Election anxiety is scrambling Americans’ travel plans

Written by Parriva — October 28, 2024
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Anxiety around the 2024 vote is causing some consumers to rethink where, when and with whom to travel, industry experts and travel agents say. Federal authorities, meanwhile, say their security procedures are sound heading into Election Day, Nov. 5.

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian recently told CNBC he expected consumers to take “a little bit of a pause” in the weeks around the election, as the carrier has seen in the past. “People like to be home during the election period. They don’t want to be out traveling,” he said. “I don’t think they want to be spending money until they understand what’s going to happen.”

While the pandemic upended travel during the 2020 vote, Delta also saw demand flag in the run-up to the 2016 ballot before bookings rebounded in subsequent weeks. United Airlines executives said this month that they expect a similar pattern and “don’t think there’s anything to be surprised by.”

Still, 64% of U.S. adults said they would avoid traveling in the U.S. out of concerns about unrest, depending on who wins, according to a recent poll by the travel site the Vacationer. About a quarter said they’d stay home only if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected, while just 16% said they’d hold off only if former President Donald Trump wins; 24% said they’re staying put no matter the outcome, and nearly 36% said the outcome wouldn’t affect their plans.

Businesses are also on alert, said Kelly Soderlund, a spokesperson for the online business travel management company Navan. Its domestic flight bookings are down 19% for the week of the election compared with the same week last year. Bookings for the following week, though, are 42% higher than the preceding seven days and 82% higher than the equivalent week a year ago.

The 2024 race has been deeply polarizing, with GOP lawsuits over voting procedures already mounting in battleground states and the Republican ticket repeatedly hedging their remarks about the 2020 race and their willingness to accept the current one’s outcome. Officials are tightening security at polling places and surrounding both campaigns, after two assassination attempts on Trump and widespread reports of threats toward poll workers.

The Transportation Security Administration “always remains vigilant in this heightened global threat environment,” a spokesperson said, adding that federal air marshals “continue to carry out critical in-flight security missions” and other duties to keep travelers safe. “We prepare for all contingencies and employ multiple layers of security that are seen and unseen.”

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