Status of Travel Today and Tips
I want to give a word of warning and some travel advice related to what the current situation is in travel today. We have continued to travel in the past few months and have run into multiple delays and more flight cancellations than we have ever encountered in our travels. The situation with rental cars is also an issue.
Flight Related Issues
During the pandemic airlines reduced staff and retired some of their older aircraft. Now that travel has come roaring back (we can confirm that there are MANY more people traveling now than a few months ago) airlines are struggling to handle the load. There also has been a lot of bad weather throughout the US starting out this summer and that is also impacting flight schedules. Our flight was delayed a few weeks ago out of Jackson, Mississippi due to severe weather in Orlando where our flight was coming from. On a trip to Indianapolis we were delayed several hours flying to Indianapolis and then coming home flying to Baltimore we ended up having to change planes even though it was not originally scheduled to do so. They changed the gate several times and before departure the Captain let us know they were short staffed on ground crew so it would take some time to load the bags. We have had several flights canceled on us this year leaving us stranded in a couple different cities. When you are traveling you have to be prepared for anything but in all the years we have traveled we have only had a couple cancelations. This year alone has eclipsed that number of all combined years. Most of our experiences have been on the usually very reliable SouthWest but other airlines are having similar issues.
Rental Car Issues
During the height of the pandemic Rental Car companies sold a lot of their fleet in an attempt to stay afloat. Now there is a massive car shortage including at dealerships due to a shortage of computer chips. This is causing the Rental Car companies to have a shortage of cars now. Prices are on the rise and when you get to the rental car at the airport you might not get the car you ordered. On one occasion the only car available was a lifted Doge Power Wagon with no step that had a temporary plate. At one airport I was given a car with no plates at all and a small 30 day temporary plate on the front window. Most recently I went to a agency when they first opened and they had no cars at all so we got the first car they cleaned a little while later. We have for sure seen the rise in rental car prices but we work to mitigate the prices.
Hotel Changes
If you are used to getting your room cleaned everyday with new towels that is not the case currently has hotels try to limit exposure. You now have to request a cleaning if you need it. We usually just pick up extra towels from house keeping or go to the front desk on our trips. Also the normal breakfast you might be used to at a hotel might not be available. As we have traveled the country we have had full breakfasts with Omelets and Waffles to a small to go bag with a muffin and yogurt. We had one hotel that had its restaurant completely closed. Also airport shuttles to hotels are hit or miss as well. You really have to roll with what is going on in the area you are traveling to.
My advice
We usually only buy travel insurance for international flights to help with any issues we encounter and for health insurance reasons. Now we have started buying travel insurance for even short domestic trips to cover possible cancelations that earlier in the year we had to pay for the extra hotel and transportation. There are a lot of good companies out there but we use AIG Travel Guard as they have covered issues like renting a car to drive from Orlando International Airport to Fort Lauderdale since a flight cancelation took us into Orlando instead of the airport we had booked. They can also provide you travel advice and assistance if you find your self in a jam as we did (they rented the car for us).
For flights you should really keep checking your itinerary as they make changes frequently with the issues that occur. For example on a trip our flight itinerary went from Houston to Omaha to a flight from Houston to Tampa, Florida to Washington DC to Omaha. This added hours of time and more complication. I contacted the airline and they changed it to a nonstop for free (you have up until 14 days before the flight to change). On your flight days I heavily recommend downloading a flight tracker like FlightAware to your phone so you can monitor what is going on. If things look to be going bad you can contact the airline quickly to try to make a change. Also if you are at the airport Gate Agents can be your best friend as they have helped us multiple times.
For rental cars booking early is incredibly important or you will be stuck paying a big price. We always check rental car prices and hotel prices before we book the airfare just to make sure they are affordable because you don’t want the situation that you book cheap airfare and find sold out hotels or expensive cars. Also be flexible as you never know what kind of car you might end up getting.
For hotels if you are using a airport shuttle call the hotel ahead of time to make sure they are truly running the shuttle or you could get burned when you are at the airport.
Most importantly be prepared for anything and also be patient and kind as that will go a long way compared to showing frustration to an already tired airline or rental car employee.
In conclusion
We still love to travel to learn about different cultures and places. We have learned and seen so much this year despite of some of the travel complications. We still are traveling but we are having to be even smarter and more prepared than we had in the past. This are much more complicated now and while I still believe its worth it, it might not be worth it if you are traveling with many people or are risk adverse in this area. If things were to get worse we might consider curtailing the number of trips we do in the future. At least for now gone are the days or relatively easy travel so if you decide to get out there and explore do it smart so you can avoid or least be prepared for whatever might come at you.
