Still recovering from NYE?
Many US travelers can relate – this past week, thousands of flights were canceled due to pandemic and weather-related issues. With winter weather ramping up and COVID-19 cases climbing, canceled flights in the US may continue to be a trend over the next few weeks. Keep reading to find out what to do if your plane gets grounded, plus our predicted travel trends for 2022.
Your flight’s canceled. Now what?
To be fair, this is a problem that existed way before the pandemic. But still, whether it’s due to COVID variants or weather, you might wonder: what should I do if my flight gets grounded?
Here are some quick tips on how to handle a canceled or delayed flight:
- Track the news.
Before you decide if you want to rebook or cancel your flight (if you have that option), know the weather forecast to see if there’s a likelihood a rebooked flight will be compromised. - Who to contact.
If you decide to rebook the flight, you have options: you can wait in line at the check-in counter, call the airline, call the online travel agency that booked your ticket, go through the airline’s website and/or contact any of the above via social media. In fact, you may want to do several of these things at once. - Alternate routes.
If it doesn’t look like your airline will get flights off the ground anytime soon, you can fire up the KAYAK app to see if there are alternative travel options from other providers. Or, check rental cars if you’re traveling shorter distances in case your flight has an 8-hour delay but it’s only a 5-hour road trip.
The pre-check
With an abundance of holiday travelers, uncertainty around how Omicron could affect travel and prepping for potential blips along the way, here is what’s happening in the world of travel.
- For those who are always five steps ahead…
What happens if you test positive for COVID while traveling abroad? Because each country has different rules regarding COVID-19 precautions, it’s best to find out what those are ahead of time. The US State Department has even recommended that US residents who plan to travel internationally have a “contingency plan” just in case. Many experts (KAYAK included) recommend purchasing travel insurance to help offset travel costs and delays if you get caught having to extend your stay after testing positive. - What to know for ski season.
With Omicron cases surging in many winter destinations, popular ski resorts and mountain towns across the country have started to instate more COVID-19 precautions. Whether it’s requiring community testing measures or creating mandatory mask mandates (regardless of vaccination status), if you plan to hit the slopes this winter, be sure to do your research about the destination and ski mountain prior to your trip. - Who’s helping to save the day.
In efforts to “lessen travel difficulties created by the global COVID-19 pandemic,” the US State Department announced that certain Americans whose passports expired during the COVID-19 pandemic will be allowed to return back to the US. Though there are conditions, US travelers may be able to return home before 3/31 on these expired documents. Here’s your reminder: If your passport expired during the pandemic and you plan to travel abroad this year, now’s the time to renew.
Trending travel
Here’s what’s trending according to our data and how it can help you make the most of your trip.
What’s good for 2022?
Though Omicron has recently left many travelers unsure about what’s to come this year, we’re really excited and, dare we say, optimistic about the search trends we’re seeing. Our CEO, Steve Hafner, recently chatted with Fortune about our data and how these queries may lend themselves to larger travel trends in 2022. “The demand is there. People want to travel again.”
That being said, here’s what travel trends we foresee dominating your Instagram feed in 2022:
- Getting back to nature.
For many outdoorsy adventurers, we saw a lot of searches for destinations like Montana and Colorado at the end of 2021, which were up in search by 46% compared to 2019*. - Last-minute trips.
There’s a reason we love our flexible cancelation filter so much – because it’s a life-saver for spontaneous travelers. Recently, searches for flights within a week of departure have jumped 50% compared to two years ago**. - Flexible work = travel opps.
With many businesses continuing to adopt flexible work policies, more than 40% of Gen Z employees plan to work remotely from different destinations in 2022***.
Social shoutouts
The results are in: This year, our travel-loving snow bunnies are dreaming of Anchorage. We can’t help but agree – a trip to Alaska sounds pretty… cool.
Links in this Newsletter are for informational purposes only, and there is no affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement by or with KAYAK Software Corporation whatsoever.
*Methodology: KAYAK considered searches from 11/20/2020 – 11/19/2021 for travel between 1/1/22 – 6/30/22. To compare year over two year, we considered searches from 11/20/2018-11/19/2019 for travel between 1/1/21-6/30/21. To determine top trending destinations for 2022, KAYAK sourced destinations with the greatest year over two year increase in searches for flights, excluding outliers based on a certain criteria such as travel restrictions and security concerns.
**Methodology: KAYAK considered searches from 11.14.21 to 12.13.21. To compare year over two year, we considered searches from 11.14.19 to 12.13.19. In both cases we considered travel dates starting from the search date (11.14.21/11.14.19) until up to 18 months out. When referring to “last-minute searches”, KAYAK is referring to searches that occur within 14 days of departure.
***Methodology: This survey has been conducted using an online interview administered to members of the YouGov Plc panel of individuals who have agreed to take part in surveys. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. The total sample size was 1117 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2nd – 6th December 2021. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighed and are representative of all US adults (aged 18+).
