Tips For Labor Day Travel During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Labor Day Weekend is often a last chance for families to take a summer vacation. But with the coronavirus pandemic, people are changing their plans. 55% of Americans canceled their Labor Day travel plans this year, according to survey from NerdWallet.

“This Labor Day is not gonna look much like last Labor Day,” says NerdWallet travel expert Sara Rathner. She says families who went forward with travel plans will see changes. “Once you get to your destination, things are going to look different. Hotels and airlines have social distancing policies in place. A lot of cities and states have restrictions and even quarantine measures in place,” Rathner says.

The NerdWallet survey found most Labor Day travelers are skipping flights and choosing to drive close to home. But everyone needs to be prepared for last-minute changes. Rathner says, “Even right up before you leave, check policies with the hotel you're staying in, the airline you might be flying, even the city that you’re traveling to. Just make sure that you have all those details."

From Orlando to San Diego, Denise Cliatt and her nine-year-old son Julian love to travel. They were looking forward to a trip with family in South Carolina this summer but decided against it because of COVID-19. “We did not want to travel by air. We were scheduled to travel and my sister and I just decided that we didn’t think that was safe,” Denise says. Thanks to travel insurance, Denise was able to get a refund for her South Carolina trip and decided to soak up the last days of summer at the beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey, just a two-hour drive from home. She's hoping things eventually return to normal so she can visit family in South Carolina next year.

NerdWallet says it’s seen a surge in people investing in travel insurance, along with hotels and airlines adopting more forgiving policies, allowing people to cancel plans without having to pay fees.