Worries about vaccine rules. Both American and Southwest say they will comply with federal rules set to go into effect for government contractors in early December that will require their employees to have gotten the Covid vaccine.
Delta Air Lines DAL has said it doesn't believe it has to comply with those stricter rules, although all airlines will soon have to comply with federal demands that businesses with or more employees require either a vaccine or weekly Covid tests. Some industry analysts believe complying with those rules will mean a large number of airline employees won't be able to work during the holiday period, or who will quit their jobs rather than comply. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly recently said he does not believe the airline will have to fire unvaccinated employees to comply.
Instead he said they will likely be accommodations allowed for employees with religious or medical reasons not to get vaccinated, possibly through the use of regular Covid testing. But Scott Kirby, CEO of United, which put in place toughest vaccine mandate in the industry even before the federal rules were announced, said he believes allowing airline employees to avoid vaccines through regular testing will cause problems of its own, including the airlines suddenly not having employees available to work due to testing positive or not getting back test results.
He believes that United, which has had almost all employees already get vaccinated , is the only one that can promise passengers that their flights won't be upended by Covid safety protocols. Customers can book with confidence on United. We're done with it. Fewer seats, higher fares. As airlines try to hire more workers, and encourage them to be fully vaccinated, the companies are dealing with staffing issues by trimming their flight schedules.
That means fewer options for passengers booking flights, higher fares for the available seats, and packed planes. Although passenger traffic has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, airlines have also not restored their schedules to the number or routes and planes they were flying in That is the highest monthly reading since July of , months ahead of the pandemic.
With airline staff at a breaking point, passengers can expect more headaches to come. Data from the major airlines show that the percentage of seats sold fell somewhat in August and September as the number of Covid cases surged and the summer travel season came to an end.
But the fares to book flights stayed very high throughout the quarter. Because the two most expensive plane tickets -- those purchased by business travelers and international passengers -- was still only a fraction of pre-pandemic levels, that means that the leisure travelers packing into planes were paying far more they did to fly during the same period of Oil prices have climbed to their highest level in about seven years, and travel has rebounded from a deep coronavirus pandemic slump, and that means higher jet fuel prices.
US airlines reported Airline passengers can expect full planes ahead of holiday season travel , Kirby said. United, which is planning on December being its busiest month, has scheduled over 3, flights daily domestic departures for holiday travel.
December will be United's largest domestic schedule since , Insider reported. For Christmas, domestic airfare costs are near levels that haven't been seen since , Hopper reported. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. He noted that Skyscanner has tools that calculate the cheapest month to travel to certain destinations, and lets users search within a given month to find and identify the most affordable dates.
Flying on less popular days of the week is always cheaper. You might also have vouchers from flights you had to cancel due to the pandemic, or even credit card reward points.
Ask the seasoned travelers in your life to share their favorite under-the-radar destinations. If international travel options are looking too pricey or risky, consider the many amazing destinations within the U. Try to be thorough when exploring your options and making comparisons.
Sometimes the deals that seem the most affordable involve hidden fees or an inflexibility that may end up costing more in the long run. Similarly, you might find a rare opportunity to fly business class without having to splurge. A couple of months ago, Valiente was able to snag business class tickets to Athens this summer for the same price an economy ticket is now going for. If you are looking to splurge or normally upgrade to regular economy, be sure to check the cost of non-economy fares as well.
The price may be closer to the economy than you might think.
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