Americans are expected to travel in a big way for the country’s birthday this year.
AAA predicts “record-breaking” tourist numbers for the weekend of July 4, and the US Transportation Security Administration says it’s getting ready for travel ahead of the pandemic.
Related: How to get through airport security faster
Millions of people travel this 4th of July weekend
Nearly 51 million people travel by car at least 50 miles from home over the weekend, up 2.4% from last year. according to AAA data.
The busiest travel days are expected to be Thursday and Friday leading up to the long holiday weekend. The Federal Aviation Administration predicts the busiest day at US airports will be Thursday, with over 52,500 flights scheduled; The TSA estimates it will screen 2.82 million leaflets on Friday and a total of nearly 18 million over the next seven days.
These numbers are similar to AAA’s prediction of 4.17 million travelers flying over the holiday weekend.
“TSA is staffed and ready to respond to the growing travel traffic during this holiday travel period with the technologies and resources to improve security performance,” said David Pekoske, administrator of the TSA. , efficiency and passenger experience at security checkpoints”. declare.
“With the planned rollout of new pay for all TSA employees starting in July… our growing employee retention has resulted in a sufficient number of employees to meet daily demands. increasing number of passengers across the country. We hope that the number of passengers will continue to increase.”
Will US airports recover this weekend?
But the big question is whether all of these flights will actually take off and operate as planned.
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Starting last weekend and continuing until today, there have been more than 30,000 flights delayed and canceled in the US, with many hubs around airports in the northeast. To date, LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) are the airports affected. most affected. However, the effects of delays in the east can be felt through the network, especially among airlines with the largest presence in those regions.
With this intense test of the network coming up on some of the busiest flight days of the summer, a real challenge right now is not only delays and cancellations but also a limited opportunity to be rebooked to another flight within a reasonable period of time . It will take days, not hours, for some passengers to re-arrange. For example, right now, United has no non-stop economy class seats for sale from the NYC to Miami area until Sunday, four days from now.
And with wet weather forecast in parts of the northeast this weekend, it’s unlikely that everything will return to normal and everyone gets where they want to be by the end of the week at the earliest. And depending on additional weather effects, it could take longer than that.
Related: What to do when your flight is delayed or cancelled
Tips for managing busy travel days
Use your express security programs
While it may be too late to help with TSA lines this week, now is the time to sign up for accelerated security programs like Pre-check TSA And Ventilation if you have not already done so.
For $78, a TSA PreCheck membership allows users to bypass security using a dedicated line for PreCheck users, wherein they don’t have to take off their shoes, belt, or light jacket or get to their computer carry-on or liquid out of your bag, as regular TSA passengers do. The PreCheck membership is valid for five years. For just $22 more you can get Global Entry for expedited customs clearance after international travel, this also includes PreCheck membership.
Like with TSA PreCheck, Deleting a user initiates a secure process in the Delete Only lane, in which users are biometrically identified through fingerprint or iris scanning, eliminating the need for them to present identification at any time during the security check. The user is then brought to the front line for a machine security check; they will go to the front of the PreCheck screening line — for those with Clear and PreCheck — or to the front of the regular TSA screening line. The annual Clear membership is $189.
While each program requires the user to pay a subscription fee, there are a number of airlines, hotels, and other programs. credit reimburse cardholders for registration fees associated with Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, including:
Although not many, but there is one some credit cards expand their Clear Plus membership among their benefits, including Platinum card from American Express, Business Platinum Card from American Express, Centurion Card from American Express and American Express® Green Card. All Delta SkyMiles . co-branded Amex card and all US credit card offer a discount ($149) to Clear.
Children under 18 can access Clear for free with adult members and families can add up to three adults to their primary membership for $60 per additional person per year.
Information about the Centurion Card has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Be proactive with your plans and contingency plans
Travelers are advised to monitor their flight status by monitoring the weather, using the airline’s app, Flight Aware, etc. to get real-time flight updates such as delays. or cancel the trip.
If you want to actively choose different plans, there are many airlines with weather waivers. For example, Delta Air Lines currently has a except for travelers flying through New York City airports through Wednesday. unified is now in effect through Thursday for many northeast airports.
If your flight is affected, know which other airlines have flights for your desired route in case you need to rebook at the last minute. Also, get a feel of airline customer service approachWhether equal to phoneapp or Twitter.
You should also think twice about whether there are reasonable air ways to get to your desired destination in the event your flight is affected as rebooking options will be difficult for those with a flight. flight is cancelled.
Related: Credit cards offer built-in travel protection
bottom line
The July 4 travel period turned out to be a major test for the airlines, FAA and TSA. Airlines are continuing to try and recover from what started the weekend of delays and cancellations powered by mother nature and FAA as we enter one of the busiest travel days of the summer.
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