Welcome to the World Agian!

As the world re-opens by leaps and bounds, we’re seeing a huge surge in the travel industry. We went from a year and a half of cancellations, suspensions, and rebooking after rebooking to looking at all new travel planning. To those of us working in the travel industry, it’s amazing to see, but what does it mean to you, the traveler?

Limited Availability

Cruise lines, tour companies, airlines, and resorts have all changed their protocols, max capacity limits, and schedules over the last year and a half. Now that there’s a resurgence in travel, one would think the same schedules would be available and ready to be filled, but that’s simply not the case. In fact, late planners have been left with very limited options.

Because flight crews are only beginning to come back to work fully, the flight schedules aren’t back to what they used to be yet, and we foresee this being a concern for at least the next several months. Since COVID, most of the Car Rental facilities sold their fleets. They’ll take at least until this Fall/Winter to get back to full capacity, but until then travelers looking to rent a car may find themselves in a pinch. Resorts in the Caribbean and many hotels throughout the US are running at a reduced capacity and they are remaining nearly sold out on a regular basis.

What about cruises and river cruises? Same story. Many of those who were on suspended voyages have gained value in future cruise credits and now are ready to start sailing ASAP. Additionally, ships are planning to run on limited capacity at startup. So what does that do to availability? You guessed it, limits everything. great value in what we do when they had issues with cancellations and re-bookings and not receiving refunds. We’ve gained the confidence and business of even the biggest and best DIY’ers.

As travel advisors, we not only stayed busy throughout the pandemic making changes for our existing clients, but we’ve increased our travel planning tenfold since everyone is now ready to get out and move again. We even have started working for the DIY’ers of the travel bunch. Many who dabbled in travel planning on their own via websites like Orbitz or Kayak have found

Price Changes

Early in the pandemic, we heard every other traveler say they’ll wait to re-book because the cruise lines, airlines, and hotels will be begging them to come back and offering rock bottom pricing. But that’s not what’s happening. Sure, they can’t wait to see you back again and honestly value your loyalty to your preferred brand, but rather than seeing a price drop, we’re seeing a larger increase in cost than any other year. We also see these prices going up over the next few years.

So, if you were to ask us how to stay more affordable, plan several months in advance. This will allow you to take advantage of early payment discounts and look at value vs. cost.

Delays in Turnaround Time

Even the most automated vendors and travel suppliers have been bogged down by re-bookings and new requests. What would have taken 10 minutes to do in years past sometimes takes 24-48 hours now to confirm. Even on Orbitz and Kayak. Many of the calls we’ve received from those who’ve used these online travel agencies ended up calling us because though they’d been sent an invoice promptly, they were canceled out of their same booking only days before departure because there was no availability.

From a travel agent perspective, we don’t confirm a booking until we verify availability. We won’t send you a confirmation until the booking is complete.

New Protocols

If you’re planning to visit another country or even another state, it’s important to check out their current protocols when booking, a week before departure, and then also the day before you’re traveling. Though it seems like a lot, keeping up on the protocols will make your trip that much smoother. Countries are changing rules and protocol often, and you will be denied entry if you do not abide by their rules of PCR, vaccination, travel authorizations, antigen testing, and all the time frames associated with them. Be sure to do your own research and follow all rules the country puts on you.

Does any of this mean you should give up on travel for the time being? Heck no!

Get back out there and explore the world! All this means is everything needs to be planned accordingly, and if your first option isn’t available, be open to looking for alternatives. Don’t stress with the resurgence of travel. We’re here to help.

Amanda Vallone is the co-owner of Roseborough Travel Agency in DeLand. She is passionate about helping people experience the world around them. She was awarded and or recognized for the 40 under 40, President’s Excellence in Business, Future Leaders in Travel, Best Travel Advisor, and Best of the Best awards over the last 10 years.