Summer Travel Could Mean Added Costs and Frustration This Year
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Here's your Money Briefing for Wednesday, May 26th. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer and vacation planning. But after nearly a year and a half of lockdowns and travel restrictions, the pent-up demand to get away means a mad rush of people hoping to hop aboard planes, trains, and automobiles all at once.
It is going to be expensive. It's going to be crowded. And I think there's sort of a mindset of, oh, we're still in a pandemic, so I'm going to go to the beach and nobody else will. But everybody's going to the beach.
Our Middle Sea columnist Scott McCartney has been taking the pulse of the travel industry to find out how prepared it is for the summer rush. Coming up, he'll discuss the pain points that travelers could face and where they'll need to budget for higher costs and frustration. That's after the break.
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How will pent-up demand affect summer travel crowds and timing?
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After being forced to spend last summer at home, millions of Americans are planning their first vacation since the start of the pandemic. But the quest for a little R&R could start with a big headache, trying to navigate a travel industry that might not be ready for a big influx of travelers. So what does that mean for your summer schedule and budget? Our Middle Sea columnist Scott McCartney has been looking into this, and he joins us with details. Scott, thanks for being here.
Good to be with you, JR.
So you know, Scott, earlier this year, as vaccinations ramped up and restrictions were eased, it was easy to predict that the pent-up demand to get away was going to mean millions of Americans hitting the road or booking flights. And yet you spoke with people in the travel industry, and they said they're going to be understaffed. Hotels, airlines, even the TSA had planned to hire 6,000 workers, and it's only hired 2,200 so far. It's got to be frustrating for people that the travel industry isn't ready for them.
Yeah, I think it's very frustrating. And they weren't ready. When I talked to travel companies, even in November and December, they just didn't know what was going to happen. I think the speed of the vaccine rollout caught them by surprise. And while airlines were more or less prepared because they were able to keep pilots and flight attendants on the payroll, they did let a whole lot of other people go. And a lot of other industries just weren't prepared for how quickly people came back. As soon as they got vaccinated, they went out and made travel reservations. And the industry has really been slow to respond to that.
And you know, this rush of people means that demand has shot up. And like so many categories of products and services, it means the cost has shot up as well. That's really got to be a challenge for budget-conscious travelers.
Yeah, I think it's another surprise for travelers themselves. It is going to be expensive. It's going to be crowded. And I think there's sort of a mindset of, oh, we're still in a pandemic, so I'm going to go to the beach and nobody else will.
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