Holiday travel nears pre-pandemic levels
Surge comes despite high gas prices, increasing virus cases
While Juan Cardoza-Oquendo and his boyfriend Ivan Duent were in Houston last Christmas, their hearts were 2,000 miles away in Puerto Rico.
Both have family on the island, including Duent’s parents. They longed to be with them and to scurry across their families’ neighborhoods in the Puerto Rican version of caroling known as parrandas. But without a vaccine, CardozaOquendo and Duent worried it would be too risky to potentially expose their families to the virus.
A year later, however, the couple and most of their family in Puerto Rico are fully vaccinated, including booster shots.
So Cardoza-Oquendo and Duent will be among millions of U.S. holiday travelers returning to the skies and roads in near pre-pandemic levels despite a new surge in COVID infections and gasoline prices that are near the seasonal high.
“The whole point of being vaccinated is to see family and continue life as normal,” Cardoza-Oquendo said. “I don’t want to be insensitive with the case rise, but at this point we have a significant level of protection, and being together with family is just too important.”
The American Automobile Association estimates that 109.5 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2, a 34 percent increase since last year — before the rollout of vaccines — but still 8 percent less than during the 2019 holidays, just before the pandemic. The numbers are similar in Texas, where the number of folks traveling is estimated to increase by about 32 percent over last year to 8.8 million. That’s also 8 percent
“The whole point of being vaccinated is to see family.” Juan Cardoza-Oquendo, holiday traveler
shy of the record 9.3 million Texans who traveled at the end of 2019.
“Americans who canceled their vacations in 2020 want to gather with family and friends for the holidays this year, although they will still be mindful of the pandemic and the new omicron variant,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel. “With vaccines widely available, conditions are much different, and many people feel a greater level of comfort with travel.”
The largest increase will be among air travelers, AAA predicted, with an 184 percent increase nationally over last year. In Texas, an estimated 334,000 will head to airports for the holidays, an increase of 177 percent from 2020 but 20 percent less than in 2019.
The numbers logged by Houston’s two main airports — George Bush Intercontinental and Hobby — exceeded initial projections for Thanksgiving, said Agusto Bernal, a spokesman for the Houston Airport System. Officials there had expected about 1.9 million passengers for the 13-day Thanksgiving travel period, but nearly 2.2 million ended up flying from, to and connecting through Bush and Hobby.
For the Christmas and New Year period, Dec. 16-Jan. 3, about 3.16 million passengers are expected to pass through both airports, Bernal said, about 7 percent less than in 2019.
Robert Dupree, a semi-retired landlord from Houston, said he arrived two hours before his 7:55 a.m. flight this week because he was worried about long lines through security. His effort to schedule an early flight and arrive early seemed to pay off, he said. It took him about 45 minutes to get through security and to his gate.
“It was a pleasant surprise. It felt very organized; there weren’t lines all over the place,” said Dupree, on his way to to Newark, N.J., to visit his sister. “It wasn’t bad.”
Still, more than 94 percent of those traveling from the Houston area for the holidays will take their personal vehicles, according to AAA. Those folks will pay substantially more for gasoline this year compared with 2020, according to GasBuddy.com. A gallon of regular cost an average of $2.80 per gallon on Monday, compared with about $2.20 last year.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said recent dips in fuel prices could be due to waning demand as omicron-related cases surge. As a result, he said, the national average price, now $3.30, could remain below the all-time holiday high of $3.25 a gallon in 2013.
“We got a Christmas gift that few should complain about: falling gas prices at a time of year when millions of Americans are spending their hard earned dollars on gifts for their loved ones. The last thing they should have to worry about is expensive gasoline,” he said. “The good news is prices should continue to moderate heading into the last moments of 2021.”
As more people travel during the holiday season, public health officials are urging them to take precautions to slow the spread of COVID-19 and the new omircron variant. Harris County on Monday upgraded its COVID-19 threat gauge to orange, its second highest level.Jennifer Kiger, COVID-19 division director for Harris County Public Health, said people should be tested for the virus before visiting family and friends, especially if any of them are older or have other risk factors that may cause them to develop more severe symptoms from the disease.
She encouraged families to plan meals and gatherings outdoors, and to try to socially distance indoors.
Cardoza-Oquendo, who is flying to Puerto Rico, said his family has already adjusted some of their plans. One of his vaccinated cousins recently tested positive, so instead of caroling through the neighborhood, the family plans to stay together. That’s fine, he said. He’s just glad he’ll be able to spend time with them during his favorite time of the year.
“I always look forward to Christmas. Growing up in the U.S., it’s a really important time for me to connect with my traditions, my heritage, my family and all the food,” he said. “It all comes together for me, and to be able to share it with my family again — it’s going to be super fun.”