Storm Alert: 10 Travel Tips for the Pre-Thanksgiving Storm

"Get ahead of the storm," George Hobica of SmarterTravel's sister site Airfarewatchdog suggests. "If you've booked a connecting trip via a possibly affected airport (like Newark), be proactive and see if you can change your connection to a warmer-weather airport such as Phoenix or Dallas."

"Download/sign up for travel advisories from the airline, or download your airline's app for alerts," suggests Tom Spagnola of CheapOair.

Airfarewatchdog's Hobica also suggests keeping track of your plane—to make sure it ends up at your gate on time—on FlightAware.com. "I find their flight tracking and alerts more reliable than the airlines' data," Hobica says.

A handy app for your mobile's GPS is Waze, a community-based traffic and navigation app, through which other drivers provide real-time traffic, accident, and weather updates (they'll also tell you where the cops are). Waze's Trak Lord says it's especially useful when the weather's bad. "Here's the thing about inclement weather," says Lord. "It's very difficult to get around it. It's not as if there's another highway that's not affected by the snowstorm."

But Lord suggests that an app like Waze can tell you just how bad things are so that you can reevaluate your travel plans. Lord says, "One of Waze's biggest benefits is telling people not to get on the highway."

Assume, going in, that your flight's going to be canceled. "Explore backup flights to plan and book in the event of harsh weather," says CheapOair's Spagnola. "This will eliminate scrambling around at the last minute to try to find another flight." Because it's better to have backup flight info and not need it than the other way around.

"If your flight is affected [by the storm], there's a better chance you might get on an earlier flight or a different connection [if you show up early]," says Hobica.

"Severe weather events are the best times to pay for one-day airline lounge passes," says Hobica. "It's more pleasant to wait, and the rebooking lines are shorter than in the terminals."

"If you didn't buy travel insurance, check your credit card," Hobica suggests. "People don't realize it, but many credit cards offer free compensation for weather delays and cancellations—they will cover hotel expenses up to the maximum allowed and any nonrefundable hotel and other reservations."

Says CheapOair's Spagnola: "When traveling during the winter months, be prepared for weather cancellations, and pack your carry-on with one extra outfit, necessary toiletries, medication, travel documents, and your personal information."

This is a very real possibility this Wednesday. It helps to go in with a plan. CheapOair's Spagnola has several suggestions:

• "Call the airline directly. Many airlines have help desks dedicated specifically to service clients in the event of harsh weather."

• "Do not wait in the customer-service line at the airport. This could waste precious time that could best be used to book a backup flight."

• "When booking your backup flight, a longer flight path with layover time may be better. This can buy you time to wait out the weather."

• "Know your rights and what the airlines are obligated to provide in the event of harsh-weather cancellations."

"If you know you're going to be driving through inclement weather, we encourage people not to travel alone," says Trak Lord of Waze. "I can say this from personal experience from growing up in New England: Every time my car ran off the road because of ice or I ran into a snowdrift, it was a thousand times better when someone was with me in the car." A travel buddy can be there to help you push your car out of a sticky situation or navigate while you drive. And of course, he or she can also harmonize as you sing those fun holiday traveling songs.

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