Jeepers! Airfares are soaring sky high this summer

You may be shocked if you take a look at the prices of airfares for the summer. Airlines are raising rates faster than the speed of light. In March alone the airfares were up 28% compared to pre-pandemic March 2019 prices. As the planes fill up the seats left over will see even higher prices. CLICK HERE to read more.  

Business travel is finally starting to take off – During the last two months, we have finally started to see the business traveler start making travel reservations again. In the coming months, experts are expecting the business traveler to be back to 85% of pre-pandemic levels. With vacation travel running at over 100% of 2019 levels you will see full airplanes this summer and expensive airfares, hotels, and car rentals. I think as conventions pick up this fall you will see an explosion of business travelers taking to the friendly skies. The bottom line is you need to book your airline, hotel, and car rentals early to make sure you can find a seat and also preempt higher prices that will surely come.

Airlines are also squeezing prices higher by slashing flights from their summer schedule – Almost all the major airlines are fighting staffing shortages that have caused thousands of flights to be canceled during the past 6 months. To deal with this they are slashing flight schedules so they are properly staffed going into the heavy summer travel months. JetBlue is cutting 10% of its flights, Alaska Airlines 2%, Delta is trying to hire 200 pilots each month and United Airlines is opening up its own flight school to try to fill the funnel with new pilots.

Warning! Flying a regional jet (50-70 seats) will have the highest possibility of being cancelled this summer –  This one is very easy to recognize once you absorb that the major airlines (United, Delta, American, and Southwest) are all short pilots and the easiest way to fill those empty positions is to recruit pilots from their sister regional jet companies. We understand that pilots can almost double their pay by jumping from being a regional jet pilot to a major airline pilot. This is having a domino effect as robbing Peter to pay Paul never has a good ending.

Here are my 6 simple travel tips for summer travel – #1, Book your travel as early as possible. #2, Avoid flying regional jets (50-70 seats) as experts say they will suffer high levels of cancellations this summer. #3. Fly on non-stop flights so you don’t risk cancelled flights along the way. 4. Register for TSA Pre-Check to bypass the long security lines at the airport. #5. Arrive at the airport at least 90 minutes ahead of your flight. #6. Book your travel using a friendly travel advisor. When things fall apart on your trip you have a team that will help you get back on your happy trails quickly. 

Operation Safe Harbor Ukraine interview with KETV this week – Our efforts to support Ukrainian refugees continues to receive positive news coverage. This week KETV put together a short video sharing the success of www.OperationSafeHarborUkraine.com. Thanks so much to the hundreds of readers and friends who have donated to this humanitarian effort. CLICK HERE to watch the short video.