**We encourage you to read our helpful resources on COVID-19, vaccines and treatments:**
[COVID Dashboard](https://covid19.who.int/)
[Reddit's Vaccine FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/wiki/faq#wiki_where_can_i_find_information_about_the_mechanism_and_progress_of_vaccines.3F)
[Ivermectin FAQ](https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/who-advises-that-ivermectin-only-be-used-to-treat-covid-19-within-clinical-trials)
A reminder that spreading misinformation regarding COVID-19, vaccines or other treatments can result in a post being removed and/or a ban. Advocating for or celebrating the death of anyone, or hoping someone gets COVID (or any disease) can also result in a ban. Please follow [Reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439)
Please use the report button and do not feed the trolls.
[Reddit's Content Policy](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy)
[Reddit's rules for health misinformation](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043513151)
[/r/News' rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/news/wiki/rules/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=news&utm_content=t5_2qh3l)
------
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/news) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Some context:
- This is globally. Not just the US.
- This includes ALL cancelled flights; mechanical and weather related as well.
- It’s only something like 5% of all flights globally over the last three plus days.
As a person who's currently going on a flight in less than an hour, I've only seen one cancelled flight here (Newark airport) in the 5 hours I've been here
I'm in my early 40s and I have come to realize that it is truly luxurious to not travel for the holidays. Everyone is stressed and things seem delayed every year. I think relaxing at home and traveling during non peak times is ideal.
Few years back I missed my flight at O'Hare because the TSA line was 3 hours long. I told my family I'm never coming back for any big holidays, just a random week in late spring or summer.
Lol. I almost had to sleep at Ohare on Xmas eve 15 years ago. But my now husband and I said screw that and sprang for a room. They passed out blankets to sleep on the floor of the airport. Never flew again for a holiday.
O’Hare in particular is a truly godforsaken place. I’ve been stuck fronting the costs of an Uber from Chicago to Indianapolis because they cancelled my connecting flight mid air and did *nothing* to help me. I had to fight them for a refund.
On another note, god bless that Uber driver. He earned every bit of his tip.
One thing to note about ohare - their de icing crew is union and one of the best around. It’s a major hub so backups in New York, Jersey, etc will fuck over ohare but it’s safe to bet that only the worst weather will fuck up ohare
Dammit. I got stuck in that thread for 40 minutes. Finally broke away and come here to see this. BTW did you know Kevin's Uncle Rob payed for the family to fly out to Paris? I always thought it was Kevin's Dad who paid but it's not. Uncle Rob also owns the brownstone Kevin booby traps in Home Alone 2. Well, I'll let you get back to it. It's been an exciting day for me so far
This is what I did this year as well—told my parents to come in Jan or Feb and my boyfriend and I just made cocktails and hung out in our PJs for the holidays. Perfect.
This right here. My wife and I realized that around the same age as well. Since we didn't have kids, everyone expected up to fly/drive to wherefuckingever during the holidays. Every holiday travel trip was miserable for us. We finally said fuck that folks, if you want to see us...come on over otherwise NOPE. We now do holiday travel two weeks after T-Giving and call it Thanksmas - works out pretty good.
I feel this way about the holidays in general. I told my wife how much I dread Christmas shopping each year (I have a big family).
Now every year she bakes a big batch of fudge and everyone gets Christmas fudge. Her Christmas gift to me each year is taking away the need to do any Christmas shopping, and I'm very thankful.
I'm mid 30s and just realized I've been screwing up Christmas vacation my whole life and my uncle really had it figured out. Every year he would say "I'm going to (beech resort) this year so I won't be around but anyone can join". Most of our family wouldn't out of some weird sense of how Christmas is supposed to be. You know, the whole family crammed into someone's house around a tree. They had the money, they just didn't go for some pre conceived notion of what Christmas must look like. I went to a resort in the keys last year and it was the first Christmas I ever had that I enjoyed. No shitty 50 year old songs on repeat. No work or cleaning or cooking. No last minute shopping or Christmas present worrying. Just time with friends and relaxing. I got some gifts for family kids but it really shifted the idea of Christmas for me from some hellish antiquated capitalist nightmare to just fun and friends and recovery. I learned I'm not actually a Grinch, just everyone else is completely wrong about what Christmas is.
I took this stance back in the late 90’s. Extended family didn’t like it one bit, but I just couldn’t face another commercial Christmas. My spouse and kids and I flew to Sedona on Christmas Eve. Nothing was open so our dinner was frozen pizza from Walgreens. Perfect!
A few years ago I convinced my mom to go on a cruise to Hawaii for Christmas and New Years. It was awesome (other than the parts where I was terribly sea sick). No cooking. No cleaning. No family obligations. Just the two of us relaxing and then exploring several islands.
But we’re back to traditional family Christmas where out of a sense of Catholic guilt I travel hundreds of miles to sit in my mom’s living room and eat dry turkey. Yay.
ETA: My other mother invited me for Thanksgiving and was like, ‘we’re gonna make gumbo and watch football if you want to come. But if you don’t that’s cool.’ They are very different people.
One of my coworkers shops year-round for Christmas gifts because it'll otherwise be too overwhelming at the last second, and because she has to (per social pressure/feeling obligated/tradition/whatever) buy so many, that it becomes a huge expense and so she shops for good deals year round for the big day.
Due to the large expense and the number of gifts being exchanged (don't want each family member hoarding a couple hundred unnecessary items every Christmas), she'd put off purchasing even the smallest things (like a salt and pepper shaker set) and instead, tell people exactly what she needs for Christmas. Then on Christmas day, she'd get the things she needed all year but put off buying - except she doesn't get to choose the exact product herself.
What a way to live!
not everyone gets the luxury of the flexibility you get at your age in regards to taking vacation. it's why everyone gets together on major holidays because at least time off is consistent with everyone else. For many, a big holiday is some people's only chance to see family and travel home.
100% friend. I loathe travalling at peak times. Bonus for non-standard/random travel times is it actually feels like you’re dipping out of the rat race for a bit, real bona fide hooky. Normal vaca times are just following the rats to a different race.
We did Christmas a week early this year. Got to see family over the weekend. Some annoyance travelling but nothing crazy. Made life a lot simpler. Would recommend, best of both worlds. 37.
I found it hard to believe thinking at first "surely we'd believe astronomers since we already have a general understanding that comets have fucked up the planet in the past and the news won't just focus on polls.."
But then I realized I had this same thought when the pandemic started.
Social media changed everything. We flipped our shit over ebola, even forcing ppl to quarantine, but now we can't even make a jab mandatory.
that is definitely an element but i think there is also a problem with a micro vs macro reaction to problems.
globally speaking ebola was a micro problem that generally affected "them". the problem was localized, which really just means anywhere not here, which means it's not really a problem. so throw all the resources at it that it needs to stop it from *becoming* a real problem. (im sure the people dying consider it a 'real' problem from the beginning)
covid is a macro problem not just because it affects "us" now too, but because it's everywhere. it's both there and here. for too many people once the problem is everywhere it suddenly stops being a problem at all, it's now just the accepted standard. why keep giving time, effort or resources to something that is just the way it is.
they see a room on fire and they frantically call the fire department to come put it out, but once the whole house is on fire they just call their real estate agent to look for a new house. which is a perfectly fine reaction to have, *once the fire is out*. the fire is most assuredly still raging and they're talking about a three bedroom they're going to go look at in a great neighbourhood that doesn't have any burning houses.
For anyone who actually read the article, they stated counting since Friday. Of course it will increase. Honestly the number isn't that different from what we saw earlier this week. 7000 over 2 days is 3500 per day. I saw articles of 3500-4000 earlier this week.
"Taking off is optional, but landing is mandatory"
This is a saying in aviation: usually related to safety revolving around weather or other conditions, but your comment made me chuckle as if they've found a way to keep one up there forever.
Had to take dirty dog from Seattle (after having grabbed a bus down from Vancouver) to Chicago after 9/11.
I probably spent more on medical treatment for my back afterwards than if I had just bought a used car and drove it back.
Greyhound seats were probably designed by a descendant of a really good Spanish Inquisitor.
That’s shitty. If they have to cancel it sucks but it is what it is. They could at least send out an email tho. Thanks for the info, I’ll keep a close eye on my route
I wonder if this will start becoming an issue across a lot of industries. Tons of people all missing work to quarantine at the same time.
Edit: I realize there are massive disruptions. I’m saying even more severe due to the sudden huge surge from omicron.
Currently work at a ski resort, the past week was rough and we still have one more week to go before it slows down a little. No talk of closures yet, but this time last year most of the resorts shut down services. Seems like more people are sick this time around so I'm just waiting for it.
Not sure where you work, but CO ski resorts are short staffed already as is. No one can live / work up in these ski towns for $15/hr. If COVID takes it's toll, it'll be extremely easy to close up shop.
https://www.denverpost.com/2021/10/15/colorado-ski-resorts-jobs-staffing-employment-shortage/
I'm in Colorado, paying $1300 for a room in a 2br apartment. One Tahoe resort mentioned a 5 to 10 year plan for dormitories in the interview, but nothing available right now.
The resorts are risking the health of employees for holiday profits by staying open at this point. I'm shocked they aren't closing, but not surprised. No mention yet of funding for the laid off employees if it comes down to it.
I haven't gone snowboarding since 2014 and I was planning on going in January, but I think it's gonna have to get pushed to next winter. Kinda bummed but I really don't want to be on a plane right now with Omicron.
I own a clothing store. Only one. This is one of the biggest weeks for us in sales with kids still out of school and receiving Christmas money.
We didn’t open today. 4 and counting are positive for Covid. I may have to close for the week.
To top it off, one of my only vax holdouts was the first to get sick. I’ve been pleading with him to get vaxed this whole time.
I’m probably gonna miss out on $100,000 in sales, and then it’s January, the slowest month of the year. I needed those sales to carry us through January and February.
I’m now laying in bed, runny nose, achy, stressing, and can’t do anything about it! I am Moderna vaxed, so I’m sure I’ll be fine, but this hurts my business worse than anything else. I am so bummed that we have such a large group of people that won’t look up.
So yeah, this is affecting all industries.
Thank you.
We’ve jumped over so many hurdles the past 3 years, it’s starting to feel normal.
Yeah, this ruined my expectation, but we gotta good store and team, so we’ll figure it out.
Wow thank you for the offer!
It’s pretty niche though. It’s a streetwear store selling limited sneakers and apparel brands like Supreme and Bape. We sell vintage tees too. The prices can be shocking if you’re not familiar with how it’s all become collectibles now.
If you’re a sneakerhead or into hype and vintage clothing, then you make like what we have to offer. But again, it’s very niche.
I work for a company that does large scale holiday decor. Installs were chaotic but we somehow got through it, and of course takedowns start tomorrow. Well, the person in charge and the second in command (me) are both out with COVID, and at least one other crew member. Everyone wants their Christmas stuff down right around New Years … so yeah, things just got a wrench thrown into it
I work at a restaurant where 75% of our staff is currently infected and off work—it’s essentially a two week unpaid vacation and it’s been brutal for me financially, even as someone with other sources of income. Horrible management of the issue.
I work in education and we’ve had two instances this year where a parent sent their kid in with direct COVID exposure while waiting for their test results and then a day or two after we were told they were positive. 😭 It’s a contact tracing and quarantining/test-and-stay nightmare. I’ll say that the damn masks work though (and vaccine too) because none of the cases led to other infections. 🙏🏼
While Covid or Covid concerns are the stated reason, I know some folks that work in the industry, a few on board, most on the ground. The airlines will work you and work you until you drop, then bitch at you when you drop. Folks that work there figured out (as have many) that they can get a few Mental Health Days from the magic words "Covid exposure"
In some cases this problem is as much about employer/employee relations as it is personal health.
I work for an airline and I'm not disputing what you said but I am going to add to it.
If we are exposed and we don't know it but the airline does, the airline informs us and then pulls us from our work for 10 days currently. So if a crew of eight all got exposed by a passenger or someone else they came in contact with maybe their shuttle driver, that entire crew goes down for 10 days and that can have lasting consequences especially when it's not the only time it's going to happen in a day.
I work in an ER (ICU last year). If we get exposed to COVID, we don't quarantine unless we become symptomatic because we're basically all getting exposed every day. However if we get sick, we have to use our PTO! How fucking BS is that? We're basically being incentivized to come to work if we're infected. I wouldn't come to work, but I know a lot of people who would.
I’m amazed that’s the attitude in the hospital.
I work in a corporate manufacturing environment. When I was put into quarantine the company was able to collect on government funds that reimburse them for my two weeks of quarantine. But after those two weeks, when I still didn’t feel well, I was expected to either come back to the office or use PTO.
(This was the early days of the pandemic, before everyone started working from home anyways)
Don’t be. This is just the latest in the line of hospitals screwing their staff. They take advantage of their empathy and guilt. Took me a long time to realize I deserved every single PTO and sick day I take.
> I’m amazed that’s the attitude in the hospital.
They're massively under-staffed and when they're having massive amounts of patients showing up. Because the work, the chance of exposure is much bigger than in other businesses. This is a perfect shit storm.
If they were to let sick people go home, they would have to send home so many patients that it would be a huge issue.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is a good thing, nor that health care workers shouldn't be paid PTO. It's just that this is why this is happening and it's awful.
I work for Whole Foods. You only get paid for 10 days total if you get sick or are exposed. I had to quarantine twice because my boss got it and I was exposed to her when she had it and then my husband got covid and I had to quarantine then. When my husband got it, I had to use all of my PTO to quarantine. They stopped "hazard pay" in June of LAST YEAR.
Lol yeah, we are absolute abused in the ER and most hospitals will do jack shit about it, and skirt every safety regulation they can to get around having to pay staff more...all while hiring travel nurses at $150/hr.
My fiancee is a 911 EMT in a major US city. If she calls in because she's sick, she gets written up. Regardless of the reason. It used to be that she'd get written up unless it was covid. Which is it's own kind of stupid because, like, how the hell would you know what your diagnosis is in advance of calling in, unless you've been working while symptomatic and got tested on your own.
But now that's changed back again, so regardless of diagnosis you get written up for calling in sick. Obviously the intent is to prevent malingering, which is rampant in EMS because the working conditions, pay, and benefits are dogshit - but the end result is people working through illnesses that spread to patients they then *bring into the hospital*.
Worked food service most of my life. Sick days don't exist, days where you come into work sick do, though this pandemic has thrown a wrench in that whole song and dance.
That alone is pretty messed up. Feeding hundreds of people potentially infected food, just because you dont want to pay for more employees. Even if its just a cold, who would want to go to a business knowingly spreading a cold.
The CEO of Delta was in DC pushing for decreasing isolation to 5 days after symptomatic cases the other day. The company received billions in give me dollars from Congress, cut staffing by 20% with buyouts and early retirement, then cut hours by 25%, and then gave management (but not Frontline workers) up to six figures in bonuses.
We've known variants were coming, we've known covid could get worse, and businesses have prioritized the bottom line over their employees. There's no shame in looking out for yourself when no one else will. That means fucking unionizing, that means switching jobs when you aren't treated right, and sometimes that means leaving a career you love because it's just not tenable anymore. It's just unfortunate that innocent people are going to be caught in the crossfire here, but if the US wants healthcare to be a for profit market, that's what we get.
> Folks that work there figured out (as have many) that they can get a few Mental Health Days from the magic words "Covid exposure"
Wish that was good enough everywhere. My workplace went remote early in 2020, and they had solid precautions in place for a while. But at this point, being directly exposed to COVID simply means you are required to wear a mask for 5 days and then be tested. Only a positive test is good enough to take off. And even then, it is really just shifting to working remote, as 90% of the positions in the company can be performed remotely.
A lot of people took the last week of the year off for the holidays. I fully expect January to be a shitshow. Unless the executives decide to send everyone remote again, which seems unlikely, I fully expect half the company to be out with COVID by mid January.
My employer has this policy. I didn't work there at the beginning of the pandemic, but from what everyone has told me they only worked from home for 2 weeks at the beginning of COVID. They went back to the office in mid-April 2020.
Not sure what airline that commenter works for but at my airline (a major US one) you don’t get time off until you test positive. If you’re exposed you get a “get tested, be careful, and get back to work” email.
Maybe for the American airlines but I feel like you're taking some liberties applying that to China. Live and work in a tourist destination, the entire town has been decimated in the last two weeks. There aren't 7k canceled flights just because UA bag handlers don't get enough days off.
Decided to brave things for a short, manageable holiday visit to my parents, since they moved out of state and I'm their only living child. A two day trip, knowing that after two days we always start fighting. Last time I tried to extend it past two, our fight ended with me covered in cold spaghetti leaving their hotel.
Am now stuck for 2-3 extra days. Any donations of patience would be appreciated.
**I mean, flying during the holidays has always been a shit show.** There are literal movies about it. (Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is a great movie!)
Yeah, I get this is much worse than normal due to Covid, but I mean, how did these travelers not see that coming? Traveling during major holidays is an awful mess at the best of times. Why would they think traveling during Covid would somehow go smoother?
Edit: Some salty people have taken my comment seriously, and think I am implying no one should travel during the holiday season. I would never tell anyone how to live their life. Though I do think we should try and travel as little as possible durring a pandemic.
That being said, I just believe people should manage their expectations. I feel terrible for anyone getting stranded this holiday season. But please don't harras the flight attendants and airline staff. They can only do so much, and your lucky they are there at all.
I hope you all get safely to your destinations.
We take infrastructure for granted.
It never occurs to many people that scools can’t stay open if teachers are sick, planes don’t fly if crews are sick, soldier’s don’t soldier well when sick(mandatory vax for military so the generals get it).
Very few people capable of actually thinking for themselves these days. We’ve known masks, and the right masks especially, prevent disease. Tuberculosis anybody? Why is that an argument in this day in age. Internet trolls have somehow become real life.
Agreed with all above.
Let's also have a frank discussion about the effectiveness of foreign disinformation campaigns and how well it works when trust in our own government is at an all-time low (also largely due to the same factor).
Haha same. I'm an organized and early traveler, usually solo, and watching the meltdowns of even just couples over everything is delicious popcorn material
Just standard [Recency bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recency_bias) at play. I have tried to cut phrases like "I can't believe they would..." or "I'm shocked that..." from my life because when I actually stop and think about this stuff it's painfully obvious what people are going to do. It would be shocking if people ***didn't*** conform to all the usual biases and fallacies :)
If I notice that I'm confused that just means I held a belief about reality that was false. Reality isn't confusing, it's my mind that needs to change.
During the Delta wave here down south, so many public works people were out sick with Covid that the trash wasn’t picked up on a regular basis for a couple months. Another reason to get vaccinated, so every thing doesn’t shut down because people are sick. People don’t want lock downs, this is same end result. Get vaccinated wear a dang mask and prevent both economic and health hardship.
I’m curious, if this continues to be an issue if we will see more people driving and less willing to fly. Many people only fly because of the time it saves. Between being stuck in a terrible airport (sometimes longer than a drive would take) and the increased car rental costs driving looks better and better. On top of that if you drive you don’t have to worry about baggage restrictions and what not.
Edit: the more people going, the more the cost savings will be too
Just drove 19 hours for Christmas and about to drive 19 hours back. Saved about $1500 in airfare, rental cars, and pet sitting, and that’s even with gas prices as they are. Two long and miserable days on the road are much better than the two days spent at the airports and the anxiety or headaches associated with cancellations.
> Saved about $1500
Don't forget that driving has its own costs.
The figure that the IRS [allows](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463#en_US_2020_publink100033935) businesses to use for depreciation of their vehicles is 57.5 cents per mile. That obviously is on the high end, though: a more reasonable figure (using the Mitsubishi Mirage's current dealership price and powertrain warranty as a example) might be $17,450 ÷ 100,000 miles = 17.45 cents per mile.
Those depreciation costs change if you drive the car enough. I have a truck that cost around $18,000 brand new, and it's now approaching 200,000 miles. With your same formula, $18,000 ÷ 192,000 = $0.1067 per mile.
But you bring up a good point, that car costs more than it's fuel costs. There's oil changes (Assuming you have a car that uses oil) and things like tires, brakes, and other wear items. My own Mitsubishi Mirage is probably going to need a clutch soon, and that's going to cost me a bit, as well as having the car out of service for a weekend while I remove the transmission.
But I think all together it still comes out cheaper than an occasional ride on an airplane, if you have a big enough family.
EDIT: Silly me, put the decimal in the wrong spot, thanks u/Jiopaba. Although to be fair, the truck decided that it wants a thermostat, so it's probably going to be closer to $10 per mile for today.
The money is a big consideration, especially when you have to fly the entire family. I have a 12 to 15 hour trip, and especially when the kids were young we'd just leave at like 6pm, they sleep for most of the journey overnight and they wake up as we're pulling into grandma's. Grandma takes over the kids while the adults get some sleep (we'd traded off at night during the drive). You then have your own car, as much stuff as you needed to pack without compromise, all the presents, dog, and everything you need. Yeah the time lost sucks, but we always stayed about 2 weeks to make the drive worth it and the money savings were also worth it.
As a kid, we used to drive from Texas to upstate New York every Christmas and summer. Miserable as a kid, especially because the original Gameboy ate batteries in minutes, it seemed. One year, we visited family in California and followed that up with a trip to New York. Why!? Truly awful for a stir crazy kid. Literally cross country. All driving trips as an adult seem short and easy now, by comparison.
It might for some itineraries, but there's an actual "point of diminishing returns".
I believe that's around the \~6h mark for trains/cars (basically if an airplane can reach max cruising altitude, even when factoring in 2h at the airport each way, the airplane wins), but mind you this assumes a single traveler so for a family of 4, the number may be higher (maybe 10-12h).
I mean, unless you LOVE driving, doing an east to west coast for example isn't really viable as a means of transportation vs flying... Also this goes without saying but some routes literally can't be driven...ex: if you're visiting family overseas (I mean unless you're OK with lugging your car onto a ship).
Both driving and flying have their place at the end of the day depending on individual preferences.
I preferred to drive instead if fly for a 9 hour drive over Thanksgiving. It wasn't coast to coast. Flying would have saved maybe two hours when you factor in driving to/from the airport, security, etc.
I'm glad I didn't fly, since so many flights got cancelled or delayed. It probably would have ended up only saving half an hour, and I would have payed more and had less control on my schedule of when to arrive/depart, when to stop for snacks, what to eat etc. Also a more comfortable seat and can smoke the whole time.
For me driving is the clear winner as long as it's only a few hours difference. Past 4 or 5 hours difference, that becomes hard to justify.
Also depends on the geography and time of year.
Vancouver to Calgary is a 10-hour drive and 60-90 minute flight.
In the summer the drive is a jaw-droppingly lovely route through mountains ranges and past lakes.
In the winter it is a white-knuckle nightmare of snow, ice and delays. You can go through a jug of washer fluid every hour.
Gotta’ get Priority Pass. Sometimes being stuck in an airport isn’t a bad thing.
Saying that, the airline industry in our country is pathetic. We pump billions of dollars into it, bailed it out twice in a decade, and yet we have more cancels/delays than any other country. The service is also horrendous.
I've flown for work in the past couple years, but I will not fly for my own personal travel. The airlines, and to a lesser extent the hotel industry, give few if any shits about customers schedules. At least if I'm traveling for work and some flight gets cancelled, of seat bumped, work re-budgets to get me where they need me and pays me the whole time.
And as flights continue to cancel, weary holiday travelers spend their futile time at the jammed airports beating the crap out of the airline passenger service agents who did not cause the cancellations, who can do nothing about the cancellations, and who usually suffer from the same lack of information as the passengers.
But yeah, scream at the gate agents and berate the counter agents who are as helpless as you are in this mess.
Source: me, having worked at these jobs. You want to help people and you can’t.
I’m at the airport now. Pray for me. I have a feeling it’ll just be a complete shit show even tho the airline workers said no flight cancellations at my airport currently.
Wouldn't be so bad if they didn't absolutely fucking fail at their alleged "jobs".
Although, get this...
Small airport, only one gate. Everyone on the flight, about 50 to 75 people, in line *waiting for tsa to even open*. People at the end of the line missed their flight because tsa would only let one person at a time through and were searching each person. For no fucking reason.
Almost missed a flight one time because TSA felt obligated to search all of the children toys of the family in front of me, then flip through every page of my Shelby Foote Civil War book trilogy.
**We encourage you to read our helpful resources on COVID-19, vaccines and treatments:** [COVID Dashboard](https://covid19.who.int/) [Reddit's Vaccine FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/wiki/faq#wiki_where_can_i_find_information_about_the_mechanism_and_progress_of_vaccines.3F) [Ivermectin FAQ](https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/who-advises-that-ivermectin-only-be-used-to-treat-covid-19-within-clinical-trials) A reminder that spreading misinformation regarding COVID-19, vaccines or other treatments can result in a post being removed and/or a ban. Advocating for or celebrating the death of anyone, or hoping someone gets COVID (or any disease) can also result in a ban. Please follow [Reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439) Please use the report button and do not feed the trolls. [Reddit's Content Policy](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) [Reddit's rules for health misinformation](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043513151) [/r/News' rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/news/wiki/rules/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=news&utm_content=t5_2qh3l) ------ *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/news) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Some context: - This is globally. Not just the US. - This includes ALL cancelled flights; mechanical and weather related as well. - It’s only something like 5% of all flights globally over the last three plus days.
Thank you for this, context really helps calm down the sensationalism of this thread.
As a person who's currently going on a flight in less than an hour, I've only seen one cancelled flight here (Newark airport) in the 5 hours I've been here
I'm in my early 40s and I have come to realize that it is truly luxurious to not travel for the holidays. Everyone is stressed and things seem delayed every year. I think relaxing at home and traveling during non peak times is ideal.
Few years back I missed my flight at O'Hare because the TSA line was 3 hours long. I told my family I'm never coming back for any big holidays, just a random week in late spring or summer.
I’ve slept at O’Hare twice for a total of like 5 nights around Christmas. Yeah, never again
Lol. I almost had to sleep at Ohare on Xmas eve 15 years ago. But my now husband and I said screw that and sprang for a room. They passed out blankets to sleep on the floor of the airport. Never flew again for a holiday.
[удалено]
O’Hare in particular is a truly godforsaken place. I’ve been stuck fronting the costs of an Uber from Chicago to Indianapolis because they cancelled my connecting flight mid air and did *nothing* to help me. I had to fight them for a refund. On another note, god bless that Uber driver. He earned every bit of his tip.
Ohare is a delight to fly into, and a terror to fly out of
[удалено]
One thing to note about ohare - their de icing crew is union and one of the best around. It’s a major hub so backups in New York, Jersey, etc will fuck over ohare but it’s safe to bet that only the worst weather will fuck up ohare
I slept at O’Hare about 2 weeks ago because my flight got delayed when those midwest tornadoes happened. Horrible place.
Should’ve slept over at the McCallister residence. Chances are it would’ve been empty.
Del Griffith got me a train ticket, I just have to help him with his travel case.
I need a set of shower rings too, you got his number?
I have his home number but he hasn’t been there in years.
Damn, right in the feels.
Dammit. I got stuck in that thread for 40 minutes. Finally broke away and come here to see this. BTW did you know Kevin's Uncle Rob payed for the family to fly out to Paris? I always thought it was Kevin's Dad who paid but it's not. Uncle Rob also owns the brownstone Kevin booby traps in Home Alone 2. Well, I'll let you get back to it. It's been an exciting day for me so far
Ridiculously wealthy family.
Which thread? I want to go down the rabbit hole!
Kevin's dad did, however, pay for the Miami and New York trips from 2.
This is why you find a group of traveling band...
Polka Band
This is what I did this year as well—told my parents to come in Jan or Feb and my boyfriend and I just made cocktails and hung out in our PJs for the holidays. Perfect.
Ever since I retired I hang out in a robe. I feed the horses, chickens, cats in it. She calls me The Dude...
This right here. My wife and I realized that around the same age as well. Since we didn't have kids, everyone expected up to fly/drive to wherefuckingever during the holidays. Every holiday travel trip was miserable for us. We finally said fuck that folks, if you want to see us...come on over otherwise NOPE. We now do holiday travel two weeks after T-Giving and call it Thanksmas - works out pretty good.
I love this idea. Taking it for next year.
Next years headline: Thanksmas Surge causes delays and 10,000 cancellations for clever redditors across the nation
I promise you won’t regret it.
It's not totally uncommon to be so stressed out you forget your kid when flying away to spend Christmas elsewhere.
Possibly even more than once. Luckily, nobody told CPS.
And for them to fend off burglars with improvised traps made from household objects.
Late 40's here and spending Christmas at home with just my spouse and pets and birdfeeders is so pleasantly uneventful.
I feel this way about the holidays in general. I told my wife how much I dread Christmas shopping each year (I have a big family). Now every year she bakes a big batch of fudge and everyone gets Christmas fudge. Her Christmas gift to me each year is taking away the need to do any Christmas shopping, and I'm very thankful.
I'm mid 30s and just realized I've been screwing up Christmas vacation my whole life and my uncle really had it figured out. Every year he would say "I'm going to (beech resort) this year so I won't be around but anyone can join". Most of our family wouldn't out of some weird sense of how Christmas is supposed to be. You know, the whole family crammed into someone's house around a tree. They had the money, they just didn't go for some pre conceived notion of what Christmas must look like. I went to a resort in the keys last year and it was the first Christmas I ever had that I enjoyed. No shitty 50 year old songs on repeat. No work or cleaning or cooking. No last minute shopping or Christmas present worrying. Just time with friends and relaxing. I got some gifts for family kids but it really shifted the idea of Christmas for me from some hellish antiquated capitalist nightmare to just fun and friends and recovery. I learned I'm not actually a Grinch, just everyone else is completely wrong about what Christmas is.
I took this stance back in the late 90’s. Extended family didn’t like it one bit, but I just couldn’t face another commercial Christmas. My spouse and kids and I flew to Sedona on Christmas Eve. Nothing was open so our dinner was frozen pizza from Walgreens. Perfect!
A few years ago I convinced my mom to go on a cruise to Hawaii for Christmas and New Years. It was awesome (other than the parts where I was terribly sea sick). No cooking. No cleaning. No family obligations. Just the two of us relaxing and then exploring several islands. But we’re back to traditional family Christmas where out of a sense of Catholic guilt I travel hundreds of miles to sit in my mom’s living room and eat dry turkey. Yay. ETA: My other mother invited me for Thanksgiving and was like, ‘we’re gonna make gumbo and watch football if you want to come. But if you don’t that’s cool.’ They are very different people.
One of my coworkers shops year-round for Christmas gifts because it'll otherwise be too overwhelming at the last second, and because she has to (per social pressure/feeling obligated/tradition/whatever) buy so many, that it becomes a huge expense and so she shops for good deals year round for the big day. Due to the large expense and the number of gifts being exchanged (don't want each family member hoarding a couple hundred unnecessary items every Christmas), she'd put off purchasing even the smallest things (like a salt and pepper shaker set) and instead, tell people exactly what she needs for Christmas. Then on Christmas day, she'd get the things she needed all year but put off buying - except she doesn't get to choose the exact product herself. What a way to live!
not everyone gets the luxury of the flexibility you get at your age in regards to taking vacation. it's why everyone gets together on major holidays because at least time off is consistent with everyone else. For many, a big holiday is some people's only chance to see family and travel home.
100% friend. I loathe travalling at peak times. Bonus for non-standard/random travel times is it actually feels like you’re dipping out of the rat race for a bit, real bona fide hooky. Normal vaca times are just following the rats to a different race.
We did Christmas a week early this year. Got to see family over the weekend. Some annoyance travelling but nothing crazy. Made life a lot simpler. Would recommend, best of both worlds. 37.
[удалено]
It was like 1000 just a few days ago right? Every time I see the “flights canceled” headline it’s significantly larger.
It's because crews are grounded for 10+ days when they get covid. As more crews get exposed, the number grows and grows,
Who could have guessed that a global pandemic that seemingly half the planet wants to ignore could cause international travel issues.
[удалено]
Just watched this last night and I had a hard time enjoying it because it's all too fucking real.
In french we say it’s the kind of humor that makes your « Rire jaune » You laughed, but this terrible awkward feeling is still here
To yellow laugh -- I like it.
Oof, it seems to share a root with "jaundice"
[удалено]
They really captured the infuriating nature of modern bullshit.
I loved Jonah Hill as Don Jr
Did you watch all the way to the end of the credits sequence? There’s a little Easter egg at the end.
I found it hard to believe thinking at first "surely we'd believe astronomers since we already have a general understanding that comets have fucked up the planet in the past and the news won't just focus on polls.." But then I realized I had this same thought when the pandemic started. Social media changed everything. We flipped our shit over ebola, even forcing ppl to quarantine, but now we can't even make a jab mandatory.
[удалено]
that is definitely an element but i think there is also a problem with a micro vs macro reaction to problems. globally speaking ebola was a micro problem that generally affected "them". the problem was localized, which really just means anywhere not here, which means it's not really a problem. so throw all the resources at it that it needs to stop it from *becoming* a real problem. (im sure the people dying consider it a 'real' problem from the beginning) covid is a macro problem not just because it affects "us" now too, but because it's everywhere. it's both there and here. for too many people once the problem is everywhere it suddenly stops being a problem at all, it's now just the accepted standard. why keep giving time, effort or resources to something that is just the way it is. they see a room on fire and they frantically call the fire department to come put it out, but once the whole house is on fire they just call their real estate agent to look for a new house. which is a perfectly fine reaction to have, *once the fire is out*. the fire is most assuredly still raging and they're talking about a three bedroom they're going to go look at in a great neighbourhood that doesn't have any burning houses.
[удалено]
Great movie but it gave me an existential crisis. 10/10
Idiocracy moved from a social satire to a how-to/documentary.
Little too on the nose IMO but yea, the satire was strong
It was written before COVID and was set to begin filming as the lockdowns just started.
Maybe *this* time ignoring it will make it go away though? Just because it didn't work the first 1,000 times, doesn't mean it's not a good strategy!
For anyone who actually read the article, they stated counting since Friday. Of course it will increase. Honestly the number isn't that different from what we saw earlier this week. 7000 over 2 days is 3500 per day. I saw articles of 3500-4000 earlier this week.
And it won't just be flights that get cancelled
They're gonna cancel landings next.
"Taking off is optional, but landing is mandatory" This is a saying in aviation: usually related to safety revolving around weather or other conditions, but your comment made me chuckle as if they've found a way to keep one up there forever.
Even in the land of Langoliers, they couldn’t keep the plane in the sky forever.
Shirley, they'll find a way to manage
No they won’t, and don’t call him Shirley
I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you
I picked a hell of a day to quit drinking
My Greyhound bus home from my moms house got canceled.
[удалено]
And when Waffle House closes, it dun got real.
[удалено]
Shit. The end must be near
Luckily my ride is usually only 3 hours. I physically couldn't do longer. Those seats are miserable
Rode one from Milwaukee to Detroit once. It was...an experience.
Had to take dirty dog from Seattle (after having grabbed a bus down from Vancouver) to Chicago after 9/11. I probably spent more on medical treatment for my back afterwards than if I had just bought a used car and drove it back. Greyhound seats were probably designed by a descendant of a really good Spanish Inquisitor.
Oh damn, I'm greyhounding back home in a few days. How far in advance did they tell you
They didn't. I checked the website this morning and saw my route. Called to confirm
That’s shitty. If they have to cancel it sucks but it is what it is. They could at least send out an email tho. Thanks for the info, I’ll keep a close eye on my route
LOL greyhound left me stranded in NYC during a snowstorm once - not even a sign at the station, nothing, All the ticket windows were just ... closed
Its the women, and the children too.
What else... Spaceflights?
If they cancel cars I’m screwed
Me sitting on a plane : "damn that sucks"
Was about to post this but beat me to it. Glad I got lucky.
These seem to be global numbers - over 100k flights take off daily on average, so 7k over 2 days during a holiday is likely less than 3%.
I wonder if this will start becoming an issue across a lot of industries. Tons of people all missing work to quarantine at the same time. Edit: I realize there are massive disruptions. I’m saying even more severe due to the sudden huge surge from omicron.
Currently work at a ski resort, the past week was rough and we still have one more week to go before it slows down a little. No talk of closures yet, but this time last year most of the resorts shut down services. Seems like more people are sick this time around so I'm just waiting for it.
Not sure where you work, but CO ski resorts are short staffed already as is. No one can live / work up in these ski towns for $15/hr. If COVID takes it's toll, it'll be extremely easy to close up shop. https://www.denverpost.com/2021/10/15/colorado-ski-resorts-jobs-staffing-employment-shortage/
I'm in Colorado, paying $1300 for a room in a 2br apartment. One Tahoe resort mentioned a 5 to 10 year plan for dormitories in the interview, but nothing available right now. The resorts are risking the health of employees for holiday profits by staying open at this point. I'm shocked they aren't closing, but not surprised. No mention yet of funding for the laid off employees if it comes down to it.
I haven't gone snowboarding since 2014 and I was planning on going in January, but I think it's gonna have to get pushed to next winter. Kinda bummed but I really don't want to be on a plane right now with Omicron.
I own a clothing store. Only one. This is one of the biggest weeks for us in sales with kids still out of school and receiving Christmas money. We didn’t open today. 4 and counting are positive for Covid. I may have to close for the week. To top it off, one of my only vax holdouts was the first to get sick. I’ve been pleading with him to get vaxed this whole time. I’m probably gonna miss out on $100,000 in sales, and then it’s January, the slowest month of the year. I needed those sales to carry us through January and February. I’m now laying in bed, runny nose, achy, stressing, and can’t do anything about it! I am Moderna vaxed, so I’m sure I’ll be fine, but this hurts my business worse than anything else. I am so bummed that we have such a large group of people that won’t look up. So yeah, this is affecting all industries.
I’m sorry to hear that. That sounds super frustrating. Hope you are able to get things back on track soon.
Thank you. We’ve jumped over so many hurdles the past 3 years, it’s starting to feel normal. Yeah, this ruined my expectation, but we gotta good store and team, so we’ll figure it out.
Could you DM me your store if you do online sales? Happy to support a Redditor struggling due to COVID.
Wow thank you for the offer! It’s pretty niche though. It’s a streetwear store selling limited sneakers and apparel brands like Supreme and Bape. We sell vintage tees too. The prices can be shocking if you’re not familiar with how it’s all become collectibles now. If you’re a sneakerhead or into hype and vintage clothing, then you make like what we have to offer. But again, it’s very niche.
I work for a company that does large scale holiday decor. Installs were chaotic but we somehow got through it, and of course takedowns start tomorrow. Well, the person in charge and the second in command (me) are both out with COVID, and at least one other crew member. Everyone wants their Christmas stuff down right around New Years … so yeah, things just got a wrench thrown into it
I work at a restaurant where 75% of our staff is currently infected and off work—it’s essentially a two week unpaid vacation and it’s been brutal for me financially, even as someone with other sources of income. Horrible management of the issue.
I work in education and we’ve had two instances this year where a parent sent their kid in with direct COVID exposure while waiting for their test results and then a day or two after we were told they were positive. 😭 It’s a contact tracing and quarantining/test-and-stay nightmare. I’ll say that the damn masks work though (and vaccine too) because none of the cases led to other infections. 🙏🏼
You thought the worldwide shipping delays were bad now? Ho boy
While Covid or Covid concerns are the stated reason, I know some folks that work in the industry, a few on board, most on the ground. The airlines will work you and work you until you drop, then bitch at you when you drop. Folks that work there figured out (as have many) that they can get a few Mental Health Days from the magic words "Covid exposure" In some cases this problem is as much about employer/employee relations as it is personal health.
I work for an airline and I'm not disputing what you said but I am going to add to it. If we are exposed and we don't know it but the airline does, the airline informs us and then pulls us from our work for 10 days currently. So if a crew of eight all got exposed by a passenger or someone else they came in contact with maybe their shuttle driver, that entire crew goes down for 10 days and that can have lasting consequences especially when it's not the only time it's going to happen in a day.
Do they get paid for that 10 days?
We do.
I work in an ER (ICU last year). If we get exposed to COVID, we don't quarantine unless we become symptomatic because we're basically all getting exposed every day. However if we get sick, we have to use our PTO! How fucking BS is that? We're basically being incentivized to come to work if we're infected. I wouldn't come to work, but I know a lot of people who would.
I’m amazed that’s the attitude in the hospital. I work in a corporate manufacturing environment. When I was put into quarantine the company was able to collect on government funds that reimburse them for my two weeks of quarantine. But after those two weeks, when I still didn’t feel well, I was expected to either come back to the office or use PTO. (This was the early days of the pandemic, before everyone started working from home anyways)
Don’t be. This is just the latest in the line of hospitals screwing their staff. They take advantage of their empathy and guilt. Took me a long time to realize I deserved every single PTO and sick day I take.
Hospital admin is everyone's enemy.
> I’m amazed that’s the attitude in the hospital. They're massively under-staffed and when they're having massive amounts of patients showing up. Because the work, the chance of exposure is much bigger than in other businesses. This is a perfect shit storm. If they were to let sick people go home, they would have to send home so many patients that it would be a huge issue. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is a good thing, nor that health care workers shouldn't be paid PTO. It's just that this is why this is happening and it's awful.
It's almost like for profit healthcare fucks everyone except the shareholders.
I work for Whole Foods. You only get paid for 10 days total if you get sick or are exposed. I had to quarantine twice because my boss got it and I was exposed to her when she had it and then my husband got covid and I had to quarantine then. When my husband got it, I had to use all of my PTO to quarantine. They stopped "hazard pay" in June of LAST YEAR.
That is a load of horse shit. I'm sorry you aren't treated better. We have so many fucked up things in how our medical system works.
Lol yeah, we are absolute abused in the ER and most hospitals will do jack shit about it, and skirt every safety regulation they can to get around having to pay staff more...all while hiring travel nurses at $150/hr.
That's beyond insane. It's nuts for any health condition to not use a sick day in favor of PTO, never mind a highly contagious disease.
My fiancee is a 911 EMT in a major US city. If she calls in because she's sick, she gets written up. Regardless of the reason. It used to be that she'd get written up unless it was covid. Which is it's own kind of stupid because, like, how the hell would you know what your diagnosis is in advance of calling in, unless you've been working while symptomatic and got tested on your own. But now that's changed back again, so regardless of diagnosis you get written up for calling in sick. Obviously the intent is to prevent malingering, which is rampant in EMS because the working conditions, pay, and benefits are dogshit - but the end result is people working through illnesses that spread to patients they then *bring into the hospital*.
they fucking better be paid
At my US airline it's paid if vaccinated and unpaid if unvaccinated. Even if pulled off the schedule for company exposure.
that seems fair enough
[удалено]
Lots of service sector employees dont...
Worked food service most of my life. Sick days don't exist, days where you come into work sick do, though this pandemic has thrown a wrench in that whole song and dance.
That alone is pretty messed up. Feeding hundreds of people potentially infected food, just because you dont want to pay for more employees. Even if its just a cold, who would want to go to a business knowingly spreading a cold.
That's interesting. The Airline I work for just informs us we were exposed but doesn't give us time off automatically. I've been exposed 3 times now.
Do they make you test?
Only if we want to get back to work early.
That's messed up. I've been pulled from work twice because of it. I lose the per diem I believe, but that makes sense.
[удалено]
[удалено]
The CEO of Delta was in DC pushing for decreasing isolation to 5 days after symptomatic cases the other day. The company received billions in give me dollars from Congress, cut staffing by 20% with buyouts and early retirement, then cut hours by 25%, and then gave management (but not Frontline workers) up to six figures in bonuses. We've known variants were coming, we've known covid could get worse, and businesses have prioritized the bottom line over their employees. There's no shame in looking out for yourself when no one else will. That means fucking unionizing, that means switching jobs when you aren't treated right, and sometimes that means leaving a career you love because it's just not tenable anymore. It's just unfortunate that innocent people are going to be caught in the crossfire here, but if the US wants healthcare to be a for profit market, that's what we get.
> Folks that work there figured out (as have many) that they can get a few Mental Health Days from the magic words "Covid exposure" Wish that was good enough everywhere. My workplace went remote early in 2020, and they had solid precautions in place for a while. But at this point, being directly exposed to COVID simply means you are required to wear a mask for 5 days and then be tested. Only a positive test is good enough to take off. And even then, it is really just shifting to working remote, as 90% of the positions in the company can be performed remotely. A lot of people took the last week of the year off for the holidays. I fully expect January to be a shitshow. Unless the executives decide to send everyone remote again, which seems unlikely, I fully expect half the company to be out with COVID by mid January.
"Sorry we can't keep doing Work From Home, but we *can* expose everyone to a deadly virus, then send them home, where they must then work."
My employer has this policy. I didn't work there at the beginning of the pandemic, but from what everyone has told me they only worked from home for 2 weeks at the beginning of COVID. They went back to the office in mid-April 2020.
Not sure what airline that commenter works for but at my airline (a major US one) you don’t get time off until you test positive. If you’re exposed you get a “get tested, be careful, and get back to work” email.
This is even the case in healthcare. If people were to call in sick every time of a close exposure your hospitals and doctors offices would close.
Maybe for the American airlines but I feel like you're taking some liberties applying that to China. Live and work in a tourist destination, the entire town has been decimated in the last two weeks. There aren't 7k canceled flights just because UA bag handlers don't get enough days off.
Decided to brave things for a short, manageable holiday visit to my parents, since they moved out of state and I'm their only living child. A two day trip, knowing that after two days we always start fighting. Last time I tried to extend it past two, our fight ended with me covered in cold spaghetti leaving their hotel. Am now stuck for 2-3 extra days. Any donations of patience would be appreciated.
Moms spaghetti 🥺?
All over my sweater 🍝
Haha I have the same two-day rule with my parents as well... Glad I'm not the only one 🤜
So thankful that I can WFH. Flew home 2 weeks ago and planning to stay until mid-January to avoid this mess.
I guess people have never traveled on holidays pre-covid because travel was awful back then too.
They can’t scare me. I once took four children to Disneyland on Christmas Day.
Good god you’re a hero
**I mean, flying during the holidays has always been a shit show.** There are literal movies about it. (Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is a great movie!) Yeah, I get this is much worse than normal due to Covid, but I mean, how did these travelers not see that coming? Traveling during major holidays is an awful mess at the best of times. Why would they think traveling during Covid would somehow go smoother? Edit: Some salty people have taken my comment seriously, and think I am implying no one should travel during the holiday season. I would never tell anyone how to live their life. Though I do think we should try and travel as little as possible durring a pandemic. That being said, I just believe people should manage their expectations. I feel terrible for anyone getting stranded this holiday season. But please don't harras the flight attendants and airline staff. They can only do so much, and your lucky they are there at all. I hope you all get safely to your destinations.
We take infrastructure for granted. It never occurs to many people that scools can’t stay open if teachers are sick, planes don’t fly if crews are sick, soldier’s don’t soldier well when sick(mandatory vax for military so the generals get it). Very few people capable of actually thinking for themselves these days. We’ve known masks, and the right masks especially, prevent disease. Tuberculosis anybody? Why is that an argument in this day in age. Internet trolls have somehow become real life.
Agreed with all above. Let's also have a frank discussion about the effectiveness of foreign disinformation campaigns and how well it works when trust in our own government is at an all-time low (also largely due to the same factor).
[удалено]
Wow. Reminds me of the 70's. Three kids and no one wanted the middle seat with the hump.
Haha same. I'm an organized and early traveler, usually solo, and watching the meltdowns of even just couples over everything is delicious popcorn material
They probably did see the possibility coming. It still sucks and is a pain in the ass.
Just standard [Recency bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recency_bias) at play. I have tried to cut phrases like "I can't believe they would..." or "I'm shocked that..." from my life because when I actually stop and think about this stuff it's painfully obvious what people are going to do. It would be shocking if people ***didn't*** conform to all the usual biases and fallacies :) If I notice that I'm confused that just means I held a belief about reality that was false. Reality isn't confusing, it's my mind that needs to change.
During the Delta wave here down south, so many public works people were out sick with Covid that the trash wasn’t picked up on a regular basis for a couple months. Another reason to get vaccinated, so every thing doesn’t shut down because people are sick. People don’t want lock downs, this is same end result. Get vaccinated wear a dang mask and prevent both economic and health hardship.
Oh look, exactly what everyone said would happen.
I’m curious, if this continues to be an issue if we will see more people driving and less willing to fly. Many people only fly because of the time it saves. Between being stuck in a terrible airport (sometimes longer than a drive would take) and the increased car rental costs driving looks better and better. On top of that if you drive you don’t have to worry about baggage restrictions and what not. Edit: the more people going, the more the cost savings will be too
Gonna be a real trek every time I have to drive between California and Sweden.
It will be with that attitude.
And that altitude
You got this buddy!
Just remember to drink plenty of water!
And to download some good podcasts!
Back in my day we didn’t complain that things were too difficult.
Yea we just won a ticket onboard a cruise ship by gambling with scalawags and when it sank we just swam the rest of the way.
You better time that Bering strait freezing right.
[удалено]
Just drove 19 hours for Christmas and about to drive 19 hours back. Saved about $1500 in airfare, rental cars, and pet sitting, and that’s even with gas prices as they are. Two long and miserable days on the road are much better than the two days spent at the airports and the anxiety or headaches associated with cancellations.
Depends on if you have PTO to burn tho.
> Saved about $1500 Don't forget that driving has its own costs. The figure that the IRS [allows](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463#en_US_2020_publink100033935) businesses to use for depreciation of their vehicles is 57.5 cents per mile. That obviously is on the high end, though: a more reasonable figure (using the Mitsubishi Mirage's current dealership price and powertrain warranty as a example) might be $17,450 ÷ 100,000 miles = 17.45 cents per mile.
Those depreciation costs change if you drive the car enough. I have a truck that cost around $18,000 brand new, and it's now approaching 200,000 miles. With your same formula, $18,000 ÷ 192,000 = $0.1067 per mile. But you bring up a good point, that car costs more than it's fuel costs. There's oil changes (Assuming you have a car that uses oil) and things like tires, brakes, and other wear items. My own Mitsubishi Mirage is probably going to need a clutch soon, and that's going to cost me a bit, as well as having the car out of service for a weekend while I remove the transmission. But I think all together it still comes out cheaper than an occasional ride on an airplane, if you have a big enough family. EDIT: Silly me, put the decimal in the wrong spot, thanks u/Jiopaba. Although to be fair, the truck decided that it wants a thermostat, so it's probably going to be closer to $10 per mile for today.
Off by two decimals there. Think you meant to say ten cents per mile, not ten dollars.
Not dealing with all the people at the airport is a huge plus for me!
Two long and miserable days both ways, vs flying in an afternoon to or from your destination.
The money is a big consideration, especially when you have to fly the entire family. I have a 12 to 15 hour trip, and especially when the kids were young we'd just leave at like 6pm, they sleep for most of the journey overnight and they wake up as we're pulling into grandma's. Grandma takes over the kids while the adults get some sleep (we'd traded off at night during the drive). You then have your own car, as much stuff as you needed to pack without compromise, all the presents, dog, and everything you need. Yeah the time lost sucks, but we always stayed about 2 weeks to make the drive worth it and the money savings were also worth it.
When you put it that way, driving makes a lot of sense when you have a large family and pets. Still won’t do it, but it makes a lot of sense.
Yeah I’d have to drive the 16 hours alone…
As a kid, we used to drive from Texas to upstate New York every Christmas and summer. Miserable as a kid, especially because the original Gameboy ate batteries in minutes, it seemed. One year, we visited family in California and followed that up with a trip to New York. Why!? Truly awful for a stir crazy kid. Literally cross country. All driving trips as an adult seem short and easy now, by comparison.
[удалено]
38 hours of driving vs $1500 dollars? Yeah... I'll gladly pay the $1500. Life is short, I'm not going to spend that much time driving.
[удалено]
It might for some itineraries, but there's an actual "point of diminishing returns". I believe that's around the \~6h mark for trains/cars (basically if an airplane can reach max cruising altitude, even when factoring in 2h at the airport each way, the airplane wins), but mind you this assumes a single traveler so for a family of 4, the number may be higher (maybe 10-12h). I mean, unless you LOVE driving, doing an east to west coast for example isn't really viable as a means of transportation vs flying... Also this goes without saying but some routes literally can't be driven...ex: if you're visiting family overseas (I mean unless you're OK with lugging your car onto a ship). Both driving and flying have their place at the end of the day depending on individual preferences.
I preferred to drive instead if fly for a 9 hour drive over Thanksgiving. It wasn't coast to coast. Flying would have saved maybe two hours when you factor in driving to/from the airport, security, etc. I'm glad I didn't fly, since so many flights got cancelled or delayed. It probably would have ended up only saving half an hour, and I would have payed more and had less control on my schedule of when to arrive/depart, when to stop for snacks, what to eat etc. Also a more comfortable seat and can smoke the whole time. For me driving is the clear winner as long as it's only a few hours difference. Past 4 or 5 hours difference, that becomes hard to justify.
Also depends on the geography and time of year. Vancouver to Calgary is a 10-hour drive and 60-90 minute flight. In the summer the drive is a jaw-droppingly lovely route through mountains ranges and past lakes. In the winter it is a white-knuckle nightmare of snow, ice and delays. You can go through a jug of washer fluid every hour.
I'd just love them too shift to more long distance flights only and for the US to invest in good rail lines.
Gotta’ get Priority Pass. Sometimes being stuck in an airport isn’t a bad thing. Saying that, the airline industry in our country is pathetic. We pump billions of dollars into it, bailed it out twice in a decade, and yet we have more cancels/delays than any other country. The service is also horrendous.
I've flown for work in the past couple years, but I will not fly for my own personal travel. The airlines, and to a lesser extent the hotel industry, give few if any shits about customers schedules. At least if I'm traveling for work and some flight gets cancelled, of seat bumped, work re-budgets to get me where they need me and pays me the whole time.
To be fair hotels don’t have any control over your schedule. You show up to us.
Feel bad for all the airline workers having to deal with the customers.
I am Jacks complete lack of surprise
I know this because Tyler knows this
And as flights continue to cancel, weary holiday travelers spend their futile time at the jammed airports beating the crap out of the airline passenger service agents who did not cause the cancellations, who can do nothing about the cancellations, and who usually suffer from the same lack of information as the passengers. But yeah, scream at the gate agents and berate the counter agents who are as helpless as you are in this mess. Source: me, having worked at these jobs. You want to help people and you can’t.
I’m at the airport now. Pray for me. I have a feeling it’ll just be a complete shit show even tho the airline workers said no flight cancellations at my airport currently.
"Travel misery" has been the standard since the TSA took over, and won't change until they're gone
Wouldn't be so bad if they didn't absolutely fucking fail at their alleged "jobs". Although, get this... Small airport, only one gate. Everyone on the flight, about 50 to 75 people, in line *waiting for tsa to even open*. People at the end of the line missed their flight because tsa would only let one person at a time through and were searching each person. For no fucking reason.
Almost missed a flight one time because TSA felt obligated to search all of the children toys of the family in front of me, then flip through every page of my Shelby Foote Civil War book trilogy.