(NewsNation) — TSA screened over two million people on Sunday alone, and AAA projected more than 39 million Americans are traveling this holiday weekend. That’s up more than 8% over last year.
But delays have made it pretty messy.
Clint Anderson, senior news editor for “The Points Guy,” joined “Morning in America” with how to navigate this summer travel season with airlines unable to keep up with travel demands.
“Delta has always been known as the most operationally reliable airline out there. But even the best airline, when it comes to on-time flights and cancellations, can’t seem to get its act together right now,” Henderson said, “They just don’t have enough staff, whether that’s air traffic controllers, pilots, flight attendants, you know, they just can’t keep up with the demand that’s out there right now.”
More than 3 million Americans flew this weekend despite expensive airline tickets. Henderson believes there isn’t really a limit on how much people will spend on travel, especially as the pandemic comes to an end.
“It doesn’t seem to be any limit on the price people have been willing to pay … people have just been cooped up for so long, they’re going to travel no matter what.” Henderson told NewsNation.
“What’s interesting is we’re starting to see some anecdotal evidence that maybe the consumer is starting to push back a little bit. We’ll have to wait to see if that turns out to be a trend.”
Delta just announced it is cutting 100 flights daily through August. Jet Blue is also reducing its flight schedule by eight-to-ten percent, and Alaska Airlines will cut two percent of its flights due to a pilot shortage.
“You’re seeing higher demand, you’re seeing less available flights because of staffing issues,” Henderson said, “And that’s the perfect storm, plus fuel prices and inflation on everything else. It’s the perfect storm to see price hikes.”
Henderson said there are deals out there for people who are crafty and willing too look.
“There is still tons of deals out there. Go to websites like thepointsguy.com,” Henderson said. “We have deals there every single day.”
There are deals out there, but travelers will have to be willing to jump on them immediately when they are available. Henderson suggests to use the miles and points accumulated during the pandemic, saying now’s the time to use them.
Average cost of a trip to Disney World
To get an idea of how much a summer vacation may cost, NewsNation broke down the average cost for family vacations to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
If you want to take a family of four to the most magical place on Earth, it’s going to cost you about as much as the average family brings home in a month.
First, the airline tickets. Airline tickets from Kansas City, Missouri, to Orlando, averaged about $400 for the first week of August, round trip. That’s $1,600 just on flights.
In Orlando, travelers will need a rental car. This estimated about $1,000 for the week.
Park ticket prices aren’t cheap either. Tickets for kids under nine years old pay a little bit less, and kids under three don’t have to pay at all. But the average ticket price for Disney, the week of August 1st through August 8th is $139.
When booking lodging, it averaged about $4,308 — that includes a seven night stay and six day passes. It does not however, include meals if you want to eat.
On average, a family is going to pay about $250 per day for each of a family member to eat.
In total, a trip to the Disney parks is going to cost your family of four about $5,808. This amount does include the additional travel fees calculated above.
That’s about the amount of money that people bring home for a month.