Anyone Considering Cancelling Travel

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

We cancelled an international flight early on, and choose not to register for a cruise we might have done last month, chose not to do a couple hour dance class next month, and have done 2 driving trips.
Part of the choices had to do with travel costs as air costs seem to have at least doubled and car rental costs are re"dickulous" if you fly in. Airplanes seem packed and service if any sucks compared to air travel decades earlier, even ignoring TSA delays. Hotels and resorts seem to barely have enough staff to function. If not for amazon and ebay I think we would have problems spending money. Looked for a newer model used car a few places and they were asking essentially new car prices and had only a couple in stock. Re new cars in model I wanted they only had white in stock.

 

[CaliKid]

Not cancelling anything. We are vaccinated and comfortable with small risk of getting sick. Mostly domestic but European trip upcoming this year also!

 

[Chuckanut]

My understanding is that I get Covid, it should be mild since I am fully vaccinated. I also will get the booster later this year when it becomes available. So, I think the risk to me of serious illness or death is very small.

But, I do not want to visit a destination and find this, that, and the other thing are closed, limited or otherwise not reasonably available. Also, I don't want to bring it back to a young person. They are the only people in my group that are not yet vaccinated. So the answer is.... I don't know what I will do. Thankfully, I live in an area with many outdoor options and I have a car that sips fuel.

 

[Venturer]

We have a camping trip in 2 weeks and then I'll need to start planning for later this year. We were planning on doing a WDWorld trip with DD & family in early Dec. but she has decided to wait & see until 2022. That's fine with us since we were only going to spend time with them. We are fully vaccinated and that all I plan to be, no more needle sticks for me. My plans now will just include more camping trips since I can isolate in my 5th wheel and be outdoors,"get off my lawn"

 

[RunningBum]

Watching and waiting to see how things look for a trip to see family next month.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

My plans for Labor Day were cancelled for me. Was going to a Navy Rec Center for the weekend but they called/emailed me on Monday and said the reservations were cancelled.

 

[OldShooter]

We got back from South Africa on March 8, 2020. That was the day the second person in RSA was diagnosed with COVID. Talk about good luck. If we had been scheduled a week later we'd probably still be there!

Since then we have not gone anywhere except 200 miles to our lake home and we have no other plans. Most of our travel is international and we just don't think rolling the international dice is a good idea. We're not happy with the situation but it is what it is.

Maybe next year.

 

[Badger]

We have been longing to reschedule the 2 somewhat luxury bicycle trips in Europe that were cancelled a year ago but decided that it won't be happening for quite a while even though we are fully vaccinated and boosted. We are getting a little long in the tooth and becoming less able for many of the strenuous activities that we have always participated and hope we will still be able for some active vacations in another year or two. Another concern is how many of the countries where we would travel will still have venues that are open. The long hours of air travel also make me hesitant. For now any travel that we plan for the next year will first be seriously vetted for areas that are compliant with the vaccine as well as somewhere we can drive.
In the meantime my wife will continue tennis with friends of like mind and I will be riding my recumbent trike in our town by the ocean. Years ago I landscaped the backyard with a large pergola and gardens so we would have a tropical get-a-way when things become more limited for us. Who knew at that time we would be using it so much so soon.


Cheers!

 

[H2ODude]

Cancelled Mediterranean cruise in May 2020 and recently canceled a river cruise from Memphis to Nashville that we would be on as I write. We got noticed that the river cruise would require masks on board at all times, and that clinched it. We're mask proponents but when we made the commitment it was just after vaccine started and we figured by this time most of this would have lifted and would be good time to get out. As we watched the Delta variant take over, especially in the area of the cruise, we sort of lost our enthusiasm. The mask requirement was just confirmation our concerns were valid. Turns out when we told one of the other couples they were bailing because he was recovering from non-covid pneumonia.

My normal tendency is towards pessimism and the biologist in me sees a long slog getting to the point where this is under control enough to feel comfortable traveling. It's not the original flavor that bothers me but the evolving variants and ability of the vaccines to remain protective.

 

[pacergal]

Everything we had scheduled in 2020 has n to been rescheduled.
We have done a couple 2 hours driving trips locally, staying in places with mini to full kitchens so we can eat in if desired.
Agree with H2ODude--this is going to be a long slog, learning to live with Covid and be as protected as I can be with any boosters etc.

 

[Midpack]

PSA: And if you’re still traveling soon and made arrangements earlier, check rates again as lots of people are cancelling travel and prices are falling rapidly. I reserved a car for Boston in Sept on 7/21 and it was an outrageous $133/day, more than I’ve ever paid for a rental car, but we had to have a car! Checked again today and the exact same car at the same rental agency is $53/day. Needless to say I made a new reservation and cancelled the old one saving well over $400…

 

[NYEXPAT]

I am Flying down to Florida in three weeks for a HS reunion and have no plans to cancel. We have been travelling all summer and have had no concerns.

 

[kaudrey]

For various reasons, we have flown to St. Louis, Chicago, Dallas and Denver since May (we are on the East Coast). We have a rescheduled trip to Grand Cayman in November (cancelled last November) but we haven't bought plane tickets yet. Not sure the island will be open for us by then (they are supposed to be, but if the schedule slips, we'll be out of luck).

 

[Happyras]

Our trip 3/2020 to Berlin, Dresden and Krakow was cancelled by the airlines for obvious reasons. My wife scheduled replacement flights a month ago when the airfare dropped 40% for the end of September.

.... Who knows if we'll ever be free of some kind of Covid in future years?

The airline keeps trying to thwart our best laid plans for Europe in September. Our original 4 week trip is now down to 2 weeks, cancelled the cruise in Greece and avoiding the terrorists in Spain. However, British keeps moving the target. they cancelled our connecting flight to Prague, so I booked it to Berlin and booked a train to Prague. They then cancelled our flight home from Vienna, so I booked a train to Munich and took a great connecting flight home through LHR. Again they cancelled my flight, rebooked, then cancelled again. We are now left with an overnight at Heathrow, and booked the Hyatt there. The problem is all the screening and testing to cross customs for the short layover.

I am at the point of finally cancelling it all. Originally, we had first class on British (separate compartments up front), now the return is just Business class. Now with 3 trains between 4 cities in 12 days, its getting really complicated. I call it train cruising.

As far as I can tell we will have to eat 2 of the 3 train bookings, but all else is fully refundable. All of the testing each time we change cities is sounding like a P_I_A. However, we have two weeks to reconsider and map out all the testing required. My only fear is the airline will screw us up again, if they do, we will likely reschedule for next year. Yesterday we got our flu shots, so we are "safe", I believe the flu is a bigger threat for us than Covid now.

 

[cathy63]

In the next three months, we are planning to be at the Reno Air Races; on the Rocky Mountaineer train from Moab to Denver; and at the Rolling Stones concert in Vegas.

The Air Races are outdoors and we'll wear masks and can avoid sitting close to others, so I'm not concerned about that.

I'm pretty much assuming the Stones will be rescheduled again. If they do go on we'll see how things look in early Nov and make a last minute decision on whether to resell the tix and cancel the hotel reservation.

The train is more problematic as we'll have to wear masks for the whole two day trip and there are also two flights involved. I haven't decided what to do about that yet.

 

[HenryD]

I'm getting ready to book a trip to rural Costa Rica in January 2022 to replace the Panama trip that was supposed to happen March 2020.

Would have probably gone to Annapolis for the boat show in October, but having a hard time justifying intentionally being around crowds for a weekend. Even though we have event tickets and airline vouchers leftover from 2020.

We're both healthy, vaccinated, and DW has flown international without incident, but I just don't know. Maybe the falling prices will spur me on.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Scheduled to go to Mexico in October and are on the fence about it. The house we are renting has a gracious rebooking policy, so could make the decision last minute.

We went out to eat last night and while it wasn't too busy when we got there, it got VERY busy (full house) the last 1/2 of our meal (Wednesday night church goers, I assume) and we live in an area that has a LOT of people that aren't vaccinated. We could hear someone coughing like they had pneumonia (thankfully not near us) and wrapped up our meal pretty quick. So, we are thinking that we are going to stick around the house for the most part until travel time is here.

We are also invited to a wedding in November but it's in upstate NY which means no less than 3 flights and I am not very keen on that idea right now. Yes, we are vaccinated, but that doesn't mean I want to test it's effectiveness.

 

[Starsky]

Yes, I've cancelled a couple of recent trips - to Reno and to P.R. (and probably Hawaii in Oct.) - as well as a couple of live events that I sold my tickets to. I blew off the travel and events because of the spike; and because of my experience traveling to Hawaii in July and how busy, expensive, and agro airports have become.

COVID has even made me reassess my desire to live in a high quality-of-life, HCOL area where everyone has decided to come instead of taking more remote vacations. The crowds at the beach this summer are ridiculous, and the people who come here tend to be more distracted/entitled and far less concerned about COVID than the ones who choose to stay home. When people are on vacation, they behave like COVID is taking a holiday too. We have enough of our own crazy people here as it is. It couldn't be more frustrating.

Just a request to travelers to please respect the locals and mask up properly.

 

[Boose]

I am at the point of finally cancelling it all. Originally, we had first class on British (separate compartments up front), now the return is just Business class. Now with 3 trains between 4 cities in 12 days, its getting really complicated.

Happyras, I read your post to DH and we agreed that we would cancel if we were in your shoes - too many connections and compromises. What a disappointment, though!

Our 2 road trips (through eastern PA and cross-country to Vegas with a multi-day stay) are still on. Managed to avoid covid last spring during road trips in AZ and UT. However, that strain was less contagious, and we often ate in our hotel rooms.

 

[Popsicletoes]

We technically never stopped traveling, even in the middle of first wave of Covid last year.

2020 was actually pretty enjoyable to travel, less crowd (much, much, less) everywhere: we had 3 seats blocked off on our right and left at the airport's departing gate, very few people flying on the plane (this was when the airlines still blocked off the middle seat for social distancing), airlines also boarded passengers from back to front so less chance of people passing each other while getting on the plane. The hotels were almost empty - there were probably 2-3 guests in the entire building. I wish travel could continue to be this way.

This year, we went to a combo trip of Sequoia NP and San Diego in May, then Las Vegas in June, and we're onto Cancun next week. We may fit in one more trip for the end of the year, depends on what's on sale.

I think if you could wait, then wait, no need to travel if you don't feel comfortable doing it. But the way I see it, the US is a country with some of the highest cases in the world. Very few countries in the world could top our Covid numbers. We're both vaxx-ed, and will take the 3rd shot in Dec, so we'll just take precautions as best we can and continue to live life as normal as we can make it.

Oh, don't leave the US without int'l health and travel insurance that covers Covid, for sure. We upped our int'l health insurance coverage to 100K for our Cancun trip, just in case.

 

[Golden sunsets]

We're booked and 75% paid for February and March of 2022 in Mexico. We haven't bought plane tickets yet though. 50% of the rental unit cost is a holdover from 2021, booked and paid for in 2020. The other 50% was booked in 2021 and 66% paid for. Not sure if we could transfer the newer booking to 2023. The earlier booking from 2020 stated we could not transfer again, so we'll be looking at a significant write off if we decide to abort. We have many months to figure this out.

 

[camfused]

Got a 5 day trip to SD planned for 2 weeks from now. DW (who is not going) is really nervous about it. I currently do not plan to cancel, but possibly will if she asks me to. Will lose about $1500 if I don’t go, plus will have to deal with some serious depression if I need to cancel yet another trip.

 

[unclemick]

Week ago did a road trip out to the PA Pocono's -VRBO one week family reunion 18 souls from 12 to 78 no masks but vaccinated.

Sept scheduled to head out Pac NW 60th High School Reunion and then to Olympic Peninsula with possible ferry trip to Vancouver Island.

Will depend on the other end for cancelations or the ferry doesn't run.

Heh heh heh - Fishing season and tourists?

 

[Markola]

We are leaving tomorrow for France. Nationwide, their infection rates per capita is less than the US, but the area we are headed is a region of higher contagion. But the R rate us rapidly heading to 1, the test rates have declined, and over 75% have already received one shot (closely followed by two). Since we have a place there, it is no different than taking precautions at home (avoiding crowds, focusing on outdoor activities), and in some ways may be safer. But the location has 100% masking and proof of vaccination is required for entry to restaurants, museums, etc, if we choose to go.

Bon voyage! We are going to Bordeaux in late October but are concerned we’ll need to cancel.

 

[Sojourner]

Bon voyage! We are going to Bordeaux in late October but are concerned we’ll need to cancel.

Ooh, Bordeaux... that's definitely on my bucket list!

I'd be surprised if the Delta surge hasn't largely subsided in Europe (and the U.S.) by early/mid October. That's when I'm thinking about booking some domestic air travel and looking at overseas flights again.

My outlook is starting to shift towards something like "COVID-19 and its variants are probably here to stay, so it's not going to be possible to just 'wait it out'. I will get all possible vaccinations/boosters and take reasonable precautions, but life is short... and life must go on!" DW and I love traveling too much to let the endless vagaries of COVID put it on hold indefinitely.