Let’s start out the new year with an upbeat frame of mind and concentrate on some of the more important improvements travelers can expect in 2021.
COVID Travel Verification Regime. Although I’m not certain, I have a reasonably high expectation that the U.S. will develop some “official” virus-testing and vaccination criteria, together with necessary documentation, that will allow unaffected travelers to fly around and move around in the U.S. freely by showing an appropriate document where needed. Similarly, we can hope that the U.S. and major European, Asian, and Pacific countries can come to the same form of agreement. The documentation will certainly be in the form of a smartphone app, and probably in paper form, as well.
Airlines. The industry blogosphere has concluded that leisure travel will rebound faster than business travel, so you can expect to see plenty of flights to major vacation hot spots around and near the U.S. You can also expect early low-fare promotions, but in the longer haul, fares will have to firm up for airlines to survive, especially the legacy lines that normally rely heavily on business travel revenues. For those interested, award travel is first and business class should be easy to find.
You can possibly say “goodbye” to most ticket-change fees, at least on legacy and legacy-like lines. The U.S. Big 3 have already eliminated them on all but the lowest fares, and it seems that Asian and European lines will gradually follow suit.
Airplanes. The main improvement will be more flights on the Airbus 220, formerly C-Series. That new plane features the widest seats in coach/economy/main cabin, and the ability to operate low-traffic long-haul routes, up to transcon. JetBlue will join Delta as a major 220 operator.
You’ll see a fairly rapid upswing in flights on the 737MAX, which may or may not be good news, depending on your opinion of the MAX. But the benefits of the MAX accrue to airlines; passengers, not so much: They have the same narrow seats and tight legroom as other 737s.
Airports. The biggest deal in the U.S. for 2021 will be opening of Washington National’s new terminal extension, which will make life much easier and more comfortable for travelers flying in/out on regional jets. The long-delayed airport transit system upgrade at O’Hare will probably open early in the year, providing a big improvement in access to the international terminal, rental cars, remote parking, and the North Central Metra service. And, of course, if you fly to Berlin, you’ll land at the newly opened Brandenburg Airport, with a huge new terminal and fast rail access to the city centers.
Rail. The new Moynihan Train Hall, which opened over the past weekend, will make New York’s Penn Station a far more pleasant place to catch Amtrak and Long Island trains. Beyond that, however, Amtrak will remain in its usual funk, with no other real improvements in sight. Yes, new Acela trains will bring minor improvements this year, but they won’t be any faster: As with the older units, the tracks limit top speeds to much less than either the old or the new trains can actually go.
Meanwhile, China will probably open at least another 1,000 miles or so of high-speed lines, but only a few new gap-closing lines will open in Europe, and in the U.S., fuhgeddaboudit. And London’s long-delayed and sorely needed east-west Crossrail express line will remain delayed through 2021.
Public Transportation. Washington’s Metro extension to Dulles Airport should finally open, although with Metro, you never really know. In Istanbul, the desperately needed Metro line 11 from downtown to the huge new airport is also supposed to open in 2021, but again you can’t be sure. In both cases, you may still find a bus trip in your future.
Elsewhere, Seattle’s light rail Northgate Link extension will probably open in the fall, and maybe Boston’s Green Line light rail extension to Medford will make it. But you’ll still be waiting for the new light rail subway to Chinatown in San Francisco.
Send e-mail to Ed Perkins at [email protected]. Also, check out Ed’s new rail travel website at www.rail-guru.com.
(c)2021 Ed Perkins.
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