With the airline industry trying to balance crew shortages, a bounce back in travel demand, inflation, and ever-changing pandemic safety measures, to use the word concerned is being kind.
Insuranks, an online insurance comparison marketplace and educational platform, wanted to know how Americans feel about their air travel experiences so far in 2022, and just how many are planning to travel for the upcoming holiday season. They surveyed over 1,000 people to get details about their travel plans and learned how much money Americans have lost to travel disruptions and delays (it hasn’t been cheap!) and how many are buying insurance to protect themselves in this chaotic period of air travel.
Traveling in 2022
You heard it here: travel has made a comeback! Almost half (44%) of Americans have flown at some point already this year. Considering how the COVID-19 pandemic halted travel plans across the nation during the past two years, this is good news for airlines.
As Americans return to the sky, some are remembering how stressful traveling can be, but it looks like most are just glad to go on an adventure. When asked how they felt about their travel experience, most Americans felt either happy (35%) or neutral (45%). A small 15% felt annoyed, and 5% felt frustrated.
Do Americans stay loyal to a single airline, or does affordability matter more?
The most popular airline among survey respondents is Southwest Airlines (18%), followed by Delta Airlines (17%), and 15% just book whichever airline is cheapest.
Of those who haven’t traveled by air this year, 1 in 3 plan to at some point in 2022. Most are planning to travel for a vacation (53%), to see family (34%), and to see friends (25%). Others plan to travel for Thanksgiving (9%), Christmas (13%), Labor Day weekend (4%) or a different holiday (5%).
Many Americans turned to road trips during the pandemic, but that may be changing due to rising gas prices. Unfortunately, airfares haven’t been immune to price hikes. In fact, 79% of Americans feel that flights are too expensive this year.
Inflation, Delays, Lost Luggage, Oh My!
Speaking of spending money on travel, Americans who have flown or plan to have spent an average of $729.86 each on flights this year. Almost 3 in 4 (72%) bought one round-trip ticket. 18% bought two round-trip tickets. Just 1 in 10 bought more than 2 round-trip tickets.
71% of those who plan to travel are worried about delays and cancellations for their upcoming trip, but 77% do not plan to purchase travel insurance.
Those who haven’t traveled and don’t plan to say it’s mainly due to how expensive travel is and inflation (67%). 44% are worried about COVID-19 and monkeypox, 32% don’t have a reason to travel, 25% never planned to this year anyway, 16% are worried about delays and cancellations, and 13% just don’t want to.
Travel Woes in 2022
Air travel hasn’t been smooth for Americans this year. 39% of those who’ve flown have had a flight delay. 4% have had their flights canceled. An unlucky 8% have had flights delayed and canceled, and 6% have had their luggage lost by an airline.
Almost 1 in 10 (8%) of American travelers have lost money because of delays and cancellations this year and lost $243 each on average. It’s no wonder that 7% regret not buying travel insurance prior to their trip.
When asked if they themselves canceled or delayed their travel plans due to disruptions, 16% say they postponed their plans, 6% canceled, and 6% both canceled and postponed their plans.
But travel disruptions aren’t exclusive to taking off and landing on time. 1 in 5 Americans have had their luggage lost by an airline in the past. 27% have stopped flying with a particular airline because of a previous bad experience. 39% have had a bad experience at an airport (and 26% avoid certain airports when booking travel).
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