Finance
With Hurricane Helene disrupting travel, here’s what fliers need to know
Men inspect the damage from flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 28, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina.
Sean Rayford | Getty Images News | Getty Images
As the Southeast U.S. recovers in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s destruction, consumers looking to change their air travel plans to or from affected areas without taking a financial hit may be out of luck, experts said.
“The big-picture issue that happens in U.S. air travel: When there is a significant disruption, air passengers have very, very limited rights” when it comes to compensation, said Eric Napoli, chief legal officer at AirHelp, an online service that assists airline passengers.
‘Catastrophic damage’
The North Carolina Department of Transportation urged people to avoid unnecessary travel in the western part of the state due to hundreds of road closures from downed trees, landslides and “catastrophic damage.”
What airlines owe passengers
Amid that destruction, travelers hoping to change flights for free or cancel their plans for a refund may find airlines unwilling to grant that financially flexibility.
Airlines do generally owe “prompt” refunds to passengers if they cancel or make a “significant change” to a flight, regardless of the reason, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. That’s true even for consumers with non-refundable tickets.
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However, weather-related events like Hurricane Helene are generally considered to be outside an airline’s control, meaning passengers have relatively few rights to compensation, experts said.
The airline’s duty in such cases generally depends on a passenger’s specific fare, such as economy or business class, Napoli said.
“There’s nothing [airlines] will do for you” if your conference was canceled and you don’t have a ticket that grants free cancellation or comes without fees for changes, he said.
Airlines make concessions in some cases
Damage to a store in Valdosta, Georgia, from Hurricane Helene.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Some airlines are making concessions tied to Hurricane Helene, though they vary by carrier and geography.
“All the rules are different,” said Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet.
Many major U.S. carriers have dedicated webpages for travel alerts outlining their policies around specific events, she said.
For example, American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines have alerts about flooding in the Southeast. Many focus on areas around Asheville, North Carolina, and some parts of Georgia like the city of Valdosta.
United is waiving change fees and fare differences for passengers whose flight was affected by flooding and who choose to reschedule their flight, for example.
United’s policy comes with parameters: Passengers must have purchased their ticket before Sept. 26, for travel between Sept. 30 and Oct. 31, 2024; the new flight must be a United flight leaving by the end of 2024 and between the same cities as originally booked. Those who cancel can get a full refund.
American Airlines is also giving leeway to passengers scheduled to travel through Augusta, Georgia, between Sept. 29 and Oct. 4. They must book changes by Oct. 4.
Delta passengers scheduled to fly through Asheville or Valdosta must travel on rebooked flights by Oct. 18 to avoid paying a fare difference. Change fees would still be waived past that date, however.
Read the specifics of insurance policies
Travel insurance isn’t always a fail-safe in the event consumers can’t get reimbursed from the travel provider for a flight, hotel or other travel expenses, experts said.
If you didn’t purchase a cancel-for-any-reason policy, your trip problems typically have to fall under specific, covered reasons. Plus, policies bought after Helene became a named storm generally won’t cover claims related to it.
“Make sure you read the fine print and what the insurance is actually covering,” Napoli said.
Consumers who purchased their trip with a credit card may get certain travel reimbursement benefits from their card issuer, sometimes even in the case of severe weather, French said. Credit-card companies generally require a “quick turnaround” on a claim, often within 21 days, she said.
Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21st, 2025.
Gerry Miller | CNBC
Anthropic is in talks to raise a $3.5 billion funding round, significantly more than the amount previously expected, CNBC has confirmed.
The round would roughly triple the artificial intelligence startup’s valuation to $61.5 billion, according to two sources familiar with the deal, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public. Lightspeed Ventures is leading the funding, with participation from General Catalyst and others, the sources said.
The financing, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, signals continued investor demand for top-tier AI companies, even in the face of potential disruption from China’s DeepSeek. Anthropic is backed by Amazon and Google, and had initially set out to raise $2 billion, according to a source.
Anthropic declined to comment.
The company’s last private market valuation was $18 billion. Amazon has poured $8 billion into the startup.
Anthropic was founded by early OpenAI employees and is the creator of the popular chatbot Claude. Earlier Monday, Anthropic released what it says is it’s “most intelligent AI model yet. Its so-called hybrid model combines an ability to reason — or stopping to think about complex answers — with a traditional model that spits out answers in real time.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Monday said the U.S. government is inefficient and in need of work as the Trump administration terminates thousands of federal employees and works to dismantle agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Dimon was asked by CNBC’s Leslie Picker whether he supported efforts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. He declined to give what he called a “binary” response, but made comments that supported the overall effort.
“The government is inefficient, not very competent, and needs a lot of work,” Dimon told Picker. “It’s not just waste and fraud, its outcomes.”
The Trump administration’s effort to rein in spending and scrutinize federal agencies “needs to be done,” Dimon added.
“Why are we spending the money on these things? Are we getting what we deserve? What should we change?” Dimon said. “It’s not just about the deficit, its about building the right policies and procedures and the government we deserve.”
Dimon said if DOGE overreaches with its cost-cutting efforts or engages in activity that’s not legal, “the courts will stop it.”
“I’m hoping it’s quite successful,” he said.
In the wide-ranging interview, Dimon also addressed his company’s push to have most workers in office five days a week, as well as his views on the Ukraine conflict, tariffs and the U.S. consumer.
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