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.

08/06/2021

From media reports: Los Angeles International Airport reported on Twitter that the ‘all clear’ has been given at the airport after a suspicious vehicle prompted security concerns.

Traffic diversions concluded.

Normal operations are expected to resume soon.

08/06/2021

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.

Both levels of Terminal 5 at LAX were evacuated Friday morning following a large police presence at the airport.

Traffic is being diverted and airport officials are warning passengers to allow extra time when coming to the airport.

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.

07/09/2021

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.

Tropical Storm Elsa affects flights at Boston's Logan Airport, other airports across country.

On a Friday morning in the midst of the summer vacation season, tropical storm Elsa caused dozens of flight delays and cancellations at Boston's Logan Airport as well as across the U.S.

Most of the cancellations at Logan were smaller flights to the Cape in the Islands. As of Friday morning, about a dozen flights leaving Boston were delayed, which were bound for places including New York City, Denver and Fort Myers, Florida.

Arrivals to Logan was a different story. Almost two dozen inbound flights were delayed and dozens more that were supposed to arrive Friday in Boston were canceled.

More than 300 flights heading into, out of, or just within the U.S. have been canceled, according to flightaware.com. More than 30 were delayed, with most of those domestic delays coming from Miami, Chicago and Denver.

The numbers are sure to change as the day continues. If you're flying, you should check with your airline for the latest updates.

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.

07/06/2021

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.

Tampa International Airport in Florida will suspend commercial operations on 6 July as Tropical Storm.
With wind speeds from Tropical Storm Elsa expected to reach near 70 mph, Tampa International Airport said it will suspend commercial operations at 5 p.m. tonight and air cargo operations by 10 p.m.

When wind speeds reach 70 mph, a weather system's designation changes from tropical storm to hurricane. The Tampa Bay area was placed under a hurricane watch Tuesday morning.

The airport is planning to resume operations at 10 a.m. Wednesday after checking for storm damage, according to a news release.

All travelers were advised to check with their airlines for the most up-to-date flight schedules over the next two to three days.

06/25/2021

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.

Southwest Airlines has canceled more than 200 weekend flights and delayed hundreds of others, the continuation of a rough month for the nation's largest domestic carrier and its passengers.

Southwest canceled 156 Friday flights – far more than any U.S. carrier – and has already canceled 67 Saturday flights, according to flight tracker FlightAware.

Tardy flights are a big issue, too: Southwest has 541 delayed Friday flights, or 15% of its flights, according to FlightAware.

The issues come a week after Southwest canceled or delayed hundreds of flights due to two separate technology issues and a week after American Airlines struggled with operational woes during the busy Father's Day travel weekend and said it would proactively cancel nearly 1,000 July flights to give it more breathing room when weather and other issues crop up.

Southwest spokesman Dan Landson said the airline canceled flights ahead of summer storms.

06/15/2021

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 Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop Tuesday for all Southwest Airlines flights as the company attempts to fix errors with its reservation system.

In a statement from the FAA, they said this was at the company’s request.

The FAA issued a temporary nationwide ground stop at the request of Southwest Airlines while the company resolved a reservation computer issue. Please contact the airline for further details.

It is the second day in a row the company has needed to ground planes because of technical issues.

Southwest issued a statement explaining they are working to get back to normal operations as soon as possible.

“Southwest is in the process of resuming normal operations after a brief pause in our flight activity resulting from intermittent performance issues with our network connectivity Tuesday afternoon. Our Teams are working quickly to minimize flight disruptions and Customer impact. We appreciate our Customers’ patience as we work to get them to their destinations. We ask that travelers use Southwest.com to check flight status or consult a Southwest Airlines Customer Service Agent at the airport for assistance with travel needs.”

Today, we’ve proactively canceled roughly 500 flights due to the outage, and we’re working with those Customers to get them to their destinations as quickly as possible.

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.

04/27/2021

Fully vaccinated U.S. travelers will be able to visit the European Union this summer.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has revealed that fully vaccinated U.S. travelers will be able to visit the European Union this summer after more than one year of the ban on non-essential travel.

The European Union has started the process of preparing to issue digital green certificates for its citizens, which will be able to use the document to travel within the 27-nation bloc without any restrictions. Thus, the resumption of tourism in Europe would bring a much-needed financial boost for countries, the GDP of which is largely supported by the travel and tourism sector.

Von der Leyen's announcement follows France's recent unfolding of its plans to open for vaccinated U.S. citizens by summer.

Similarly, Iceland and Greece relaxed the border restrictions for vaccinated U.S. citizens earlier in April and were followed by other countries as well, including Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, and Montenegro.

Currently, the U.S. has a ban in place for travelers of the EU Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. U.S. citizens and permanent residents are exempt from the measures.

04/20/2021

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.

Snow causes hundreds of flight delays at Colorado's Denver International Airport.

The Denver Post reported Tuesday morning was cold and snowy as a heavy snowstorm hit the Denver, Colorado, last night.

Interstate 70 was closed during the worst of the storm, and Denver International Airport also felt the impact of the storm as it got more than three inches.

Crews at the airport have all six runways open, but there have been plenty of changed flight plans.

About 640 flights have been delayed as of 6 a.m., and another 80 were canceled Monday night into Tuesday morning.

Sky West was most affected, with 38 cancellations and 217 delays. Southwest and CommutAir also had double-digit cancellations while United had 131 delays.

Passengers planning to fly into or out of the affected airport should contact their airline to confirm flight status.

04/19/2021

Speaking to CBS News' Face The Nation on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said travel restrictions for vaccinated Americans wanting to come to France will be "progressively" lifted from the beginning of May.

04/16/2021

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.

Flights canceled, delayed at Colorado's Denver International Airport because of heavy snowstorm.

Friday’s wet and heavy snowstorm has caused impacts across the state, and the Denver International Airport is also feeling the storm as it dumped nearly a half-foot of snow on the runways.

Crews at the airport have been able to keep all six runways open, but there have still been changed flight plans.

Seventy-six flights have been delayed and another 11 were canceled Friday morning.

Southwest is the airline facing the most disruptions as 14 of their flights have been delayed and another eight canceled. Sky West has had 15 delays and two cancellations.

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.

04/12/2021

Hundreds of people are stuck in Southwest Florida this morning as flights were delayed and canceled due to severe weather.

Vicki Moreland, chief communications officer for Southwest Florida International Airport, says 137 flights were grounded of the 312 flights that were set to fly out.

As people waited to re-book flights, many spent the night in the airport sleeping on benches and chairs.

Airlines are now working with passengers to book new flights out of RSW airport.

04/12/2021

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.

Thousands of desperate passengers have been left stranded at Miami International Airport after their flights were canceled because of stormy weather, airport officials say.

The mass cancellations on a stormy Sunday led to scores of furious fliers having no access to hotel rooms or rental cars, with some flights unavailable for days, passengers say.

Miami airport spokesman Gregory Chin confirmed that 142 flights were canceled and 70 were delayed due to severe thunderstorms in Central and South Florida since noon Sunday. The airlines affected include American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest and United.

Chin would not comment on the airport's plan to enforce social distancing.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Broward County also reported some delayed arrivals and departures on Sunday afternoon.

Delta and Southwest Airlines told the Miami Herald that flights won't be back up and running at MIA until at least Monday or Tuesday. Though both airlines noted there still may not be any available flights in the upcoming days.

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.

04/07/2021

Greece: Government to reopen country to tourists on 14 May

“We will open on May 14, and we will open safely, despite the danger,” Greece’s Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis has said in the Greek Parliament yesterday, April 6, regarding the government’s plan for the reopening of the tourism sector amid the third wave of the Coronavirus pandemic which has affected many European countries.

Throughout his speech in front of Greek MPs, Teocharis said that in order to open doors for international tourists this year safely, the Ministry is implementing a plan that has the following five lines of defence:

Passengers should present either a vaccination document or a negative result of the Coronavirus test upon their arrival.

The activation of the “EVA” random control system at the frontier.
Quarantine hotels so persons can stay self-isolated.

Workers’ vaccinations, which will start as soon as the vaccination of health-vulnerable people is finalized.

Observing that health protocols are being strictly followed.

04/06/2021

**Contact Your Balboa Travel Representative if Your Flights Have Been Affected**

Update: Terminal 1 at California's Oakland International Airport reopens following evacuation.

Oakland International Airport's Terminal 1 has reopened after it was evacuated Tuesday morning as deputies and crisis negotiators worked to de-escalate a situation.

The sheriff's office says a man armed with a knife was threatening to hurt himself. Officers evacuated the terminal as they worked to get the man help, they said.

The man was transported to the hospital, police say.

The airport advises travelers with flights on Alaska, Delta, Frontier and Hawaiian airlines contact the airline to see how they are impacted. The airport was filtering travelers through Terminal 2 to help them make scheduled flights, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office said.

04/06/2021

**Please Contact Your Balboa Travel Representative if Your Flights Plans Are Affected**

Terminal 1 closed, evacuated at California's Oakland International Airport because of man armed with knife; some flights delayed.

A standoff between Alameda County sheriff’s deputies and a man threatening to harm himself with a knife forced officials to shut down Terminal 1 at Oakland International Airport on Tuesday morning.

The incident began around 5:45 a.m. and impacted flights from Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Delta and others. Airport officials said Terminal 2 — which is a hub for Southwest Airlines — was operational.

04/02/2021

Add travel to the activities vaccinated Americans can enjoy again, according to new U.S. guidance issued Friday.

04/01/2021

Starting today, April 1, New York State is easing many of its domestic travel restrictions, including the quarantine requirement.

03/24/2021

**Contact your Balboa Travel representative if your travel plans are affected**

The FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center reported on Twitter that severe storms may cause flight delays in parts of the southern U.S. on Thursday, 25 March.

According to The Weather Channel a developing storm system will produce a dangerous threat of severe storms in the South on Thursday. Long-track strong tornadoes are possible in some areas.

Passengers are advised to check with their airline for their flight status before heading to the airport.

03/17/2021

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

03/15/2021

**Contact Your Balboa Travel Representative if Your Travel Plans Are Affected**

FAA now reports closure of Denver International Airport in Colorado extended until 4 p.m. EDT on 15 March.

The FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center late Monday morning reported the following airport is closed:

Due to snow/ice, the Denver International Airport (DEN) in Colorado was closed as of 14 March at 4:33 p.m. MDT/6:33 p.m. EDT. The date/time when the airport is expected to reopen is 15 March at 2 p.m. MDT/4 p.m. EDT.

The reopening time of DEN may change without advance notice. Passengers planning to fly into or out of the airport should contact their airline to confirm flight status.