Emily Reeve and her husband usually spend Thanksgiving in Hawaii, Florida or Disneyland, but not this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a toddler now and I\u2019m worried about being in a potentially volatile situation should we be traveling post-election,\u201d said Reeve, 32.<\/p>\n
The couple doesn\u2019t have family near their home in Portland, Oregon, so they like to skip town for the November holiday. But they say they\u2019re staying put this time to avoid getting caught in an airport or a popular destination \u201cand suddenly facing riots or looting, etc., because the people in the area aren\u2019t happy with the election outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anxiety around the 2024 vote is causing some consumers to rethink where, when and with whom to travel, industry experts and travel agents say. Federal authorities, meanwhile, say their security procedures are sound heading into Election Day, Nov. 5.<\/p>\n
People like to be home during the election period. They don\u2019t want to be out traveling.<\/p>\n
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian recently told CNBC<\/a> he expected consumers to take \u201ca little bit of a pause\u201d in the weeks around the election, as the carrier has seen in the past. \u201cPeople like to be home during the election period. They don\u2019t want to be out traveling,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think they want to be spending money until they understand what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n While the pandemic upended travel during the 2020 vote, Delta also saw demand flag<\/a> in the run-up to the 2016 ballot before bookings rebounded in subsequent weeks. United Airlines executives said this month that they expect a similar pattern<\/a> and \u201cdon\u2019t think there\u2019s anything to be surprised by.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, 64% of U.S. adults said they would avoid traveling in the U.S. out of concerns about unrest, depending on who wins, according to a recent poll<\/a> by the travel site the Vacationer. About a quarter said they\u2019d stay home only if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected, while just 16% said they\u2019d hold off only if former President Donald Trump wins; 24% said they\u2019re staying put no matter the outcome, and nearly 36% said the outcome wouldn\u2019t affect their plans.<\/p>\n Businesses are also on alert, said Kelly Soderlund, a spokesperson for the online business travel management company Navan. Its domestic flight bookings are down 19% for the week of the election compared with the same week last year. Bookings for the following week, though, are 42% higher than the preceding seven days and 82% higher than the equivalent week a year ago.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we talk to customers about their biggest concerns regarding their travel program, managing duty of care<\/a> \u2014 the obligation employers have to keep employees safe \u2014 ranks near the top,\u201d Soderlund said.<\/p>\n The 2024 race has been deeply polarizing<\/a>, with GOP lawsuits over voting procedures already mounting in battleground states<\/a> and the Republican ticket repeatedly hedging<\/a> their remarks<\/a> about the 2020 race and their willingness to accept the current one\u2019s outcome. Officials are tightening security at polling places<\/a> and surrounding both campaigns<\/a>, after two assassination attempts on Trump and widespread reports of threats toward poll workers<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Transportation Security Administration \u201calways remains vigilant in this heightened global threat environment,\u201d a spokesperson said, adding that federal air marshals \u201ccontinue to carry out critical in-flight security missions\u201d and other duties to keep travelers safe. \u201cWe prepare for all contingencies and employ multiple layers of security that are seen and unseen.\u201d<\/p>\n Flyers may notice tighter airport security in coming weeks, said Jeffrey Price, who runs the aviation security consultancy Leading Edge Strategies. In addition to more uniformed officers, \u201cthere may also be a combination of plainclothes law-enforcement personnel amongst the passengers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Even so, 38% of U.S. adults plan to travel this holiday season, up from 34% last year, the research firm MMGY Travel Intelligence found in a recent survey<\/a>. Concerns about steeper travel costs have abated, with 61% of travelers worried about them this season compared with 68% last year, according to the consulting firm PwC<\/a>. That has left more room for political jitters to creep into consumers\u2019 travel considerations, travel agents say.<\/p>\n The thought that we might have been stranded overseas because of domestic tumult was enough to accelerate our plans.<\/p>\n Olivia MacLeod Dwinell, 64, Portland, Ore.<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cA few months ago, many families were splurging on vacations and spending more than they typically would,\u201d said Sonia Bhagwan, who owns the Portland-based agency Dreaming of Sun and has previously booked Reeve\u2019s Thanksgiving trips. More recently, \u201cthe driving factor is the uncertainty around what the economy may be like after the election,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n That\u2019s partly why Olivia MacLeod Dwinell, 64, and her husband Ross Dwinell, 74, were in Europe this month.<\/p>\n \u201cRegardless of the outcome, it\u2019s going to be a bit rocky for a time post-election,\u201d said Dwinell. Their visit to London and France was Ross\u2019s first trip abroad, and \u201cthe thought that we might have been stranded overseas because of domestic tumult was enough to accelerate our plans,\u201d said Dwinell. \u201cWe\u2019re not young, and we\u2019re less intrepid than in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n Kimberly Kracun, owner of Destinations by Kimberly in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, said she was recently approached to book a cruise for a multigenerational family. But two members of the group work for the federal government, \u201cand they are worried about their jobs and possible furloughs after the election,\u201d she said. Current government funding lasts only through Dec. 20, and the threat of a shutdown looms<\/a> if the lame-duck Congress can\u2019t hash out an end-of-year deal.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have now decided to wait another year for the vacation,\u201d Kracun said.<\/p>\n Worries about traveling aside, some people are anxious about what might happen when they finally meet up with relatives.<\/p>\n![\"Olivia](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2024-10\/241024-Travel-election-Olivia-Ross-ch-1241-c049ec.png\")
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