With US International Travel Reopening, Expect Higher Prices and Longer Lines

We’re fast approaching November 8, the date the United States’ new system for international travel goes into effect, and fully vaccinated foreign visitors can enter the country under a simpler and more inclusive set of COVID-19 regulations.

Under the new rules, international air arrivals coming from more than 30 countries must be fully vaccinated and provide a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of boarding their U.S.-bound flight.

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The relaxation of U.S. border restrictions means that foreigners from more than 30 countries, whose citizens have been blanketly banned from entering the U.S. for the past 19 months, may visit for non-essential purposes—perhaps to reunite with friends or family or simply to vacation. That comes as most welcome news to the U.S. travel industry, which was categorically brought to its knees by fallout from the pandemic.

In its announcement earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also stipulated that airlines are to be responsible for collecting passengers’ information and passing it on to the agency for contact-tracing purposes. That’s expected to put additional strain on airport operations, since many carriers are still struggling to keep up in terms of adequate staffing levels and re-training.

Daniel Burnham, senior member operations specialist at Scott’s Cheap Flights, predicted that, with airline personnel being burdened with collecting contact information, and verifying each passenger’s vaccination status and test results, “this will likely cause crowding in the early days of implementing these new rules at many European airports,” as he told NBC News.

So, international travelers trying to fly to the U.S. are likely to encounter significant back-ups, long lines and wait times at the airport. They’re also likely to find fewer bargains on flights and accommodations, especially for hotels in popular U.S. cities, such as New York, Los Angeles and Orlando.

According to Nicholas Calio, president and CEO of the trade association Airlines for America (A4A), searches and sales for flights to the U.S. are already spiking. “We have seen an increase in ticket sales for international travel over the past weeks,” he said in a statement, “and are eager to begin safely reuniting the countless families, friends and colleagues who have not seen each other in nearly two years, if not longer.”

Of course, as demand increases, so does pricing. The cost of an international flight has risen by an average of 12 percent since last month, Adit Damodaran, an economist for the travel app Hopper, told NBC. “We expect international prices to rise another 15 percent from now until the holidays,” he added.

“Travel searches on Expedia and Hotels.com have been simmering in anticipation of the borders reopening and came to a full boil the moment the U.S. pinpointed November 8,” Melanie Fish of Expedia Brands told the outlet. “Increased demand in 2022 is likely going to mean fewer travel bargains are out there.”

“It’s expected that city hotels in the U.S. will be in high demand—a reverse in trend over the past 18 months,” explained Misty Belles, vice president at the Virtuoso travel network. “So, say goodbye to low rates and flexible cancellation policies.”

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