# Is it safe to make vacation plans for late summer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 2, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908 "2020-04-02T20:02:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/21 "2020-04-03T11:05:39Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Look into buying or renting an RV. There should be good deals available as lot of people will be hurting for money. Give it a thorough cleaning. Then you don’t need to worry about catching COVID-19 in a motel or restaurants (cook and sleep in the RV). > > People will tired of stay at home regulations in a month or so and COVID-19 will not be gone by then. It will then increase rapidly. I don’t see any improvement for at least 18 months when there is a possibility of a vaccine. We travel exclusively this way, and have done so for decades. In the past\* several years, the majority of private RV parks have acquired large groups of permanent residents. I’m guessing that most of those parks will survive since they’re not entirely dependent on travelers, and we can resume our trips once restrictions are lifted. State and national parks will obviously still be around since they aren’t dependent on profit. Most parks have fairly generous cancellation policies, with KOA (national chain) being among the best. Even if you can’t cancel, you’re out only 50 bucks or so per night. \*I’m not sure when this started becoming more common, but it seems to be post-2008 recession. I suspect this is related to the increases in housing expenses and nomadic lifestyles. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/22 "2020-04-03T11:57:36Z")
My Wife and I had a trip planned to Key West at the end of this month. Our airline flights where easy to cancel. American just said the ticket is safe to use when ever. Well, the money we spent on it, we can just re-book. United just refunded all of our money. It was surprisingly easy to do. I thought I was gonna have to jump though hoops. So kudos to them. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/23 "2020-04-03T12:28:14Z")
I would think you don’t even need hotel reservations for the rest of the year, as occupancy rates will be nil and you can probably just drop in and find a room. If they are even open. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/24 "2020-04-03T12:36:49Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > There’s no way to know whether hotels, airlines and anything else tourist-related will still even exist four months from now. Hello Mr Optimist. :eek: Probably right. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/25 "2020-04-03T13:04:46Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > Most NP’s are open, but visitors centers generally closed and guided tours/events generally on hold. So yeah, when they fully open is also when we’d go. Actually, no, most NP have closed at this point. [https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/03/coronavirus-and-national-parks-whats-closed](https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/03/coronavirus-and-national-parks-whats-closed) Of the most popular, only Zion remains open for unclear reasons, and it’s under a lot of pressure to close as well. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/26 "2020-04-03T13:46:19Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Actually, no, most NP have closed at this point. [https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/03/coronavirus-and-national-parks-whats-closed](https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/03/coronavirus-and-national-parks-whats-closed) > Of the most popular, only Zion remains open for unclear reasons, and it’s under a lot of pressure to close as well. Yeah you’re right. I just looked at a couple of our favorites from recent trips and they were open (though no visitor center etc) but most of the big names are closed. Those were favorites (TR Roosevelt, Great Basin) in part because not a lot of people go to them, which is probably why they aren’t closed. We were also at Zion last year, magnificent but big crowds so unless those crowds have trailed off drastically it seems like it probably should be closed. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/27 "2020-04-03T13:53:24Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Actually, no, most NP have closed at this point. [https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/03/coronavirus-and-national-parks-whats-closed](https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/03/coronavirus-and-national-parks-whats-closed) > Of the most popular, only Zion remains open for unclear reasons, and it’s under a lot of pressure to close as well. We have plans for Yellowstone in early September, including reservations in the park’s lodges. That might not happen. YNP is completely closed now. I’m keeping an eye on the upcoming reservation cancellation deadlines, still many weeks away. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/28 "2020-04-03T14:29:20Z")
We were supposed to go to Ann Arbor in mid-July for a family thing, and I have no idea whether that’s going to happen. Luckily no real planning is involved - we’re close enough to drive and we would be staying with family. A few weeks ago, when Italy was heating up, my oldest childhood friend called for advice - her son is graduating college this year, and the plan was for a family trip to celebrate - an Italian cruise :eek: She had already put the kibosh on that plan, and the cruise line was being completely inflexible and refused to refund her $1100 deposit. She had already bought the plane tickets, and at that point she was debating whether to cancel the flights right away, wait and see, or keep the flights and just book another flight onward somewhere from Italy that might be less impacted. At the time, she decided to keep the flight reservations and wait and see what happened, on the theory that she wasn’t going to lose any more than she already had by waiting to cancel. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/29 "2020-04-03T14:43:54Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Look into buying or renting an RV. There should be good deals available as lot of people will be hurting for money. Give it a thorough cleaning. Then you don’t need to worry about catching COVID-19 in a motel or restaurants (cook and sleep in the RV). You don’t want to travel CA-1 in an RV unless you are really comfortable driving it, particularly the section between Point Reyes and Sausalito, and south of Carmel to Ragged Point. A fun and scenic drive in a convertible but hours of steering-wheel-gripping terror in a big box with no feedback and inadequate power. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/30 "2020-04-03T14:57:23Z")
We normally buy our Sint Maarten/St Martin plane tickets for next January in April. I don’t know. I haven’t missed a year in the last 15, my gf in the last 20. We even went right after Irma just to pitch in with the rebuilding. But I don’t know. I might be dealing with the closure of my business and figuring out the future. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/31 "2020-04-03T15:09:40Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You don’t want to travel CA-1 in an RV unless you are really comfortable driving it, particularly the section between Point Reyes and Sausalito, and south of Carmel to Ragged Point. A fun and scenic drive in a convertible but hours of steering-wheel-gripping terror in a big box with no feedback and inadequate power. > > Stranger Yeah it did originally say Pacific Coast Highway/CA-1. I know in a Ford Expedition EL as driver for 6 other people the scenery was great but the driving not fun, after awhile ‘when is this road gonna straighten out a little, please’. In a BMW M2 it was ‘crap, this road is straightening out already!’ :). I agree I wouldn’t want to drive it in a big RV. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/32 "2020-04-03T15:20:02Z")
I was going to go on vacation the first week in June, first in July and a week in August. All were planned to be in the USA. That first one ain’t happening. SEcond one is a long shot. Third, probably, but no guarantee. Of course, the first one is the one where I have a flight booked. ☹ The others were all going to be planned last minute anyway so who cares. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/33 "2020-04-03T15:21:49Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Hello Mr Optimist. > > :eek: > Probably right. There will be hotels and airlines when things clear up. A lot of them might be under new management, but where there is demand, the supply will be provided. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/34 "2020-04-03T15:55:20Z")
I’m supposed to be going to a gaming convention in Columbus, Ohio in mid-June. While it hasn’t been cancelled yet, it seems likely that it will be in the near future; the convention center where it’s held [may soon be refit to serve as an emergency hospital space](https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200401/columbus-convention-center-could-soon-become-1000-bed-hospital-for-coronavirus-victims). So, I’m pretty darn sure that that trip won’t be happening. I also have an annual get-together with several of my old gaming friends up in the Wisconsin Dells in late October – we rent a big condo at one of the resorts, and play role-playing games together over a long weekend. We’re hopeful that, by then, such a trip will be feasible, but we already recognize that it might not happen. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/35 "2020-04-03T15:59:19Z")
My wife and I made plans last year for a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton this September. Last week I contacted all of our hotels, all plan on being open and operating in September. All but one gave me the option of canceling now. We are still planning on going as of now. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/36 "2020-04-03T17:10:59Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There will be hotels and airlines when things clear up. A lot of them might be under new management, but where there is demand, the supply will be provided. True, but it might take a while to sort things out, and there’s no guarantee that new management will honor old management’s obligations. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/37 "2020-04-03T17:31:30Z")
We normally have at least 3 or 4 holidays booked in advance. As I type we were due to be on a flight en-route to Auckland. That’s all fallen through and we’ve got refunds on all cars and accommodation and just waiting for the flight refunds. We had a weekend booked in Germany for early May and Norway for late May, we expect to have those cancelled for sure. Our summer holiday to Austria in August is probably going to be cancelled and we’ve stopped making any plans for a potential Scotland trip in October. We go skiing for xmas and new year in Austria as well and as it stands we have not booked anything for that but realistically we are looking at that being the next major overseas trip that has a realistic chance of taking place. I think the OP’s plans are optimistic but if you can get them booked with the ability to cancel then where’s the harm? However, be ultra cautious because I’m sure cancellation and insurance exceptions will be re-drafted on anything you book now and expect to see plenty of liquidations and closures. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/38 "2020-04-03T17:35:23Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You don’t want to travel CA-1 in an RV unless you are really comfortable driving it, particularly the section between Point Reyes and Sausalito, and south of Carmel to Ragged Point. A fun and scenic drive in a convertible but hours of steering-wheel-gripping terror in a big box with no feedback and inadequate power. > > Stranger There’s another thread in MPSIMS called “Things You Learned the Hard Way”. Does this story qualify? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/39 "2020-04-03T17:37:30Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There will be hotels and airlines when things clear up. A lot of them might be under new management, but where there is demand, the supply will be provided. There won’t be as much demand as previously and when the borders reopen who knows what requirements might be implemented. I think a vaccination card is going to be mandatory for decades now. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908/40 "2020-04-03T17:38:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There will be hotels and airlines when things clear up. A lot of them might be under new management, but where there is demand, the supply will be provided. Not to pick on you specifically, but there seems to be a pretty large blindspot in general about how this is going to affect the United States economically and socially for years to come. Even if someone came up with a magic potion today that made the SARS-CoV-2 virus spontaneously disappear from every infected person, we’re going to see massive economic shockwaves going through the global economy, especially because nothing effective is being done to ‘freeze’ or protect the economy save for that US$2T stimulus package (which is a drop in the bucket) and to ensure that the vultures don’t descend upon the resulting mess and start picking the bones they way some (_cough_Steve Mnuchin_cough_) did post-2008. Not to dim the o.p.'s interest in taking a road trip, but I wouldn’t make any long term plans right now or put any amount of money down in a deposit that one can’t afford to lose. Stranger [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-make-vacation-plans-for-late-summer/850908.md?page=3)