Airmageddon 2022: Why has air travel become so miserable?

Air travel in the summer of 2022 has been, well, turbulent. What’s making flying so bad right now? Have we ever seen this level of disruption before? What can travel advisors do to help their clients who are flying this summer? On this week’s episode of Trade Secrets, we dig into it with Flight Centre’s Marc Casto. Then, after the break, we share some listeners’ tips for their fellow advisors booking air travel now.

In this episode:

1:08 - Meet our guest, Flight Centre’s Marc Casto
1:52 - What is going on with air travel? Delays and cancellations abound - why are things so bad?
3:09 - Has air travel ever been this disrupted in the past?
4:24 - What can travel advisors do to help their clients who are taking to the skies?
2:27 - If a traveler doesn’t buy a refundable airline ticket, do they have a right to get their money back?
8:00 - If an agent didn’t book someone’s ticket, can they still step in and help if they wanted to?
9:06 - There’s another big story about airlines this summer: a potential merger between Spirit and Frontier or JetBlue. Will that have an impact on the larger air travel space in general?
10:05 - Marc is a frequent traveler. Have rampant flight delays and cancellations changed the way he travels recently?
12:42 - Is there any end in sight to what’s going on with airlines?
15:02 - A PSA from Emma: Sign up for trusted traveler programs!
15:45 - An addendum from Marc: Use biometric services, too!
16:00 - And Jamie’s secret shame: She’s only had PreCheck since 2019!
17:45 - In the second half of the show, we’ll hear from two listeners: Sarah Johnson of Paper, Ink & Passports Travel, and Ronda Helton of the Travel Connection Group. They share some tips and tricks for dealing with air travel this summer.