Airlines, Agents See Travel Numbers Soar As COVID-19 Cases Start To Descend

More and more people are starting to fly to their much-delayed vacations as COVID-19 numbers continue to go down daily. 

A Tulsa-area travel agent said it's a huge difference. She said it feels like more people are booking trips now than they were before the pandemic. Angie Rice started as a travel consultant for Vincent Vacations in July, when hardly anyone was booking a trip.

"It was very quiet initially," Rice said.

Rice said in the past several weeks, people have started to feel more comfortable with traveling, and they're booking trip after trip.

She even took her family to Hawaii last month and said everything was great.

"March it's been crazy, a good crazy," Rice said.

A spokesperson at Tulsa International Airport said they're seeing about 38 percent less travel compared to March 2019, which is better than the national average of 48 percent.

American Airlines said its bookings are up to 90 percent compared to 2019, so flights are filling up fast.

"There's no downward trend in pricing," Rice said. "If you're thinking about it, have those conversations."

Jason Marker just flew into Tulsa from Idaho for work.

"Both my flights were pretty full," said Jason Marker. "Everyone was masked."

He said the airports were busy, but everyone was taking precautions.

"For people who are a little worried, I would say go for it," Marker said.

Rice urges people to book now because things will continue to pick up, and get more expensive, as more and more people feel comfortable flying.

"It's exciting, it's neat to be part of the new normal," Rice said.

American Airlines said it expects to reactivate most of its aircraft in the coming weeks to meet the new demand.

For more information, you can contact Rice at Angie.Rice@VincentVacations.com