Unfortunately, travelling this summer looks set to be fraught with complications. The pent up demand from Canadian residents looks set to far exceed the capabilities of the nations infrastructure.

The greatest tip we can provide is simple, prepare to be patient!

As we have already seen, airports are simply not in a position to deal with the volume of travel it is expected to face thus summer. March saw waiting times triple for domestic flights, despite ticket sales still only 90% of pre-pandemic levels.

Bottlenecks have begun to spring up elsewhere too, with passport offices coming to a standstill and wait times getting completely out of control as we ramp up toward the summer.

The Canadian Airports Council has blamed COVID-19 protocols for the hold-ups but that doesn’t tell the full story. Airports across Canada lost a lot of staff throughout the pandemic and have struggled to scale up over the last few months. The new workforce simply does not have the same level of experience as the old guard, and it’s showing.

Travelling this summer?

Preparation is key to travelling this summer because waiting is an inevitability:

• Make sure to upload all of your information to the ArriveCan before you get to the airport.
• Give yourself as much time as you can. Seriously.
• Keep yourself occupied with books, music, podcasts etc.
• Make sure your devices are fully charged and bring a power pack so you don’t have to worry about sockets.
• Planes may be sat on the tarmac for as many as three hours. So, make sure you make use of washrooms before you get onto the plane, and before landing has been initiated.
• Make use of a travel agent, whether for corporate travel or leisure travel having someone able to make changes to your itinerary on your behalf will save countless hours waiting in line or on hold to an airline.

Frustration is to be expected. So, it is important to approach travelling this summer with that in mind. The last thing you want to do, is put yourself in a position where time is sensitive, because it likely wont end well.

Travel Agents exist for a reason, to take the stress away from these situations. Executive Assistants don’t want the pressure of a CEO’s personal holiday falling apart; it isn’t what they are trained for. As corporate travel specialists, we extend our services to c-suite executives on order to shoulder the responsibility for the success of their leisure time. Get in touch!