As travelers once again are taking to the skies and getting back on the road, travel woes like delays and canceled flights are also making a comeback. Cheddar News speaks with Erin Florio, Executive Editor at Conde Nast Traveler, for tips on how to best navigate summer travel.

Summer Sizzle

How to Navigate the Messy Summer Travel Season

for those on a budget. The revenge may have to wait a little longer. A staycation may do the trick bill and sticking with summer travel and all the stress that comes with it. We are here to help you navigate it all. And for that we are joined by erin Florio executive editor at Conde Nast Traveler erin Welcome to the show. We hear that this travel season, we see it it's off to a messy start mainly because airports and airlines just can't meet that surge in demand. Tell us more about that. Yeah I know I mean well thank you for having me first of all. It's so unfortunate. I feel like already I know so many people that have been affected by delayed flights or canceled flights. The bad news is it doesn't seem like it's going to get any better during the summer. But the good news is that there are solutions um you know really what's causing it is kind of this perfect storm of pilot shortages, staff shortages and we've just had a really really bad run of weather and when you have a bad run of weather um there's this cascading effect where you know the flight that should be arriving from florida to connect you to Chicago can't get there. So it makes everything sort of, it pulls everything down with it. Um But you know a lot of patience goes a long way so just remember that you know these are troubling times and at the end of it you will get your vacation. So what can our viewers do to best avoid chaos at the airport. Yeah, so there's a couple of tricks. Um one you know we're seeing there's so many cancelations and you just can't predict when it's gonna happen. So one tip I love to give is to give yourself a buffer day. Um you know, don't book your travel back on the sunday if you have to be back to work on a monday, try to come back on the saturday that way if your flight does get canceled, you still have that one day of flexibility to get yourself back home. Another tip that is really really valuable. Uh Try try to get yourself on as early a flight as possible. Flights at the beginning of the day are less likely to be canceled their flights later on in the afternoon. Um And also you know thinking of the afternoon at summer, those afternoon storms roll in and they, you know, they mean business. So try to avoid flying over the hours where you know that the weather might just not work in your favor. Those are great tips. Now all of us have noticed this errand especially at the register, everything is costing more nowadays when we think of travel, where where are we seeing the biggest signs of inflation, what does a traveler need to do to cut those costs? Yeah, sure. I mean, you know we're feeling in the airline prices were feeling it at the gas pump as you said before. Um you know a tip I would give is when you do see a flight that feels like it's a reasonable price book. It always read the fine print, make sure you get a flexible ticket but go ahead and book it if you do catch a good fair um, you know, another place at the gas pump road trips or you know the classic american summer pastime and I'm not willing to let that go just because the price of gas is so high, so just be a little more reasonable, you know, maybe this year isn't the year that you're driving from new york to Los Angeles, you know, taking that epic road trip, stay a little closer to home, make your trip a little bit shorter, it's gonna help you in the long run. Um, and you know, also consider the train or Amtrak. There could be scenarios where the price of your train ticket will actually maybe be a little bit less than what you might spend on gas and parking. So look at alternate arrangements and for transportation as well. When we think of a combination, many are now weighing whether to stay at a hotel or a short term rental like Airbnb, what are the pros and cons of each Sure, I mean the hotel I think is always, you know, there's a lot more accountability at a hotel, there's a sense of reliability, especially if you're booking with, you know, a big brand like Marriott, which can make you feel a little more safe. Another bonus. I think two hotels is that during covid they've really repositioned themselves to accommodate remote work travels, travelers and longer stay travelers. So if you're thinking that you know, we're gonna book a vacation, I'm gonna have to do a little bit of work while I'm there. Hotels are really well equipped to accommodate you right now. Um of course, you know, Airbnb can always, is always like a nice option, especially if it sort of like a last minute travel. Um, you can find some, you know, good deals on houses that are still available close to you. So do the research. I I can't stress this enough for all aspects of travel. Do the research be flexible and make a really smart decision based on what your travel circumstances and availability are and has anything changed in the hospitality industry since the start of the pandemic that us the travelers should know about? Well, I think one thing that's really, really beneficial is that at the beginning of covid we saw so much of the industry become extremely flexible, flexible on flights if you wanted to cancel or you needed to rebook, hotels are being more flexible. Cruise lines are being more flexible and a lot of that has largely remained in place, which is good news for travelers, especially right now when things still feel a little bit precarious, but you don't want to not take that trip and I can't stress this enough, we should all be traveling, we should all be taking those trips, we deserve it. Just find the right way to do it. So that's one place where it stayed, where you will still feel changes that a lot of you know the, the traveler really has a lot more power in the industry now. Um And again I think another thing I know I just said it but um the way hotels are accommodating guests um and the new needs of guests, you're going to feel that too alright and for people who are still searching for a vacation destination, what are some good affordable options? Right, well affordable is a very subjective term but you know I, I live in new york city and one tip that I've been giving to my friends for this summer is to go to places like the North Fork of Long Island. Um they've just opened up a great new hotel called the shows, its beautiful, very charming. You're gonna love it. It's like a much more affordable uh burden of the Hamptons. Um you know another place could be out in Utah, a great brand called under canvas which does the most beautiful glamping retreats. You'll find them in maine, you'll find them in a few other places in the us, they just opened in Utah. So if you want to get, you know a taste of the national parks this summer, pick pick, pick a, pick a park that isn't, you know, Yosemite or Yellowstone or one of the big guys and and do a little bit more exploring in places like Utah, where you're gonna have great new accommodations Alright? And Floria, executive editor of Conde Nast Traveler, Thank you so much.