The calendar may say May, but it already feels like peak summer at the airport.
I’ve noticed longer lines, bigger crowds and shorter tempers at several airports over the past few weeks, and between European strikes, airline meltdowns, labor shortages and school breaks it’s probably only going to get worse.
Hopper is expecting nearly 17 million Americans to fly this Memorial Day weekend. Airports are expected to be the busiest on Thursday, Friday and Monday, especially in the mornings and early evenings.
I flew through O’Hare Thursday morning and even TSA Precheck had a line, which I’ve only experienced twice in the past two years.
If you’re flying through Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles or Vegas, you’ll want to arrive extra early as Hopper predicts these will be the busiest American airports over the holiday weekend.
A few other tips for your summer travel:
Make it a carry-on only summer. This will make it easier for you to rebook if you’re delayed.
Use Airtags to track any checked bags and bring an extra in case you’re forced to check your carry-on because of a full flight.
Remember, TSA Precheck checkpoints often close early. At Newark and O’Hare, you’ll have to go through regular security after 8 p.m.
Avoid tight connections. The days of holding flights for connecting passengers are over, so plan accordingly. A half-hour is not a long time to dash across an airport. At some airports, even an hour will feel tight.
I’ve got a few trips planned for the summer, but at the moment I’m still enjoying the post-travel bliss from a trip to Europe that took me to Ireland, France and Luxembourg. I tried falconry in County Kerry, meandered the streets of Montmartre in Paris, saw lots of old friends and checked out some very cool museums.
I’m currently in Portland, Ore., a place I haven’t been in 15 years. I spent most of my first day in town perusing Powell’s Books. It may not be as Instagram-worthy as other bookstores, but this gigantic independent bookstore may just be my favorite in the world.
I have so many stories to share with you, but for now, I’ll leave you with this photo of me in Ireland giving side-eye to a baby owl.
Need a last-minute summer vacation idea that doesn’t involve expensive flights to Europe? Try Alaska. Holland America is offering 50% off last-minute cruises to Alaska. Fares start at $329 for sailings in early June.
Southwest Airlines is having another $59 one-way flight sale. You'll need to book three weeks in advance and travel by November 1.
One of the things I love most about freelance writing is the variety of projects I’m able to pursue in different spheres. And while I love travel writing, I’ve spent the past several months working on two big projects with the Online News Association.
First, I worked with ONA to update its Covid-19 Misinformation Playbook. The playbook is aimed at supporting journalists covering the lingering impact of the pandemic, long Covid and public health more broadly. If you work in a newsroom, this resource is for you.
I also worked with ONA to update its Information Equity Database, a collection of resources aimed at helping newsrooms identify audience gaps in information equity and to better serve all audiences.
And here’s a piece I wrote for Conde Nast Traveler on the best cruises to the Galapagos.
There are routes where flights can still be pretty empty. As I detail in my post on my Substack about my short trip to Sydney a week ago, there were 150 open seats at the back of the plane on my SFO-SYD flight, and about 100 coming back SYD-LAX. About three weeks earlier, I also had pretty reasonable loads between Seattle and Istanbul. But I get it that most routes are getting pretty full and travel to Europe is going to be very tight over the summer.