Holiday plans: With coronavirus cases dropping, millions take to the skies, hit the roads
Southern Californians will be traveling this Memorial Day weekend in large numbers, buoyed by sharp decreases in coronavirus cases, increased vaccinations and spurred by pent-up demand from 15 months of safer-at-home orders, polls show.
More than 2.8 million Southern Californians will take a trip, a 64% increase over the same period last year when the pandemic was in the early stages, the Automobile Club of Southern California is predicting.
“Travel is back in a big way,” said Marie Montgomery, local Automobile Club spokesperson.
The AAA study compares projections for this year’s five-day holiday, from May 27-31, to last
year’s actual trips when 1.7 million Southern Californians traveled, a 49% drop from 2019 and the lowest level since 2000 when AAA began tracking holiday travel.
The percentage of people getting away over Memorial Day is still expected to be down about 13% from 2019 levels.
“Though it has definitely not fully recovered, it is an indication of people wanting to get out of the house and feeling Memorial Day will be safe,” Montgomery said.
Count Henry Ortiz II, 28, of Whittier, as one of those who is tired of staying at home.
Ortiz, fully vaccinated, will be on a flight from LAX to Phoenix on Friday. Once he lands in the Arizona desert city, he’ll meet with friends and they will be among 8,000 fans who bought tickets to the Punk In The Park concert taking place in an abandoned water park.
“I’m excited to return to some sense of normalcy,” said Ortiz, who is the lead singer of a local punk band, Law of Power. “Being stuck here for an entire year has driven me absolutely insane.”
The punk rock music scene may not be everyone’s idea of a vacation. In fact, many Southern Californians are instead seeking nature’s serene ambience this holiday.
Three out of the top five destinations are national parks, with Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks in Utah No. 1, the first time that’s ever happened, Montgomery said. They are followed by the Grand Canyon at No. 3 and Yosemite at No. 5, with Las Vegas (No. 2) and San Diego (No. 3) rounding out the top five.
About 90% of Southern Californian vacationers this holiday are making it a road trip, the AAA study shows. Road trippers should be prepared for traffic snarls on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, especially on the 405, 5 and 10 freeways, studies show. In particular, the AAA study predicts the 5 Freeway southbound from Colorado Street to Florence Avenue in Los Angeles will be jammed from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
“Yeah, people are going to a lot of outdoorsy destinations, such as Colorado, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and mountain west locations such as Yosemite,” said Brett Snyder, a South Bay resident who runs a concierge service for travelers and writes a blog called crankyflier.com.
“I am not surprised. People are seeking wide open spaces, fresh air. It is a matter of what makes you feel comfortable,” Snyder said.
Camping is becoming more popular. According to spending trends tracked by the commerce company Pattern, demand for sleeping bags is up 73% this spring compared to the same time in 2020, and up 201% compared to 2019.
Yosemite is already sold out. And beginning May 21 and running through the end of summer, visitors must reserve a pass via the website www.nps.gov/ yose, or at recreation.gov to make a reservation.
The trend toward visiting the national parks began in the early days of the pandemic with people walking or riding their bicycles to neighborhood parks, said Frank Dean, president of the Yosemite Conservancy, a nonprofit foundation that generates about $15 million a year to the park.
“It is a natural thing that is happening,” he said on Thursday. “These are iconic places in America and people want to see them.”
Yosemite will be kept to 80% capacity, he said, meaning overcrowded conditions should not be a problem. But many amenities will be shut down to comply with COVID-19 safety restrictions.
“Shuttles are not operating in Yosemite this year. Navigating by bicycle is a great way to get around,” said Jamie Richards, Yosemite park ranger.
Concessions will be limited inside the park. Dean said many businesses around the park have seen huge losses during the past 15 months and hope to recover some revenue this summer.
The travel business lost $492.3 billion in 2020 as compared to the year before, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Before the pandemic, travel had a $1.1 trillion economic impact on the U.S. economy.
A nationwide study by AAA and its partner, INRIX, a transportation analytics firm, predicts about 37 million Americans will be going 50 miles or more from home during the Memorial Day holiday — an increase of 60% from 2020 when only 23 million traveled. Of those traveling this year, 2.5 million Americans will go by air, a 577% increase from a year ago at this time. In Southern California, 9% are flying, with 1% taking a bus or train.
Favored air destinations are Florida and Hawaii. There are no travel restrictions for Florida for people arriving from within the United States. However, passengers going to Hawaii need to show a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours before boarding. No test is required on the return flight.
John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Long Beach Airport and Ontario International Airport have recently added flights to Hawaii in anticipation of the boom. United Airlines began flying to Honolulu on May 6 from the Orange County airport, said spokesperson Deanne Thompson. Hawaiian Airlines began flying out of ONT on March 17 after a 16-year absence.
Otis Greer, a Rancho Cucamonga resident and director of public affairs for the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, will be traveling next week out of ONT to Honolulu, then taking an island hop to the Big Island, where his family will celebrate the birthday of his mother-in-law who lives there.
“It is huge for those of us that go to Hawaii regularly. It is convenient,” he said of the ONT flight. “Even with the layover in Honolulu it is still way less time than driving to LAX, with the parking and the hassles.”
Southern California airports are preparing for large increases in air passengers, not just for the Memorial Day holiday but also in the summer months, as hotels, resorts and restaurants open up in the wake of declining COVID-19 cases and more people getting vaccinated.
Passenger totals at John Wayne hovered around 50% when compared to pre-pandemic levels but have increased to 60% so far in May, Thompson said.
“We expect to see this trend for increased demand to continue throughout the summer,” she said.
Ontario airport will see 1.4 million air travelers arriving and departing from the start of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, based on current airline schedules. This represents 87% of the 1.7 million who used the airport during the same period in 2019, only 13% away from matching pre-pandemic levels.
“We look forward to a near-normal summer travel season and welcoming many travelers we haven’t had the pleasure of serving in more than a year,” Mark Thorpe, CEO of ONT, said in a prepared statement.
Burbank Airport will benefit from Frontier Airlines adding flights and a new addition, Avelo Airlines, that started service April 28, Snyder said.
Of course, LAX, the fourth-busiest airport in the world, which accommodated 78.5 million passengers in 2018 as compared to ONT’s 5.5 million in 2019, will most likely see a big jump in passengers. However, the airport did not release a holiday or summer passenger forecast.
“It’s been impossible to predict for the last year,” Heath Montgomery, LAX spokesman, said in an email on Tuesday. Airport officials may have an inkling the week before Memorial Day, he added.
Cindy Ruiz, 58, a West Covina resident, real estate agent and board member with the Walnut Valley Unified School District, is flying to Pennsylvania for a leadership conference over the Memorial Day weekend. Ruiz is bringing her husband, Paul, to join her after the threeday conference to see Independence Hall, Hershey, and then go on to Maryland to relax at a resort on the Chesapeake Bay.
They’re leaving from LAX on Sunday.and she added the conference is paid for by donors, not taxpayers.
“It will be my first time on a plane in two years,” she said. “I am a little nervous about it. The only thing that bothers me is being in an enclosed environment (like an airplane cabin).”
Air passengers must wear a mask when onboard and practice social distancing when queuing at the gate and exiting the plane. Ruiz, who said she and her husband are both fully vaccinated, said she’ll be prepared and feels safe.
“I will take my own Lysol can and spray the seat,” she said. “Even in hotels.”