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Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Americans slow to book summer travel amid discount hunting
By Doyinsola Oladipo and Aishwarya Jain NEW YORK (Reuters) -This year's hottest summer travel trend? Waiting for deals. Americans are scaling back travel plans from flights to drives or waiting to book only if the price is right, a tell-tale sign of an industry slowdown that's got travel companies worried. Hotel summer bookings are either flat or falling from last year, and airline bookings are down even though airfares have also declined, as economic concerns fuel a pullback in spending. Travel companies including Delta Air Lines, Marriott International, and online travel agency Booking Holdings have withdrawn or revised their 2025 annual forecasts as U.S. demand softens. Airbnb flagged shrinking booking windows as consumers take a "wait-and-see" approach and book trips closer to their check-in dates. That has left companies with less visibility into the second half of the year. Delta said in early April it was premature to project the full year given macroeconomic uncertainty. United Airlines said there's a reasonable chance that bookings could weaken. "It's very clear that consumers are waiting to make decisions, including for the summer," Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan said at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference in late May, adding that demand was stable but lower than expected in January. U.S. summer flight bookings are down 10% year-over-year, according to Flighthub, an online travel agency, even though airfares have dropped. "You can't keep an airline seat on the shelf in a warehouse. If you don't fill that seat tomorrow and the airplane flies, it's gone," Steve Hafner, CEO of Kayak, a Booking Holdings unit, told Reuters. Average summer flight prices declined 7%, with flights to long-haul destinations like Sydney, Australia 23% cheaper year-over-year, according to Kayak. Hotel summer bookings in major U.S. cities are flat-to-down year-over-year, according to data from CoStar. Average room rates are expected to rise roughly 1.3% in 2025, down from a 1.8% increase in 2024. "Travel is certainly under some pressure because people are not feeling as comfy as they once did," said Michael Chadwick, CEO of Fiscal Wisdom Wealth Management. WEAKER DOLLAR Travelers may start to find deals, such as a free third night for staying two nights, as hoteliers look to fill rooms, said Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality analytics at CoStar Group. That's what Jackie Lafferty is hoping for. Her summer plans have shifted from a possible family vacation in Hawaii or Florida to her home state of California instead. "By the time we broke down the cost of the flights, the hotel and the rental car, it looked expensive, it felt unreasonable," said Lafferty, a Los Angeles-based public relations director. The dollar's weakness has driven up the cost of overseas vacations. In March, American travelers surveyed by Deloitte had planned to increase budgets for their longest summer trip by 13%. By April, Deloitte's survey found Americans planned on spending about the same as last year. "The dollar is just not going as far and I think people are starting to realize that," said Chirag Panchal, CEO of the Ensuite Collection, a Dallas luxury travel concierge. The dollar has fallen about 10% since mid-January, when it was its strongest in more than two years. Panchal's clients, who had booked big trips to Europe last year, are either staying domestic or going to closer destinations like Canada or the Caribbean. "We might go international at the end of the summer. If we do, it will be last-minute and spur of the moment based on cheaper flights," said Rachel Cabeza, 28, an actor and fitness instructor based in New Jersey. For now, her only summer plan is a getaway to Martha's Vineyard in nearby Massachusetts. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Demand, traffic falls at Newark airport following outages
By Doyinsola Oladipo NEW YORK (Reuters) -Passenger traffic and demand have declined sharply at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport, according to data from two travel companies, after a series of air traffic disruptions prompted cautious travelers to transit through nearby airports. Since April 28, the number of travelers selecting Newark as their arrival airport declined 19% and about 15% fewer travelers chose the airport for departure, according to Booking Holdings' unit Kayak. The data suggests that reports about safety have affected traveler behavior. Travelers are braving longer commutes to avoid Newark, the second-largest of three New York metropolitan area airports, after several telecom outages. On April 28, a 30- 90-second radar and telecommunications blackout led to dozens of diversions and cancellations and raised anxieties among flyers. The thousands of daily social media conversations about the airport remain 98% negative, according to social media analytics company Sprout Social. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it will require flight cuts at Newark to address congestion. "If they can get into LaGuardia, that's their number one pick, then JFK and then Newark," Kayak CEO Steve Hafner told Reuters. "Even if they live on the west side of Manhattan, because you just can't afford to risk a three- or four- hour delay." Passenger arrivals at Newark from April 28 to May 20 declined about 13% from the year-ago period, according to Italy-based Data Appeal, a tourism data provider, while passenger arrivals to LaGuardia increased 5.7% in the same period, though JFK traffic fell 7% in that time due to reduced international travel demand. Before the outages, total passenger volumes in March were down 2.7% year-over-year at Newark, according to data from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. "I actually don't like any other airport other than Newark," said Gabrielle J., 24, of Newark who said she will fly from JFK to the Caribbean this summer. "As the outages happened, we were in the process of booking. So we were like, 'okay, now we definitely can't fly from Newark.'" Runway repairs at Newark set to be completed by June 15 have also contributed to the airport's lagging performance. "I've heard that it will hopefully get fixed by June. I would love for that to happen," said San Francisco resident Stef Anderson, 28. Anderson said her United San Francisco-to-Newark flight on May 16 was delayed by more than eight hours before eventually being canceled. She hopes her May 28 flight to Paris won't meet the same fate, because her premier silver status on United means she plans on sticking with that airline. "They have me in golden handcuffs - otherwise I would fly Alaska," she said.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
May Day protesters across US rally against Trump policies, urge rule of law
By Doyinsola Oladipo, Karen Freifeld and Rich McKay (Reuters) - Lawyers, teachers and politicians were among thousands of demonstrators across the U.S. on Thursday protesting policies on immigration, the targeting of lawyers and judges and the role of wealthy decision-makers under President Donald Trump's administration. Jennifer Vasquez Sura, whose husband Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a U.S. resident the administration sent by mistake to a prison in El Salvador, spoke at a Washington rally that was among planned protests across the U.S. organized by lawyers' groups and by a coalition of more than 200 labor unions and immigrant rights advocates. "He was illegally detained, abducted and disappeared by the Trump administration, though they admitted it was an error," Vasquez Sura said, adding her husband has endured "50 days of suffering." "For everyone watching, keep fighting," she said. The crowd responded with chants of: "Bring Kilmar home." Organizers have accused the Trump administration of prioritizing profits for billionaires and called on it to invest in working families by fully funding healthcare, housing and public schools. "It's a clear split screen between the priorities of the Trump administration and what regular people want and need," said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a consumer rights advocacy group and a co-organizer of the Washington rally. Organizers expected hundreds of thousands of protesters across the country, hoping for the biggest May Day Protests in U.S. history. Previous protests have garnered thousands of attendees since Trump returned to office. Federal workers have been fired as Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, a top adviser heading a new Department of Government Efficiency, have moved to slash government departments and fire workers. U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar told a crowd in Washington the administration's actions were "eliminating oversight so corporations can exploit workers without consequences." Days after Trump celebrated his first 100 days in office with a campaign-style event in Michigan, the rallies came as Democrats sought a unified response and a galvanizing leader. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont addressed a rally in Philadelphia. In New York, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned protesters that Trump and the Republican majority in the U.S. Congress "are going after Medicaid next." Cortez, who has been touring the country holding rallies with Sanders, said she had just learned that Republicans "have stopped and suspended next week's Medicaid cuts because they are getting too scared ... But our fight is not over because they have only suspended" the cuts to Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for low-income Americans. She said there were 6,000 protesters in New York City and tens of thousands more demonstrating in Philadelphia, Idaho, Los Angeles, Denver, and Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. Also in New York, hundreds of lawyers attended a separate "National Law Day of Action" event near Manhattan's imposing federal and state courthouses. Law Day is marked annually on May 1. The lawyers chanted, "Respect our judges, give support. Stand behind them, and the court." Some prominent law firms have pledged millions in free legal work and made other concessions to Trump in efforts to get him to rescind punitive measures against them. Others have filed lawsuits challenging his orders and have been supported by law professors, advocacy groups, state attorneys general, former top legal executives at large companies and others. Federal judges have claimed the Trump administration has failed to comply with court orders regarding foreign aid, federal spending and the firing of government workers. The administration disputes it has defied judges. Among the speakers in Manhattan was Stuart Gerson, who served President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, as an assistant attorney general and also served President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, as acting attorney general. "This is about country, not about party," Gerson told the crowd, recalling what Bush told him when Clinton asked him to serve in his cabinet. "You don't pledge fealty to an individual, you pledge fealty to the Constitution." Marc Walkow, 56, a lawyer from Manhattan, held a sign at the rally that said, "Protect the rule of law." "Sadly, somehow the rule of law has become a progressive ideal, not a universal ideal," Walkow said.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stock market uncertainty makes many Americans wary of spending on travel
By Doyinsola Oladipo NEW YORK (Reuters) -Kimberly Hilliard, co-founder of a five-year-old travel agency in Maryland, says at this time of year she usually fields up to 10 inquiries a week from clients eager to book vacations, but for much of the past month her phones have gone quiet. The unusual lull in Hilliard's business followed a plunge in U.S. share prices in early April, when the major stock indexes recorded their biggest percentage declines since 2020 on fears about the impact of President Donald Trump's trade tariffs. Even her existing clients, many of whom she has worked with for months to chart their vacations for the year, have stopped calling, at least for now, to finalize their plans. That is likely because their financial outlooks have suddenly become murky, said Hilliard, co-founder of Front Porch Travel Co, based in Annapolis, even though stocks have made a shaky, tentative recovery from their April lows. "What's going on with the market and the economy right now is probably having an impact on them making up their mind on whether or not they're going to pull the trigger and take this trip or not," she said. Economists have widely predicted that the tariffs Trump imposed on the country's trading partners, and escalating trade tensions with China, would weigh heavily on the U.S. economy and could spur inflation in the months ahead, unless his administration changes tack. With the value of 401(k) retirement accounts shrinking, many budget-conscious Americans appear to be hesitant about discretionary spending, particularly on travel, industry experts say. Many people are looking to spend less on vacation or even stay at home altogether. U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated to a near three-year low in April. Even before that, U.S. spending on both lodging and tourism-related activity in March was down about 2.5% year-over-year, according to Bank of America data based on total credit and debit card spending per household. Airlines have little clarity on how consumers will behave in the face of a potentially worsening economy. Carriers including Delta Air Lines and Frontier Group, the parent of Frontier Airlines, have withdrawn their full-year forecasts as a result. Tiara Moore, 36, said she watched in bewilderment as her combined investments fell $20,000 while she was on a recent vacation in Belize. "I travel just because I do have more security," said the marine ecologist and founder of the non-profit Black in Marine Science, referring to the value of her investment portfolio. "So when I see losses like that, that makes me feel like, oh, I need to put more cash in my emergency fund versus spending it on travel." Moore said she was cancelling all non-essential travel this year and only plans to travel for her wedding in Las Vegas next month. 'CANCEL FOR ANY REASON' Travel agents say those clients who are still looking to book holidays are choosing to skip international vacations and stay closer to home. Others want a way out of their travel plans if things get worse. "They are asking more questions about cancellation policies and wanting refundable rates," said Jennifer DiDonna, owner of Amazing Journeys & More, a travel agency based in Morganville, New Jersey. "I have also been selling more travel insurance policies lately," she added. InsureMyTrip, which sells travel insurance, said purchases of policies including the "Cancel for Any Reason" benefit increased 30% in March compared with the same time last year. From December 2024 to March 2025, insurance sales increased 23%, according to the company. The United States remains the largest source of international visitors to Italy and France, but in March flight searches to those countries from the U.S. for the next six months decreased about 12%, said Mirko Lalli, CEO of the Data Appeal Company, a tourism data provider. Searches to the United Kingdom declined 23%. Herman Sims, 66, from Dallas, Texas, said he and his wife had planned to spend the July 4th weekend visiting friends in New Jersey, but changed plans after seeing that the two-day trip would cost roughly $2,000. Sims, a night operations manager for a trucking company, said his 401(k) retirement account shrank when the stock market took a nose dive in response to Trump's initial April tariff announcement. Although the account has started to recover, the couple will spend the holiday closer to home in Tennessee amid the economic uncertainty. Sims said his main worry was the health of the economy, mostly for the sake of his children and grandchildren. "I'm hoping that we won't slip into a recession that's going to affect them in the future," he said. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Many Canadian 'snowbirds' in US looking to pack up and fly north
By Doyinsola Oladipo and Mrinalika Roy (Reuters) -The number of Canadian "snowbirds" planning to sell their second homes in sunny Florida and Arizona has surged this spring, many of them put off by the sudden chill that has blanketed relations between their homeland and the U.S. Real estate agents say they are seeing more Canadians cashing out, further softening property prices in warm-weather states that have long attracted retirees and tourists from cold and snowy Canada. Canadians spent close to $6 billion on U.S. real estate from April 2023 to March 2024 - making up 13% of all foreign transactions - more than any other nationality, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Nearly half of the homes purchased by Canadians were for vacation purposes, with Florida, Arizona and Hawaii ranking as the top markets. Last week, Tracy and Dale McMullen sold their vacation home in Buckeye, Arizona, a property they owned for five years. The Alberta residents, who usually spend four to five months in Arizona a year, said they are not planning to come back. "We decided to sell the property after the current POTUS took office," said Dale, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated for the second time in January. "It was time to leave. We felt we could not trust what he might do next to us as individuals and to our country. We no longer felt welcome nor safe." Canadians are feeling stung by the actions and words of the Trump administration, which has imposed steep trade tariffs on its northern neighbor, threatening Canada's export-dependent economy. Trump's repeated suggestions that Canada should become a U.S. state, and his derogatory references to now-former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "governor" have annoyed Canadians and offended their national pride. As a result, many Canadians are boycotting U.S.-made goods, such as bourbon and produce and canceling trips to U.S. destinations. Canadian return flights from the U.S. fell 13.5% in March from a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada. Canadian-resident return trips by automobile fell about 32%. Real estate is now facing a similar pullback in demand. Laurie Lavine, a realtor in Arizona who helped the McMullens with their sale, told Reuters that he currently has 18 listings from Canadians looking to sell, compared with the usual two to four per quarter. Trade friction and the current weakness of the Canadian dollar are also contributing to the pullback, Lavine said. Canadians are also feeling "picked on," with U.S. border agents enforcing stricter rules on entering the country, he added. Beginning this month, the Trump administration is requiring all foreigners 14 or older to register and submit fingerprints if they stay beyond 30 days. Canadians, who previously could visit for up to six months without a visa, are subject to the new requirement. FLORIDA HIT HARD The sour feelings that many Canadians suddenly feel toward the U.S. are having a big impact on the property market in Florida, one of the closest warm-weather states to Ontario and Quebec, Canada's most populous provinces. "South Florida's residential market has for decades been reliant on the annual influx of Canadian snowbirds who either own property and pay property tax or rent for the winter months - either way, a boost to the economy," said Ermengarde Jabir, a director of economic research at Moody's Analytics. The first quarter is typically the peak buying season for condominiums in the region, coinciding with when many snowbirds are in town, said Andrea Hartmann, managing partner of the Sandy Hartmann Group, a real estate firm in the Tampa Bay area. "Since the beginning of the year we have not received an offer from a Canadian buyer even once, and normally we would," she said. Florida's housing market is already reeling. Prospective buyers have faced rising insurance premiums, concerns over climate change and a series of devastating hurricanes in recent years. In the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region, mortgage lock volume for second homes - or the number of buyers securing rates ahead of purchases - fell 25% on a year-over-year basis in the first quarter of 2025, according to Optimal Blue, a mortgage technology and data company. "Now with the political issue, the cost of maintaining a place here in Florida and the insurance, a lot of them decided to sell and go," said Ken O'Brian, owner of Southwest Coast Realty in Naples, which has specialized in helping Canadians purchase properties in Florida for about 20 years. "There is no incentive to come to the States anymore," said Donny B., a native of Ontario who is looking to sell his two investment properties in Florida. Like many snowbirds interviewed for this story, he declined to give his surname, saying he feared backlash. He said he decided to sell because of the political uncertainty, the exchange rate and concern about whether Floridians would still welcome Canadians in the current climate. "I got down here on Wednesday and I was nervous. I'm like, 'are people going to be 'pissed off' at me?'" Other states have started to see an exodus as well. Agents in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, California, are working with Canadian sellers who are quietly preparing to let go of their second homes, said Fatima Malik, global real estate advisor at Engel & Volkers Beverly Hills. "Some are holding back to see how things play out, but others are already shifting their sights toward places like Portugal, Mexico, and parts of France," she added.
