Rising cases force some hard decisions
Holiday questions arise: Is it wise to take a trip? To gather with family?
Erin Vickers didn’t want to be the only one not joining her family for Thanksgiving at her brother’s house in Virginia.
But as soon as Chicago’s stay-athome advisory was announced, Vickers, 37, of Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, emailed her family and told them she wouldn’t be making the flight. They were sad, but didn’t try to change her mind.
No one has broached the topic of Christmas.
“To me, it’s too far away to be talking about. If it’s still like this, it will be tough,” she said.
Rising COVID-19 case counts and new warnings against travel andtraditionalThanksgiving celebrations are forcing people to have tough conversations about whether it’s smart to gather. Some are reluctant to commit amid fast-changing conditions, leaving airlines and other travel companies to react to last-minute changes.
United Airlines’ bookings declined and cancellations increased during the pastweek as a result of the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, forcing the Chicago-based carrier Thursday to adjust its flying schedule for the fourth quarter. Southwest Airlines and American Airlines also said sales have slowed in recentweeks.
Airlines have worked to reassure wary customers by touting health and safety precautions and dropping change fees.
David Jeffery, 41, of Uptown, said airlines’ decision to drop change fees made him feel more comfortable booking a ticket.
“We felt like we had a bit more freedom in terms of what our choiceswere,” he said.
Jeffery and his partner, Mike Vance, originally planned to visit friends in Washington, D.C., before celebrating with Vance’s family in Virginia. After hearing about Chicago’s stay-at-home advisory and looking at data on COVID-19 cases, they decided to skip the visit with friends but will fly toVirginia to see Vance’s family.
“They said you’re welcome to come but maybe flying, a hotel, friends and Amtrak isn’t the best idea,” Jeffery said.
Carla Benton, 33, of Edgewater,
said some family members didn’t understand why she has been avoiding travel since the pandemic began, but were understanding when she said she wasn’t comfortable flying to Houston for Thanksgiving.
“I feel like I would rather let a year go by without seeing them than live with the knowledge of passing it on to a family member,” Benton said.
Despite smooth experiences earlier in the pandemic, some are hesitant to travel during the holidays because of the potential for crowds.
Shavawnte Sullivan, 26, who lives in Washington D.C. and grew up in West Pullman, felt comfortable on a September flight that only had a dozen passengers but expects planes will be more crowded around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
It wasn’t hard to tell his mom he won’t be home for Thanksgiving. He’s more worried about telling his grandmother he’s thinking about not coming home for her birthday, on Christmas Eve, either.
“It’s the only time of year we all get together,” Sullivan said.
If he does go home, he would drive, but isn’t sure he’supfor the cost of renting a car and 22 hours behind
the wheel. Still, it would be the first time he’s spent both Thanksgiving and Christmas away fromhome.
“I’m a very indecisive person. I live alone, and as it gets closer I might want to go home,” he said.
Most people traveling for Thanksgiving are expected to drive, according to AAA. Airlines are still scheduling more flights during the peak holiday travel days, but far fewer than during the busiest days of the holiday pe
riod last year.
The Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving are expected to be American Airlines’ two busiest travel days this holiday season, with more than 4,100 flights per day, down from 7,046 and 6,879 last year.
United expects the week of Thanksgiving to be its busiest since March, even though it anticipates seeing roughly half as many passengers as last year.
“We will continue to be
nimble and flexible as we have been with our schedules throughout the pandemic by making the appropriate adjustment to our schedules as needed based on fluctuating demand trends,” spokesman Jonathan Guerin said in an email.
Average domestic airfares are expectedto droproughly 40% around Thanksgiving and Christmas because of lower demand, travel data firmHoppersaid lastmonth, and some travel companies
are promoting last-minute deals.
“When change is the only constant, a last-minute hotel might be just what you need,” online travel agency Orbitz said in an email promotion.
Airbnb has also seen people book stays closer to their arrival date and said more U.S. customers are booking entire homes over the holidays. While solo travel is down by nearly half compared with last Thanksgiving, bookings fromgroups of at least three are up, the company said earlier this month.
Some travelers have changed plans multiple times in search of the safest option. Libby Snyder, 29, of Lincoln Park, decided to book a rental car instead of her usual Thanksgiving flight months ago.
Earlier thismonth, as case numbers spiked in both Illinois and Kansas, where her family lives, even driving began to seem questionable. Her family had already scaled back plans for their Thanksgiving celebration, which typically includes 30 to 40 people.
When Snyder told her parents she was having doubts, they agreed to think it over for a few hours and talk again.
“We were all really upset. It’s not what I want to do,” she said. “It just came down to, I wouldn’t want to risk it to have this one Thanksgiving that isn’t evengoing to be that great and have something possibly happen.”
She got all but $50 of the money she spent on the rental car back. On Thanksgiving, she plans to make roasted chicken and pecan pie and eat with family over Zoom, while avoiding talk of Christmas.
“I don’t think anyone is ready for that conversation yet,” she said.