I've been pricing tickets to St Thomas VI for mid July 2020 throughout this pandemic. Ticket prices have ranged between $253 - $325 roundtrip which have been incredible. However they are non-refundable after 24hrs of purchase. I just looked today and the same itinerary is running $623 today. I know the airlines have taken a beating throughout but are they really pricing this high? I'll keep monitoring. Hope this is just an anomaly.
Despite what airlines are saying as far as safety on the plane the real problem is the airports themselves. People in close proximity in waiting areas, bathrooms, TSA lines, and luggage carousels. Ever see people crowd around a luggage carousel. Everyone is in hurry to get their bags reaching over each other. People grabbing the wrong bag with their bare hands. How about the TSA line where your putting your belongings in trays. People taking off their shoes putting them in the trays. Try spacing that area out. Airports used to be so packed with people that you could barely walk down the corridors. People impatient lining up to board. Again how do you spread those lines apart when people are filling up those corridors. This isn't a big deal now because airports are still relatively empty. Don't compare this 9/11. Travel then was impacted by fear but that fear was unwarranted. The only thing that came out of that was security inconvenience.
Business travel has it's heart cut out. It won't return because teleconferencing and working from home is the new norm. It might never return even after a vaccine. Business people still have to travel because there are so many aspects where the person has to be there. But not like it was before February. That leaves recreational travel. People are still going to go on vacation. But where is the disposable income that people use for travel going to come from if there aren't as many jobs and businesses are earning much less.
Business travel has it's heart cut out. It won't return because teleconferencing and working from home is the new norm. It might never return even after a vaccine. Business people still have to travel because there are so many aspects where the person has to be there. But not like it was before February. That leaves recreational travel. People are still going to go on vacation. But where is the disposable income that people use for travel going to come from if there aren't as many jobs and businesses are earning much less.
Eh, don't know about all that. Plenty of high paid technology jobs (that industry didn't miss a beat). I suspect more job losses will be of lesser positions. They'll be plenty of discretionary income in many fields. And the irrational fear will wear off over time. You're in an area that was hit the worse. I'm in an area that was hit the least, and there are plenty of people around here that have put this thing on the back burner. You can be cautious and not live in fear.
In ATL 310 of the 347 concessions at the airport are closed. Current passenger counts decline year to year is 88% up from 97% at low point
https://www.ajc.com/blog/airport/ha...very-could-take-years/TqfP5DQaru3I4VEItCy3mM/
https://www.ajc.com/blog/airport/ha...very-could-take-years/TqfP5DQaru3I4VEItCy3mM/
baby steps, not there yet
We had to cancel a trip to New York and the airlines tried to screw us on the credit. Had to fight tooth and nail to get that straightened out.
