Weather: Red Alert for winter storm Thursday and Friday; Bitter cold for Christmas
At Newark Liberty International Airport, there were 496 delays and 27 cancellation on Thursday.
At John F. Kennedy International Airport, there were 480 delays and 40 cancellations.
And at LaGuardia Airport, there were 395 and 106, respectively. As a result, there were plenty of frustrated faces passing through the terminals.
"My flight got delayed like three times," Megan Shields said.
Shields was originally booked on a 4 p.m. flight.
"And it has been canceled, delayed, moved to another flight, same thing. I tried to get to an earlier one on a different airline. That was stupid and now I'm just like will someone please get me there?" Shields said.
Flight Trackers
Airlines are all hands on deck and still advising anyone trying to fly out on Friday to get to get to the airport three or even four hours early.
"We're standing in the line right now and it's a mile long to talk to someone, so it's not going great right now," Matthew Skinnerd said.
Live Radar & Maps
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Several airlines are waving change fees, offering customers the option of switching to a different flight.
Lucia Mejia's flight was actually moved up five hours early.
"We're like, we never know. They might change it to three. We might miss the flight, so we're here early," Mejia said.
Thousands of flights have already been canceled across the country, most of them in Chicago and Denver amid snow squall warnings. But since those are major hubs, problems there can have a domino effect all over.
"We're trying to get there and two flights have been cancelled so far with Southwest. I just got a flight for tonight, but I don't know if that's looking very likely," Lawrence Humphreys said.
"Everything is screwed," added Howard Vermonth of Westchester County.
Vermonth was still trying to figure out how to get his 89-year-old mother to Kansas.
"They're putting me to go out Christmas Day and I'm gonna connect in Missouri and I got an 89-year-old mom. I can't do that," Vermonth said.
The storm is impacting those planning to travel by air, train or car. Around 190 million people are under some form of winter weather advisory, according to the National Weather Service.
AAA expects traffic on New York's busiest roads to be double the usual amount Friday as commuters mix with holiday travelers.
"You can anticipate a lot of company and if the weather's going to be bad, makes it even worse," said AAA's Robert Sinclair Jr.
Travel experts said passengers have the right to a full refund, not just credit for future travel, if an airline cancels their flight.
Be prepared before the storm
Our Winter Storm Survival Guide has information about how to protect yourself, your pets and your property in the event of a storm.
CLICK HERE for everything from travel delays to power outages and more.