13 Ways Covid-19 Will Change Travel
Gone are the halcyon days of travel. We’ll travel again — calm down! — but the entire experience is going to be wildly uncomfortable. Travel is about to become more expensive, time-intensive, and invasive (I’m talking blood tests before boarding your flight).
How many “how Covid-19 will change travel” articles have you read in the past month? My Google news app shows me one or two new ones each day. And every single media outlet is publishing their own list (including Architectural Digest?). Fortunately for all of us, these articles repeat the same 5-10 predictions over and over again. And fortunately for YOU, I’ve read the articles and condensed them into one big old bummer of a blog post.
Ready for the (mostly) bad news? Here are the 13 ways Covid-19 will change the way we travel:
Proof You’re Healthy
Prepare your passport and a doctor’s note because the future of travel may involve proving you’re healthy. Proof could be as simple as a temperature check at the airport. This method is currently in action at airports across the globe, including Washington DC’s Dulles airport and Rome’s Fiumicino where no-contact temperature scanners have already been in use since February. The process could be a bit more complicated. Our airport welcome might also include walking through a “disinfection tunnel” — just imagine a misty, germ-free red carpet — and rapid COVID-19 tests. Emirates is the first airline to start administering these tests on passengers which require a finger prick. Some immigration experts even wonder if proof of our Covid-19 immunity may come in the form of a visa-like stamp in our passports.
Learn more at Architectural Digest + CN Traveler + Bloomberg.
Involuntary Quarantines
To reduce the risk of visitors spreading their germ, government-mandated quarantines on arrival or reentry could become the norm. Hawaii is currently imposing a strict 14-day quarantine on visitors to the archipelago. The rule means no leaving their hotel room for any reason (other than medical care) for two weeks. Want to break this rule — and are dumb enough to post your rule-breaking on social media? Hawaiian authorities have arrested and jailed those who disobey the quarantine rule. You may see more of these involuntary quarantines, which makes international travel difficult for people with limited vacation time. Unless your idea of vacation is sitting in a hotel for two weeks (but that sounds a bit like a cruise, right?).
Learn more at Vox.
Cheaper Airfare
Enjoy cheap airfare while you can (see the next point to have your bubble burst). After lockdowns end, airlines are expected to offer impossible-to-resist deals in order to coax Covid-19 weary travelers back into the air. But these prices won’t last long.
Higher Airfare
Airlines will be working hard to make up for lost cash. They’ll help us social distance mid-air by blocking middle seats and taking off with only 50 to 60% of available seats booked. Despite a bailout, we should expect a number of airline mergers. This means fewer options for flyers and costlier airfare. And of course, prepare yourself for all those extra fees that airlines love.
Fewer Flights + Fewer Passengers
Fewer passengers means fewer planes in the sky. Say goodbye to the affordability and frequency of travel we have taken for granted. Airlines are grounding jets, but don’t worry about your rinky-dink airport becoming an aviation graveyard. The CARES Act set aside a $58 billion salve for the aviation industry, and it came with strings attached. One of those strings required that airlines continue to operate flights from every airport they serviced on March 1st. But expect to see the number of flights operating to drop significantly.
Read more at Architectural Digest + Wired + Travel Pulse.
Expect to (Maybe) See Older Travelers
Millennials and Gen-Z have loads of debt and almost no savings. They were in a bad situation financially doing into the pandemic, and they’ll be even worse off coming out of it. If Millennials and Gen-Z know what’s good for them, they’ll stay home and save, but the travel industry has been BOOMING as these young consumers blew money on experiential travel. Time will tell who we see at airports.
Learn more at Forbes.
Expect to Invest in Travel Insurance
If you were one of the many who got burned by a canceled trip in early 2020, you’ll understand the increased popularity of travel insurance. What is travel insurance? It’s a special policy that covers trip cancellation or interruption coverage, baggage and personal effects coverage, medical expense coverage, and accidental death or flight accident coverage. If you’re worried about another swell of global infections this fall — and maybe you should be? — you’ll want to invest in the more expensive “cancel for any reason” insurance plans. As the name suggests, these policies give travelers the option to cancel a trip for “any reason” ― including concerns about an outbreak, which is not covered under most traditional plans. Got a trip coming up? I highly recommend you compare travel insurance rates at SquareMouth.
Learn more about HuffPost + Forbes.
Less Comfortable Flights
I want you to close your eyes and imagine this: a transatlantic flight, nine hours from New York City to Rome, and you’re wearing a face mask the entire freaking time. That is only the beginning of your in-flight discomfort. In addition to wearing a face mask, you’ll also be barred from bringing your germ-infested and aisle traffic jam-inducing carry-on luggage on-board. The plane will be cleaner but at the cost of your comfort and convenience. Magazines will be gone, no more seatback entertainment, and food and beverage services will be heavily altered. No more hot meals mid-flight, and already Delta is only handing out bottled water and packaged foods. And those germy bathrooms? In China, regulators have ordered that bathrooms be cleaned in-flight red that restrooms be cleaned in-flight — expect to see the same across all airlines. This means less access to the toilet.
Learn more at Inc Magazine.
More Expensive Hotels
Hotels may go the same way as airfare: cheaper as lockdowns end with prices sharply climbing to make up for empty rooms and increased sanitation measures. Cleaning staff will spend more time — and therefore more money — cutting down on the potential of germ transmission. Hotels may also limit capacity to ensure lobbies are less crowded and rooms stay vacant for longer periods between guests. Why keep rooms empty? The coronavirus can live for hours to days on surfaces like countertops and doorknobs. Better or worse than the bed bug epidemic of 2016?
Learn more at HuffPost + WebMD.
Fewer Vacation Rentals (Like Airbnb)
Can Airbnb survive the spread of the Coronavirus? Airbnb is establishing a new, optional cleaning protocol for hosts, with hosts who opt-in required to wait a minimum of 24 hours between bookings at all its properties to limit possible coronavirus transmissions. Emphasis on “optional”. But how can this vacation rental giant enforce this “optional” cleaning across the globe? The short answer is, it can’t. If the lack of standard sanitation practices hasn’t turned you off from using Airbnb in the age of Coronavirus, its lackadaisical cancellation policies might. Many renters learned the hard way that Airbnb’s cancellation policy varies wildly from property to property. Most hotels have generous cancellation policies that allow travelers to make changes to their reservations without penalty 24 to 48 hours in advance of arrival. Only 60 percent of Airbnb hosts offer flexible or moderately flexible cancellation policies. So, you MIGHT get a portion of your rent back, if anything.
Learn more at HuffPost + New York Times + Business Insider + Tech Crunch.
Reduction in Overtourism
The one bright spot on the massive turd the Coronavirus dumped on the travel industry: reduction in overtourism. As travel became more accessible — yay! — popular destinations across the globe began to suffer — boo! Massive crowds are causing environmental degradation, dangerous conditions, and the immiseration and pricing-out of locals. Instagrammers trampled once-every-ten-years flora during the California Superbloom; cruise ships are eroding Venice’s foundation; and a literal traffic jam caused nearly a dozen climbers to die on Mount Everest. Overtourism is a massive issue, but Covid-19 may force cities and tourist sites to confront the issue head-on. We might see a limit to the number of visitors who access certain sites, and more places may enforce strict ticketing policies to reduce crowds.
Learn more at Architectural Digest + The Atlantic.
Expensive Activities That Are Harder to Book
Attractions and activities might become more expensive and exclusive for all the reasons mentioned above: fewer options and more time and money spent cleaning. For example, the zipline you enjoyed in Costa Rica last summer might now book half the number of participants per group. Staff will also need to spend extra time sanitizing equipment using cleaning products that cost extra money. All adding up to pricier travel experiences.
Travel Agents Will Make a Comeback
Well, this is good news for me (PLEASE HIRE ME!). Travel agents — or travel advisors — have fallen out of vogue in recent decades. You might know people who rely on a travel agent to book a niche trip. A big family vacation to Disney World for example, or an exciting safari in Kenya. But not many people rely on a travel agent to book your average 10-day European trip. Until now. The coronavirus pandemic is evolving quickly and rules and regulations regarding border crossings, quarantines, and stay-at-home orders have travelers scratching their heads. As travel finds its stride post-Covid-19, it is valuable to have an expert guide help you navigate the process. It might also be worth it to have an advocate in their corner if and when things go wrong.
Learn more at Travel + Leisure + Forbes.
Ready to Book Your Post-Covid Vacation?
Post-pandemic travel is a little confusing and very overwhelming. Leave the details to Wunderbird. Reach out now to start planning your next vacation. Let’s talk!