Travellers are shrugging off inflation and working around anticipated flight disruptions for the holidays based on the results of the Global Rescue Fall 2022 Traveller Sentiment and Safety Survey. Despite inflation and the rising cost of travel, the majority of travellers (70%) have not cancelled or postponed an international or domestic trip. To overcome airline staffing issues, more than half of travellers (55%) will fly nonstop whenever possible to minimize potential flight disruptions due to airline staff shortages during the fall and winter holidays.

“In the face of airline disruptions and the rising cost of travel, travellers are sticking with plans to travel,” said Dan Richards, CEO of Global Rescue, the world’s leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services and a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Two-thirds (66%) of travellers will journey domestically for Thanksgiving or a similar holiday at the end of November, and 59% will travel domestically for the holidays during December, according to the survey.

“Travel is back to pre-pandemic levels and that means heavy crowds at airports. Travelers should book nonstop flights whenever possible to avoid delays or cancellations due to airline staff shortages. They should join a trusted traveller program like TSA PreCheck to move through security faster,” said Harding Bush, a former Navy SEAL and manager of security operations for Global Rescue.

Inflation is not curbing most traveller spending behaviour. Nearly half (47%) of travellers are not making any changes while on travel but among those who are 11% are flying on less expensive plane tickets, 10% are lodging at less costly places, 8% are eating out less or at less expensive restaurants and another 8% are traveling for fewer days, only 4% are reducing or not buying souvenirs or gifts during their trip, according to the survey.

The survey also revealed growth in business travel, although not back to pre-pandemic levels. According to the survey, the majority of business travellers (71%) have already resumed business travel while another 14% expect to go back to business travel by summer of 2023.

Bleisure travel — a portmanteau of business and leisure that refers to a growing trend of business travelers tacking leisure days onto a work-related trip — may boost the return to business travel. The survey revealed that the majority of business travellers (73%) plan to use bleisure travel and take a few extra days for personal enjoyment following a business trip.

“Whether you’re an employer looking to use bleisure travel to incentivize a return to business travel or an employee looking to take advantage of it in the future, it’s important employers make certain their duty of care legal requirements are comprehensively detailed,” Richards said.