Author ∣ Advocate ∣ Journalist
On Travel is a weekly column about being a smarter traveler. It covers practical travel advice for the readers of USA Today and the USA Today Network. If you’re interested in publishing this feature, please contact Elliott directly at [email protected] or (202) 370-7934.
Did the pandemic make you rethink your travel rewards card? It did for Karin Kemp, a retired graphic designer from Matthews, North Carolina.
With few opportunities to travel last year, her loyalty to United Airlines has wavered. Special offers and bonuses weren’t enough to keep her engaged in her program, and she started to use a different credit card as her primary.
Read more “Travelers rethink their travel rewards cards after the pandemic”
What should travelers expect in 2021? More uncertainty.
And I can say that with a lot of certainty.
No one knows when the vaccines will be fully distributed or the coronavirus pandemic will end. No one knows when authorities will lift travel bans. And while you can plan all the trips you want now, no one knows if or when you’ll actually be able to take them.
It’s all up in the air.
Read more “This is what travelers should expect in 2021”
Don’t get infected at the airport. Scientists say airports are more dangerous than airplanes – at least when it comes to your chances of getting sick with the coronavirus.
After all, airports are filled with passengers who may not practice social distancing or even wear a mask. It might be difficult to avoid a COVID-19 infection at the airport.
Read more “How not to get infected at the airport”
What happened to travel in 2020? Just a year ago, travelers were so busy planning their vacations that they hardly had time to look up from their keyboards. We were going places! Experts predicted another big year for tourism. But then the pandemic hit, closing borders and paralyzing travel for the rest of the year.
It’s difficult to describe 2020 without hyperbole. Stay-at-home orders and quarantines effectively stopped travel. According to a survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, 71 percent of hoteliers said they won’t make it another six months without further federal assistance, given current and projected travel demand. No one is keeping a tally of airline layoffs, but by most counts, they are in the tens of thousands.
And the cruise industry? What cruise industry?
Read more “What happened to travel in 2020? And what’s about to happen?”
Where’s the safest place to travel during the pandemic surge? Is it somewhere nearby? Or a squeaky-clean destination that takes its disinfecting really seriously?
You probably already know the answer is. It’s nowhere. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned against travel during the holiday season. And in a perfect world, people would stay home as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its most dangerous phase yet.
But we don’t live in a perfect world.
Read more “This is the safest place to travel during the pandemic surge”
