Balboa Travel

06/16/2023

This Tuesday, June 20th, our President & CEO Denise Jackson will speak on an all-female panel at the National Press Club as part of the American Society of Travel Advisors' advocacy event in Washington D.C. The panel will discuss what it takes to launch and operate a successful travel advisor business in America. Travel agencies are an economic lifeline for the entire tourism ecosystem, and learn how you can be a part of this incredible industry.

Tune in live on Tuesday, June 20, from 10:00 am – 11:30 am EST. Register for the Live Stream here: https://bit.ly/42SnqLn

01/07/2023

Delta becomes first major U.S. airline to introduce fast, free Wi-Fi for all effective February 1st.

Delta becomes first major U.S. airline to introduce fast, free Wi-Fi for all, in partnership with T-Mobile. Experience coming to most domestic mainline aircraft by Feb. 1, with full availability on international and regional aircraft by the end of 2024.

02/03/2022

Balboa monitors every passenger for disruption, but if you need assistance, feel free to chat or SMS us on our website at www.balboa.com, or reach out to your agent.

Airlines cancel almost 4,000 flights at airports across country because of winter weather.

US airlines have canceled thousands more flights Thursday as a powerful winter storm packing ice, rain, sleet and several inches of snow is stretching from the Midwest to the South and eventually parts of the Northeast.

On Thursday, there are nearly 4,000 cancellations within, into, or out of the United States, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. There are more than 3,700 flight delays as of Thursday morning.

The most impacted airports are in Texas. Dallas-Fort Worth, an American Airlines hub, has canceled 420 flights, or 44% of its schedule. Austin-Bergstrom has canceled 74% of its schedule, amounting to 208 flights. Dallas Love Field, a Southwest hub, has 85% of its schedule axed.

Across the Midwest, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland all have sizable disruptions to their schedules too.

Southwest Airlines (LUV) has canceled 15% of its schedule, or about 500 flights. That's followed by American Airlines (AAL), with 16% of its Thursday schedule eliminated and United Airlines (UAL) has nixed 200 flights or, 10% of its schedule. Feeder airlines for the major carriers are also clipping schedules, including Envoy Air (50% of its schedule is canceled), Republic Airways (28%) and SkyWest (12%).

Airlines issue travel waivers letting travelers rebook for free when severe weather impacts operations. CNN Travel has a guide about what to do if your flight is affected.

02/02/2022

Balboa monitors every passenger for disruption, but if you need assistance, feel free to chat or SMS us on our website at www.balboa.com, or reach out to your agent.

A massive winter storm is set to deliver a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain to a large swath of the country prompting further flights cancellations at airports on February 2 and February 3.

Southwest Airlines canceled nearly 400 Wednesday flights or 12% of its schedule, as of 9 a.m. ET Wednesday, including all St. Louis flights. Another 518 Southwest flights for Thursday were canceled, including all flights to and from its home base at Dallas Love Field, according to flight tracker FlightAware.

In all, more than 1,400 Wednesday flights within, into or out of the United States were canceled, and more than 1,600 were canceled for Thursday across airlines.

A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path brought a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow to the middle section of the United States on Wednesday as airlines canceled hundreds of flights, governors urged residents to stay off roads and schools closed campuses.

The blast of frigid weather, which began arriving Tuesday night, put a long stretch of states from New Mexico and Colorado to Maine under winter storm warnings and watches. On Wednesday morning, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan saw freezing rain, sleet and snow.

More than a foot of snow was possible in parts of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Michigan by the time the storm moves through, on the heels of a vicious nor'easter last weekend that brought blizzard conditions to many parts of the East Coast.

Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights in the U.S. scheduled for Wednesday, the flight-tracking service FlightAware.com showed, including more than half taken off the board in St. Louis. In an effort to stay ahead of the weather, Southwest Airlines announced Tuesday that it would suspend all of its flight operations Wednesday at St. Louis Lambert International Airport and Thursday at its Dallas Love Field hub. Airports in Chicago, Kansas City and Detroit canceled more flights than usual.

"Around the country, we're planning to operate a limited or reduced schedule from some cities in the path of the storm but will make adjustments to the schedule as needed," Southwest spokesman Dan Landson said.

"It will be a very messy system and will make travel very difficult," said Marty Rausch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
The National Weather Service said 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) of snow was expected by Thursday morning in parts of the Rockies and Midwest, while heavy ice is likely from Texas through the Ohio Valley.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the weather service said 8 to 15 inches (20 to 38 centimeters) of snow was possible in parts of Michigan. That includes Detroit, where the mayor activated snow emergency routes and city crews were expected to work 12-hour shifts salting and plowing major roads.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, where up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) of snow and sleet was forecast but little ice, emergency management director Joe Kralicek said the event is not expected to cause large-scale power outages based on an ice index used by the National Weather Service.

01/28/2022

Balboa monitors every passenger for disruption, but if you need assistance, feel free to chat or SMS us on our website at www.balboa.com, or reach out to your agent.

Airlines cancel flights on January 28 and 29 as massive winter storm expected to form off coast of Georgia, affect East Coast.

More than 40 million Americans are in the path of a potential Nor’easter. A massive winter storm was expected to form off the coast of Georgia and strengthen as it makes its way up the East Coast. Blizzard conditions, hurricane-force winds and bone-chilling temperatures are expected.

Forecasters are calling for gusts up to 70 mph for some areas. Power outages and coastal flooding are likely in warning areas from Maine all the way to South Carolina.

Boston was placed under a blizzard warning for Friday morning, with up to two feet of snow expected. New York City was under a winter storm warning as forecasters are now calling for up to 9 inches of snow in Manhattan, with more snow expected on Long Island.

Airlines have already begun canceling flights, with over 550 flights canceled as of Friday morning. For Saturday, airlines have proactively canceled over 1,200 flights, including most flights in and out of Boston. JetBlue, Delta, United, Southwest, and American are offering New England departing and arriving customers the ability to change flights ahead of the storm.

01/05/2022

Balboa monitors every passenger for disruption, but if you need assistance, feel free to chat or SMS us on our website at www.balboa.com, or reach out to your agent.

More flights canceled, delayed across country on 5 January.

Air travelers faced another day of heavy cancellations and flight delays Wednesday, led by Southwest Airlines cutting 450 flights and another 164 delayed.

With more than 1,300 flights nixed already on Wednesday, according to Flightaware.com, the U.S. air travel industry has now canceled nearly 20,000 flights since Christmas Eve. It's been a struggle across the industry as winter storm after winter storm followed a surge in COVID-19-related sick calls as carriers such as Delta, United and Fort Worth-based American.

Wednesday flight cancellations are quickly approaching the 1,562 canceled flights the U.S. saw on Tuesday, but well behind the 3,200 flights canceled on Monday.

Wednesday's cancellations stemmed from new winter weather that emerged late Tuesday and early Wednesday in some of the country's most important air travel hubs. Denver International Airport had the most cancellations with 229, while Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., had 156 cancellations.

Airports in Chicago, Seattle, Newark and Baltimore continued to have a large number of flights canceled with new snow or icy conditions from storms earlier in the week.

Southwest's 450 cancellations impacted 15 percent of the carrier's schedule and another 5 percent of its flights, 165, are delayed.

Denver, Chicago and Baltimore are three of the biggest air hubs for Southwest Airlines.

Airlines should get some help from a decreasing number of travelers. Some 1.6 million travelers passed through TSA checkpoints at U.S. airports Tuesday, about a third less than the peak just before Christmas. January and February are traditionally lighter travel months for airlines, and even more so in 2022 with business travel still down significantly from pre-pandemic levels.

There were 26 flight cancellations in and out of Dallas Love Field, mostly flights to Washington, D.C., Chicago and Denver. DFW International Airport, the home hub of American Airlines, had 29 cancellations, mostly to smaller regional airports in the region.

12/13/2021

Balboa monitors every passenger for disruption, but if you need assistance, feel free to chat or SMS us on our website at www.balboa.com, or reach out to your agent.

The latest breaking, weather, and traffic updates as an Atmospheric River bringing heavy rains and gusty winds through the Bay Area Monday.

A portion of Ashby Avenue in Berkeley near I-580 is closed due to flooding. Westbound direction of Ashby, west of Seventh St., will be closed for the next several days, police said. Avoid the area.
Standing water reported in far right lane of Bay Bridge headed into San Francisco.

Traffic collision and spill, NB-101 south of W Railroad Ave in Cotati. Right Lanes Blocked.
SB-680 south of Vargas Rd. in Fremont – Signal Alert – several lanes blocked.

Major BART delays on the Richmond line in Berryessa; Richmond and Millbrae directions.

Traffic collision NB-680 north of Willow Pass Rd. in Concord.
SFO is reporting 16 flight delays and five cancellations. Check the latest with your specific airline.

The Atmospheric River is making Monday morning's commute slick and dangerous.

Since our inception, our focus has been on helping reduce travel costs, while providing our clients a smooth, worry-free travel experience utilizing industry leading technology.

11/30/2021

The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern (VOC), named Omicron, on the basis of advice from WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (hereafter referred to as TAG-VE) on 26 November 2021. Following the group’s announcement an increasing number of countries are introducing temporary travel measures, including temporarily prohibiting the arrival of international travelers from Southern African countries and others where the new variant is being detected, including from South Africa, which first reported the variant to WHO on 24 November 2021.

While scientific research is underway to understand how the variant behaves, WHO advises the following:

• Countries should continue to apply an evidence-informed and risk-based approach when implementing travel measures in accordance with the IHR.
• National authorities in countries of departure, transit and arrival may apply a multi-layered risk mitigation approach to potentially delay and/or reduce the exportation or importation of the new variant.
• Blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread, and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods.
• Any travel-related risk mitigation measures should be part of an overall national response strategy.
• Countries should continue sharing their public health rationale and relevant scientific information for additional health measures with WHO under the provisions of Article 43 of the IHR (2005).
• Essential international travel –including travel for emergency and humanitarian missions, travel of essential personnel, repatriations and cargo transport of essential supplies–should continue to be prioritized at all times during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In addition, all travellers should be reminded to remain vigilant for signs and symptoms of COVID-19, to get vaccinated when it is their turn and to adhere to public health and social measures at all times and regardless of vaccination status, including by using masks appropriately, respecting physical distancing, following good respiratory etiquette and avoiding crowded and poorly ventilated spaces. Persons who are unwell or at risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease and dying, including people 60 years of age or older or those with comorbidities (e.g. heart disease, cancer and diabetes), should be advised to postpone travel.

09/01/2021

Balboa monitors every passenger for disruption, but if you need assistance, feel free to chat or SMS us on our website at balboa.com, or reach out to your agent.

New Orleans Aviation Commission spokeswoman Erin Burns gave an update on flight cancellations at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

Most flights are canceled out of the airport on Wednesday, but American Airlines may try to operate late Wednesday evening.

Delta plans to try to resume flights in a limited capacity Thursday.

JetBlue and Southwest canceled all flights through Friday and plan to try to resume Saturday.

08/31/2021

Balboa monitors every passenger for disruption, but if you need assistance, feel free to chat or SMS us on our website at www.balboa.com, or reach out to your agent.

Hundreds of flights were canceled at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) as officials continue to assess damage from Hurricane Ida.

All flights are canceled for Tuesday with an additional 197 cancelations reported for Wednesday.

According to MSY, passengers are advised not to go to the airport and make arrangements directly with their airlines.

Since our inception, our focus has been on helping reduce travel costs, while providing our clients a smooth, worry-free travel experience utilizing industry leading technology.