Mike Gnitecki had an ambitious trip to Italy planned for this summer — a two-week tour of Rome, Milan and Florence. But halfway through booking his first getaway in more than a year, he decided to cancel it.
“Airline ticket prices are abnormally high,” says Gnitecki, who works for a fire department in Tyler, Tex. Flights in economy class from Dallas to Rome this summer are pushing the $2,000 mark, which is roughly twice as much as he is used to paying. Even though Italy recently announced it would allow tourists back, Gnitecki felt the timing was wrong.
Gnitecki isn’t alone. Andy Smith, a retired IT specialist from Charlottesville, had mapped out an ambitious road trip for this summer to visit friends and relatives in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California. But high hotel prices and predictions of once-in-a-generation summer crowds gave him second thoughts. He decided to hold off for a few months.
