Pack your bags
It's time to start daydreaming: Summer travel season is on the horizon, which means it's time to take action on all the social media travel inspiration you've been saving all winter. Maybe it's planning to be a tourist in your own city for a fun staycation. Maybe you'll scale a mountain at a national park. Perhaps 2024 is your year for a Eurotrip with your best friends. Or perhaps a low-cost, high-vibes road trip is your preferred getaway.
No matter your definition of travel, the next few months present unique opportunities (and good weather!) to explore places near and far.
👋 Nicole Fallert here and welcome to Your Week, our newsletter exclusively for Paste BN subscribers (that's you!). This week, we talk with Paste BN travel reporter Zach Wichter about everything you need to know ahead of the summer travel season.
But first, don't miss these stories made possible by your Paste BN subscription:
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Hopefully fewer meltdowns and more margaritas
Summers 2020 through 2023 were defined by challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, from lost luggage to high flight costs. But this year marks a true normalization of the travel industry, Paste BN travel reporter Zach Wichter says. Airfares are down as pent-up pandemic-era demand evens out. That means this year is a good time to consider venturing somewhere new, especially if it's a destination that had been shuttered to visitors.
"The big thing this year is that people have flexibility in where they want to travel," Wichter said. "Certain markets were closed longer than others. Now people can have their pick of things more."
One area that has resurged is Asia, he said. Countries like Japan that were closed to American visitors during the pandemic are now welcoming foreign tourists, igniting interest among travelers to go farther from home than in the past few summers.
And while you might be rushing to catch a flight connection or make a coveted hotel reservation, this summer should feature fewer meltdowns than recent years, Wichter said (recall: piles and piles of lost baggage at airports).
"As hiring has recovered, that's not driving issues anymore," Wichter said, adding that the odds your bag gets lost is very, very low. You may still navigate big crowds in popular travel destinations.
The rise of remote work and flexible time-off schedules means travel seasons have shifted, bringing new opportunities for affordable trips this summer when traffic is down.
"It used to be that a lot of travel was in just a few weeks," Wichter said. "Because people are flexible to work remotely, we're seeing a bit more variability in 'shoulder seasons' adjacent to peak travel times spreading out the demand."
And if you've read recent headlines about Boeing, which has been the focus of numerous high-profile investigations regarding the safety of their aircraft, Wichter says not be worried about air travel. Flying remains the safest way to travel by far, he said.
"At end of the day, the fact that Boeing is under all this scrutiny means the system is working," Wichter said. And the Federal Aviation Administration is up for reauthorization, meaning new directives for the agency could change passenger-facing regulations.
There's also exciting new changes after the Biden administration announced airlines must provide passengers automatic cash refunds when flights are canceled or delayed. This change should help smooth out passenger gripes with travel troubles, Wichter said, but he'll be following how the rollout goes for Paste BN's travel section.
A travel reporter's tip: Book your travel ASAP!
"You don't want to delay for too long," Wichter said. "It's import to do that extra bit of research to find the trip that works for you − any any deals."
Thank you
Zach's reporting is my go-to resource for travel news. What would I do without his advice?! I hope you have fun planning summer travels, wherever they take you. Thank you for supporting this and all of Paste BN's reporting.
Best wishes,
Nicole Fallert