Historic blizzard on the way? What you need to know if you're traveling

Traveling to the Northeast this Monday or Tuesday? There's a good chance your flight may be cancelled if you haven't already received the dreaded automated call.

Airlines have preemptively cancelled over 3,500 flights ahead of a major snowstorm that is expected to cripple most of the Northeast—even though the major flakes have not yet started to fall. New York City and Boston are expected to get as much as two feet of snow.

Here's what travelers need to know:

AIRLINES

Most carriers are waiving change fees for those traveling to or through many cities across the Northeast and Canada including New York City, Albany, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. In some cases, travel can be rebooked through mid February. A full list of carriers and their change policies can be found here.

In addition to following their airlines on Twitter for status updates, passengers can also check FlightAware.com for the latest information on delays and cancellations for specific itineraries.

United said that it plans to hold all of its Tuesday schedules through affected areas, reports USA Today.

"We plan to operate a full schedule at our Washington Dulles hub on Monday, but will limit operations beginning Monday evening at our Newark hub, LaGuardia and JFK," a representative for United said on Sunday evening. "At this point, we plan to cancel all flights Tuesday at Newark, LaGuardia and JFK, as well as Boston and Philadelphia. We are waiving change fees that otherwise may apply, and most customers will find they can change their travel plans most quickly by visiting united.com."

US Airways also says it plans to halt operations at several airports through the Northeast.

Delta Airlines, which says it has already grounded 600 flights today, told USA Today that it will start limiting operations at Newark airport and other airports throughout the region by this evening.


RAIL TRAVEL
Passengers traveling by rail should check Amtrak.com for the latest status updates on their scheduled train. Amtrak expects normal service throughout most of Monday morning and early afternoon but advises travelers with tickets for late Monday and Tuesday "to keep a close eye on conditions and make any necessary changes in advance of their scheduled departure."

LINGERING IMPACTS
If you are in an affected region to have plans to fly to the Northeast this week, travel could disrupted through Thursday or Friday if a backlog of passengers start competing for rescheduled itineraries.

READ MORE: http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2015/01/26/historic-blizzard-on-way-what-need-to-know-if-youre-traveling/?intcmp=features