Pack your patience, and 9 more tips for surviving the summer travel surge

The verdict’s in. The kickoff of summer travel was every bit as messy as Travel Essential has been predicting for months, setting a tone for the rest of the summer. The scenes of packed airports and people missing flights that played out over the Memorial Day weekend from Austin to Amsterdam, Dublin and beyond made us almost happy that we stayed home, walking our dogs, cooking out, hiking and seeing movies in an actual theater (Top Gun, of course).

As we’ve said, it’s not going to get any better. The list of reasons why is depressingly long, from a surge in travelers who’ve seriously forgotten how to travel to shortages of everyone from pilots to airport janitors, Starbucks baristas to parking lot shuttle drivers. It all adds up to a nosedive in the traveler experience.

Airports issue new guidance

We all expect that major airports will be jammed this summer. But they're not the only ones feeling the pain.

We spoke to Justin Meyer, who’s the deputy director of aviation in charge of marketing and air service for the Kansas City Aviation Department, which operates the Kansas City International Airport (MCI). 

For 10 consecutive days ahead of Memorial Day, he told us, airlines at MCI (Southwest, American, etc.) filled up an unheard of 90% of available seats. And that’s when school was still in! Couple that with staffing shortages, and it’s been a doozy.

That’s why MCI last week issued new guidance for summer travelers, advising that they arrive a full two hours before their flight departure time – and even longer if they are going to use the airport’s remote parking areas – to ensure they don’t get left behind.

“It’s a tricky message in Kansas City because it’s usually so easy. Passengers rarely had to wait,” Meyer told us. “Now we have hundreds of people in line at 5 to 7 a.m. for peak morning flights.”

Another wrinkle: flight schedule changes

Delta Air Lines, for instance, says it's trimming 100 flights a day this summer to relieve pressure and keep operations more reliable as it struggles with rising covid cases among employees and weather, air traffic control and vendor staffing issues.

Frustration has even boiled over to its Twitter team, a member of which had a testy exchange with a frustrated passenger last week.

Weeding out window shoppers: New fees

And it’s not just airports and airlines struggling to keep up. Last week we told you about the frustrations travel advisors are having reaching representatives from tour operators, cruise sellers and other travel suppliers, who like the rest of the travel industry did some serious downsizing when the pandemic shuttered travel for so long.

One tour operator has taken the unusual step of charging a deposit just to put together a proposed itinerary for consumers and advisors alike.

Travel Weekly reports that custom travel tour operator Authentic Vacations, which lost half its staff at the start of the pandemic, instituted a $99 refundable deposit as a way to weed out window-shoppers so staff can focus on inquiries most likely to convert to sales. There’s even a $49 fee to use the company’s self-service Trip Planner.

So yes, we sound like a broken record when we talk about the potential summer flightmares ahead. But it's best to be prepared!

Travel Essential’s Top 10 Tips to curb summer travel stress

1. Pack your patience. There’s no point getting stressed about or trying to change things beyond your control.

2. Don't be an @#*&hole. Smiles go a long way. Remember, those gate agents, TSA agents, waiters and customer service representatives are doing the best they can with overtaxed resources and assistance.

3. Buy priority access. Sign up for one of the services that give you priority access and reduced screening. While the TSA’s Global Entry and Precheck services get you in a priority line where you don’t have to do things like remove shoes and take out computers and liquids, they can take a while to get. Clear offers an option for signing up right at major airports, then zipping right through.

4. Arrive at your airport very early. Don’t wait for your local airport to issue guidance about how early to arrive. Just do it. Some airports are recommending passengers arrive as much as three hours in advance. Even "normal" tasks like parking a car in a remote lot can take longer, due to staffing shortages. The worst that can happen? You get stuck killing time reading, charging devices or enjoying a pre-flight snack or cocktail.

5. Strike a pose – bring your yoga mat. Yes, some airports like San Francisco International have yoga and meditation lounges where you can get your Zen back. And if it’s really bad, follow the lead of the people our friend snapped rolling out their mat right in the middle of the Nashville airport.

6. Get into a lounge, if you can. The rules vary, but believe us, they are worth the time it will take to figure them out. Your ability to get into an airline-operated lounge varies by airline, your ticket classification, even your destination and whether the lounge has enough space to offer day-passes (generally around $50). The credit-card-powered airport lounges, including American Express Centurion Lounges and newly emerging Capital One lounges, have their own set of rules. Expect them to be crowded this summer. Delta is already limiting lounge access, according to NBC.

7. Preload airline apps on your phone and sign up for automatic alerts about flight changes. It’s often easier to get information and make changes on your own through digital tools than waiting on hold for hours to speak to a representative.

8. Take early morning flights. Booking the first flights of the day can help you avoid the cascading impacts of things like afternoon weather and other glitches that get worse as the day wears on.

9. Know your rights. Not all cancellations and itinerary changes are equal. If it’s a weather delay, you’re generally on your own for any meal or lodging expenses incurred until the airline can get you on another flight. If the airline cancels for another reason, you should be able to get a refund or compensation for expenses. Itinerary changes are another complicated story, however, as this column from The New York Times shows.

10. Open your wallet. Of course the easiest way to reduce your travel stress is to upgrade. Travel Age West’s Mindy Poder reports on how exclusivity is the new comfort trend for high-end travelers. Forget premium economy. Think first-class, private jets, yachts and full villa and boutique hotel buyouts.

Oh airlines, how we love to hate you

We don’t want to, but you make it so easy with all of your increasingly confusing fare rules and fees.

Before the pandemic, airlines were logging more than $100 billion a year in ancillary revenue, with the bulk of that coming comes from extra fees for seats and bags – you know, those two things you really need when you fly.

And a new study from Ideaworks shows baggage is the No. 1 a la carte revenue performer, generating nearly $21 billion in 2021.

You think air prices are high for summer travel? Just wait until you try to get a pre-assigned or extra legroom seat. Most major carriers now have basic economy, which excludes bags and seat assignments. And unless you have premier status that gives you access to the better seats, be prepared to keep opening your wallet or get stuck in a middle seat at the back of the plane even with traditional economy fares.

Jeri's going to Curacao later this month, and couldn’t get there on the only airline on which she has status, Delta Air Lines. So she'll be flying American Airlines in main cabin economy (not the non-refundable, no-assigned-seats, must-pay-extra-for-a-bag-basic economy, but you know, the regular economy that used to be the cheapest fare.) But by the time she had switched seats from one middle seat and aisles at the very back of the plane to exit rows and other extra legroom economy seats, it cost her another $350 dollars. And Travel Essential's West Coast correspondent Stephanie Mehl said her $860 economy class roundtrip ticket from Seattle to Athens, Greece on Air Canada spiked to $1,200 after she added an emergency aisle seat assignment for more legroom.

Fortunately, we're carry on-only travelers whenever possible so at least Jeri didn’t have to worry about baggage fees.

Road warriors return

Whenever Travel Essential visits airports, we’re always looking for those allegedly rare post-pandemic creatures – the business travelers. We’ve seen them in airport food courts, lounges and bars conducting Zoom calls as if no one else is around.

Well, as it turns out, their numbers – just like airfare prices – are climbing.

Last week, business traveler Russell Tony told NBC’s Tom Costello at Chicago O’Hare that his company reduced travel by 90% during the pandemic but now he has trips planned for the next six weeks. “I’m doing a lot of catch-up travel. At some point it will probably moderate.”

In his latest report about the hotel industry, Wall Street analyst Patrick Scholes of Truist says that future signs look good. For example, corporate group bookings now for 2023 are still 20% below comparable 2019 levels, but “the month-to-month trajectory of improvement is encouraging.” The big question mark? Pricing. The giant employers who buy the most travel (think global consulting firms like Accenture and big tech companies like Microsoft) are facing contract rates that “could be double digits” over 2019 levels. How that sort of rate hike will trickle down to road warriors is anyone’s guess.

Based on Truist’s analysis of millions of future reservations from U.S. hotels, several big data sources and conversations with industry insiders, they expect to see an “unabated trajectory” of recovery since omicron disrupted the return of business travel back in January and February. Of course, U.S. hotels could lose some business as Europe re-opens.

A few weeks ago, Stephanie Linnartz, president of Marriott International, told an industry panel that business travelers from small and mid-sized businesses were returning to the road faster than those from large corporations. Corporate America continues to evaluate travel budgets, she said, due to travel's implications for the environment under corporate ESG initiatives ("environmental, social and governance"). For background on ESG, check out the business article that Barbara recently penned for CIO Dive.

Thank goodness for autopilot

Falling asleep on the job is one thing. But falling asleep in the cockpit? Well, that’s a whole new level of job fail. According to multiple media reports, Italy's ITA Airlines fired a pilot who dozed off on a flight from New York to Rome while his co-pilot was on an authorized nap, prompting a terror alert in the skies when air traffic controllers were unable to reach the plane for 10 minutes.

And finally, the hardest job in travel

All this talk about pilot and airport worker shortages has overshadowed the woes of those who arguably have the hardest and most thankless job in travel: hotel housekeepers. Fewer hours, harder work, according to this report from the AP.

TE Takeaway: ALWAYS tip your housekeeper. So be sure to grab some cash!

Missed past issues of TE? A few of our favorite stories...

Jeri reviews the Delta Sky Club lounge in Salt Lake City

Why we love Turkey (even before the Turkish lira's decline against the dollar)

Seven good reasons why working with a travel agent makes extra sense this year

Barbara discovers the benefits of slow travel on an Oregon-Washington river cruise

Stephanie explores the amazing Mississippi Delta, home of the Blue