Not sure why you think I believe I know what will happen next summer wrt travel? We simply got a great deal on flights this summer and prefer not to get a refund, instead would like the same deal, but a year later. Is that so strange to want?
@yearstogo
Apologies if it came through negative in any way.
Flying is my major indulgence, I have close to 1 million miles on United alone. I’m all for it, and for great deals. For our family, this is the first time not going overseas for at least a month in 13 years.
Still, with so many plans ruined, I have hard times keeping my hopes high for the next year, that’s what I was trying to say.
The information about 11 months, or more precisely 336 days is solid so you can see if they keep the usual release schedule by entering some dates 335 days in advance.
Don’t know about American, but the challenge is when a passenger cancels before the airline does. That said, I’d keep calling American until you get a nice agent. Tell them you’l send in a glowing compliment through the airline website.
@yearstogo I personally would want the refund while I could get it ( since that seems to be available to you) and worry about rebooking later. You might even get a better “deal” later. No way to know of course. Good luck with your plans!
United Airlines said that flights out of Newark NJ (their NYC-area hub) are 16% of last year’s numbers. They are getting ready to furlough 40% of their employees.
The transportation industry must be on top of infection trends and numbers. For United to say this means that they do not expect this pandemic to die down anytime soon.
I don’t think it predicts where the pandemic is going. They are running out the gov money at the end of September. They are probably preparing for that since travel won’t pick up by then. Travel won’t pick up to previous level until a cure or vaccine is found even if the pandemic slows down.
Three weeks ago I flew back home. Was stuck in the tarmac in a packed flight over an hour. I was sure there could be a bad breakout of the virus. I haven’t read anything in the news. So I guess we are all good.
If there is no second bailout of airlines, WITH STRINGS ATTACHED after 9/30, there will be massive layoffs starting on 10/1. Travel is dead through early 2021, airlines can’t afford to keep staff on payroll. This is basic math.
The only reason they haven’t laid off more people yet was because of the strings attached requiring no layoffs until 9/30.
Well, we decided to cancel our short, in-state beach trip. Even though we were staying in a Residence Inn and planned to take most things with us, the bookings and virus are both surging there. Risk is not worth it. Sigh. I had looked forward to just sitting on balcony overlooking the ocean ?
A middle seat on a crowded MAX plane… looks like a traveler’s worst nightmare. American is looking into getting those recertified planes into service.
Our Sun Country flight from Portland to Minneapolis was awesome. Only 1/4 full. Everyone wore masks and distanced getting on the plane. I felt very comfortable the whole way. Airports were pretty empty.
I will say that people bunched up when it was time to get off the plane. We arrived 25 minutes early so nobody was trying to make a tight connection. We just waited to walk up the aisle until things cleared out a little.
I just checked my flight, not MAX. you’d think they don’t need many plane the way they consolidate and cancel less sold fights.
My S is flying from HNL to LAX to IAD. I hope he has uncrowded flights, but who knows? We bought him a face shield frame and 5 face shields to wear. Hopefully it will help him stay safer while traveling. He plans to return to HNL in a few weeks. Fortunately he is healthy and has a place he can quarantine after he flies in before we see him. H and I and D are high risk of having very bad COVID-19 cases.
My daughter flew this week on American.
The flight from St Thomas to MIA was very full. The flight attendant was very vigilant and firm with a person who did want to wear a mask.
The flight from Miami to MSP was almost empty.
There was a link in the Washington Post to the webpage for enrolling in vaccine trials. I threw my name in the hat. There were a few preliminary screening questions regarding health and work environment.
Well…my November convention in San Diego has been cancelled entirely. This is a national conference where many folks (like me) get our CEUs for certification renewal. I guess I’ll sign up for some online thing.
I didn’t think this trip was going to happen…actually glad they cancelled.
@thumper1 It is just a lot easier once the decision is made. Now you don’t have to be planning to go and planning to cancel all at the same time.
Speaking of which, we decided yesterday not to fly across the country to stay with family at the beach. We had been putting off deciding and hoping that the virus situation would settle down, but now my husband really doesn’t feel that it is safe enough for him to travel because he has a chronic illness and takes immune-suppressing drugs and all that. I feel sad about it because it’s really our happiest time of the year, and once we got there, we could live pretty quietly, going out early in the morning and late in the day, as we do here, and avoiding crowds, but I never felt good about the possibility of picking up the virus along the way and then giving it to my mom or step-father (who seem completely unconcerned about having us in their house, despite being in their eighties with heart disease) or even giving it to a health care worker, especially as it seems like there are still shortages of PPE.
Anyway, now we have decided that it is just not wise to do it, and it’s a relief. I can stop checking on plane tickets and stop trying to figure out alternatives for all the parts of the usual trip that just seemed unacceptable this year, like the crowded two-hour bus ride from the airport.
I’m sure next summer will be better.
Desperate to get to Miami Beach to visit my aging, ailing father in law but it really isn’t safe. Round trip flights are $64 but not a factor in going/not going. Miami Dade county is a hot spot. Not smart for myself or for my father in law to risk at this time.
And…the wedding we were supposed to go to in August has been postponed until 2022!
Now to deal with United Airlines. PITA.
Wow, how disappointing for the couple. But better safe than sorry.
I was invited to three weddings this year (all spring or fall). Two of the three couples went ahead and got married and will have a celebration at a later date; the third postponed till 2021.
We have a Canadian Rockies tour scheduled for the beginning of September. The tour company is making cancellation decisions 45 days out, which for us is in 2 weeks. We are 99.999999% sure the Canadian gov’t doesn’t want 'Muricans anywhere near their country. In addition, we do NOT want to go under current conditions–don’t see much fun in wearing masks, flying and spending time in airports and on buses, social distancing, etc. Just playing the waiting game until THEY cancel the trip–if WE cancel we lose lots of $$$.
A large number of Americans have created bad feelings by lying to Canadian border officers, saying they are just driving THROUGH Canada to get to Alaska, then just playing tourist in Canada. Canadian border patrol has been rounding up Americans who snuck in, making them quarantine for 14 days (at their own expense), fining them, then sending them back across the border. Canada quickly closing that loophole.