# Bad Time to Travel



## Packerjohn (Apr 2, 2022)

As a senior there are 2 times that I never travel: Christmas and Spring Break.  If you are wondering why, just look at what is happening at Manchester Airport in the UK.  Sort of makes me glad that I'm enjoying the scenery right in my own home.

If you read the article after the photo it does mention that one of the cause of so many people lined up is due to a lack of baggage handlers.  It says that when the pandemic is more or less over and people are now wanting to travel, it seems that the employees that were let go (read: fired) do not want to come back to work.  I find it rather amusing because I wonder about the media these days.  Yesterday I read an article telling me that home heating prices are up on April 1 and they will be up again in October.  This article mentions that so many Brits are suffering.  Well, the photo with the long lines at Manchester Airport tells that there is a bunch in the UK loaded with money (read: good credit) that are not worried about the price of home heating and seem to have a  lot of pound sterling to travel and have a good time.  Perhaps a 2 class system?

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60968488


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## oldman (Apr 2, 2022)

It gets crazy down in Florida during spring break, but I enjoy getting out to the beach and watching some of the sand volleyball matches between the different schools. I stay in during evenings and let the kids do their thing. Some of these kids can get pretty wild and as I have seen in the past, youth and alcohol doesn’t match.


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## OneEyedDiva (Apr 2, 2022)

Can't blame you Packerjohn. The two shootings and fiasco in Miami during a spring break weekend (March 19th & 20th) had the mayor declaring a state of emergency and issuing a curfew. Video included:
https://miami.cbslocal.com/2022/03/21/spring-break-shootings-miami-beach/


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## charry (Apr 2, 2022)

same here……every holiday, Easter, xmas etc…..or whenever kids break up from school or even weekends now !,
already there’s holdups at Dover,in Kent UK ..our ferry port, for Easter ,and it’s 2 weeks away …

we ve always travelled outside those times


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## Alligatorob (Apr 2, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> Spring Break


When I lived in Florida that was the time to do indoor things, at home!


oldman said:


> youth and alcohol doesn’t match.


It did in my youth, a bit too much!


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## hollydolly (Apr 2, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> As a senior there are 2 times that I never travel: Christmas and Spring Break.  If you are wondering why, just look at what is happening at Manchester Airport in the UK.  Sort of makes me glad that I'm enjoying the scenery right in my own home.
> 
> https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60968488


the same has happened here in the south of England at the London airports... and there's several reasons for it.

Firstly this is the first year most Brits have been able to travel since their last holiday  or non-vital  flight since Christmas 2019 and the beginning of the pandemic at the start of 2020. Brits travel all the time, as a people we're very keen on travelling abroad at any time of the year but particularly during the spring, summer and winter school breaks ( not me during the latter 3 times).

A large proportion of people ( me included) will always travel during school terms to avoid the  increased flight and hotel prices during school holiday periods.

However, since the Pandemic hit, airlines were not going anywhere and therefore had to lay off thousand of staff,  the majority were Baggage handlers... and they havn;t re-instated them or taken on new staff.  Therefore  this year, with more people travelling then ever before, due to being forcibly prevented from travel for over 2 years, and  the skeleton staff of baggage Handlers,  and check-in staff , and the slow movement of queues caused by Coronovirus testing paperwork  at the airport check in desks which some countries are still insisting on before  allowing anyone on a flight.. is already causing absolute mayhem at all the airports up and down the country.

I'm really saddened by this because  was hoping to fly soon.. but it may be that I'll have to put it on hold again for a while until the airports get this all figured out


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## Packerjohn (Apr 2, 2022)

I have spent a couple winters down in Port Isabel, Texas.  It's a wonderful place for seniors all winter until the spring break and then it really changes.  I have seen all those big rig RVs start pulling out and heading back up north just a few days before the spring break crowd comes around.  There is a 2.7 mile bridge that connects Port Isabel to South Padre Island.  We used to cross over in a few minutes.  Apparently, when the "kids" come, there are traffic jambs on this bridge which are terrible due to the fact that once you are stuck on this bridge, there is no way to turn around and you just sit and sit.  Oh yes, prices for everything go up when spring break starts.  eg:  your $2 glass of wine is suddenly $4.  Free enterprise; I suppose!
,


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## Packerjohn (Apr 2, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> Can't blame you Packerjohn. The two shootings and fiasco in Miami during a spring break weekend (March 19th & 20th) had the mayor declaring a state of emergency and issuing a curfew. Video included:
> https://miami.cbslocal.com/2022/03/21/spring-break-shootings-miami-beach/


I watched the video.  I suppose it's young people completely out of control.  Glad not to be there; at least not when the "kids" are there.


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## Packerjohn (Apr 2, 2022)

hollydolly said:


> the same is happened here in the south of England at the London airports... and there's several reasons for it.
> 
> Firstly this is the first year most Brits have been able to travel since their last holiday  or non-vital  flight since Christmas 2019 and the beginning of the pandemic at the start of 2020. Brits travel all the time, as a people we're very keen on travelling abroad at any time of the year but particularly during the spring, summer and winter school breaks ( not me during the latter 3 times).
> 
> ...


Thanks for the report.  Me, I am seriously thinking of an auto trip some place this summer.  I want to keep away from the airports, the crowds and the general mess that travel is in right now.  I doubt if I would have the patience for those long lines anymore!


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## hollydolly (Apr 2, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> Thanks for the report.  Me, I am seriously thinking of an auto trip some place this summer.  I want to keep away from the airports, the crowds and the general mess that travel is in right now.  I doubt if I would have the patience for those long lines anymore!


yes if I lived in a large country like the USA , Canada or Australia, I wouldn't feel the need to get away from this tiny overcrowded country by plane... but the roads here are overcrowded and a road trip even of a few hundred miles can often be too stressful . For example if I was to travel to Scotland , a distance of less than 500 miles, I wouldn't drive as I once would have 20 or 30 years ago.. I would always fly....

I can take a road trip of an hour or 2  and I will hopefully do that this spring and summer .. but there won't be  any huge  difference  from where I live tbh.. and I can do it in a day or an overnight stay..


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## Don M. (Apr 2, 2022)

Traveling, especially by air, has become a bit of a mess in recent months....due to Covid, and the long lines, etc., at the airports.  Weekends can be especially bad, and anything close to a holiday is a real mess.  When we go to the city, we go during the week...Mon. thru Thurs...and avoid any weekend travels.  If/when this Covid slows down, we will visit Las Vegas again....fly out Monday and return Thursday afternoon.


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## Capt Lightning (Apr 3, 2022)

Our elder daughter is visiting us having flown up from Manchester.  She said that it was absolutely manic and only got through by ducking under barriers and going down the staff lanes.  Our younger daughter plus OH flew from Manchester to Munich a couple of weeks ago, but had no problems.  They're off to Lisbon later this week via. Stansted airport.

Don't get hung up on this perceived "2 class system". This has little or nothing to do with it.  People who have always travelled will have probably saved money over the last two years and are now determined to catch up.


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## Packerjohn (Apr 3, 2022)

hollydolly said:


> yes if I lived in a large country like the USA , Canada or Australia, I wouldn't feel the need to get away from this tiny overcrowded country by plane... but the roads here are overcrowded and a road trip even of a few hundred miles can often be too stressful . For example if I was to travel to Scotland , a distance of less than 500 miles, I wouldn't drive as I once would have 20 or 30 years ago.. I would always fly....
> 
> I can take a road trip of an hour or 2  and I will hopefully do that this spring and summer .. but there won't be  any huge  difference  from where I live tbh.. and I can do it in a day or an overnight stay..


Good point about large countries.  You might be interested to know that both Poland and Canada have close to the same population; about 38 million people.  There the comparison ends.  In area we can fit 2 Polands just into my province of Manitoba which is not as large as Ontario or Quebec.  Living in North America is great for road trips.  It's a very long way from Alaska to Florida.  It's also very long from Newfoundland to California.  Google map tells me that it is 75 hours of nonstop driving from St. John's NF to San Diego, CA.  The distance is 7,164 km.  There is a lot to see along the way.

For the record I have driven rented cars in Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Republic of Ireland.  It's not so bad but you got to have nerves of steel when you have round-about after round-about when you approach some of the bigger cities.  I survived it all without any traffic mishaps but I don't think I would want to do it again.  First thing was to learn how to drive "on the wrong side" but actually the learning curve there is pretty good.  LOL


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## CinnamonSugar (Apr 3, 2022)

Thanks for the heads-up. I have two domestic trips planned in the next few months which require air travel. I will avoid the problem with luggage and just take along the small suitcase I have that is designed to fit under the seat.


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## oldman (Apr 4, 2022)

We are back to traveling within the U.S., but the price of rental cars are the highest I have ever seen. To rent a full size car in the Tampa Bay Area costs about $5-600 per week. Before the pandemic, the same car was about 50% less. When I ask about why the increases, one excuse was that the rental companies are having trouble getting cars due to the shortage of microchips.

Supposedly, this was all caused by the pandemic and the shortage of help. If I’m not mistaken, most of these chips and semiconductors are made in Taiwan and China. Maybe the U.S. should consider building our own chip plant.

Most passenger jets have at least 2000 microchips that are used for many of the plane’s avionics. I spoke with a friend at Boeing and he tells me that they have been having some trouble getting certain chips, but it hasn’t affected production yet. Hmm……


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## jimintoronto (Apr 6, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> As a senior there are 2 times that I never travel: Christmas and Spring Break.  If you are wondering why, just look at what is happening at Manchester Airport in the UK.  Sort of makes me glad that I'm enjoying the scenery right in my own home.
> 
> If you read the article after the photo it does mention that one of the cause of so many people lined up is due to a lack of baggage handlers.  It says that when the pandemic is more or less over and people are now wanting to travel, it seems that the employees that were let go (read: fired) do not want to come back to work.  I find it rather amusing because I wonder about the media these days.  Yesterday I read an article telling me that home heating prices are up on April 1 and they will be up again in October.  This article mentions that so many Brits are suffering.  Well, the photo with the long lines at Manchester Airport tells that there is a bunch in the UK loaded with money (read: good credit) that are not worried about the price of home heating and seem to have a  lot of pound sterling to travel and have a good time.  Perhaps a 2 class system?
> 
> https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60968488


When the air lines were running 95 percent FEWER flights, did anyone think that they would NOT lay off employees ? Of course they would. That happened all over the world. Some of the laid off airline employees found other jobs, which isn't at all surprising is it ? I once worked as a baggage handler here at Toronto airport, as a young man in my twenties. It is NOT a job that requires a lot of brain power. It does require some physical agility, when you have to climb into the cargo holds to move out the bags, onto the baggage carts which take them to the conveyor system. JImB.


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