Update: The New School announced via email on Wednesday, March 18 that all student travel (both domestic and international), as well as student events, are canceled/postponed until Sunday, May 31.
As new positive cases of COVID-19 continue to rise across the U.S., many students are left wondering if now is a safe time to travel, whether it be home or on vacation.
Following an address to the nation on March 11, President Donald Trump banned travel to all European countries for 30 days, starting on Friday, March 13, at midnight.
According to Hopper, a popular deal-scoring site where flights can be purchased, “US domestic airfare dropped an average of 14% between March 4th and March 7th, to $230 round-trip.” Flights to cities like Miami, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles have dropped in price about 30%.
These sudden price drops have alerted college students who have looked for deals around the time of spring break.
One student posted in their Instagram story a screenshot of a group message, saying “fuck it anyone tryna go to Puerto Rico for lunch tm,” depicting a Google search for flights from New York City to Puerto Rico, for as low as $84.
Before President Trump placed a travel ban to European countries, second-year political science major Zoe Burger had a trip planned to visit London, Amsterdam, and Paris. Her flight out of the US was scheduled for the evening of Thursday, March 12. “I was really unsure of what decision I should make. My parents and family really wanted me to come home and not go, but I didn’t expect a travel ban this quickly so I thought it would be okay to go,” Burger said. Burger said she was “definitely really disappointed. I had this trip planned for 8 months.” Burger ultimately flew home to California on March 12 on a “half empty” flight, she said, and is currently planning to stay in California indefinitely.
India Roby, a third-year Journalism + Design major, is planning to travel to Tennessee for spring break. “My family in Memphis said that everyone is freaking out even though one person in our county had coronavirus. My aunt said that hand sanitizer is all sold out and prices are marked up,” Roby said.
“I’m not too concerned, but I’m more concerned than I was in the beginning,” Roby said. Days earlier, she had been interviewed in Union Square Park last week by a news station and told them she wasn’t at all worried about traveling. “Now, I’m having my doubts,” she said.
Sav Aiello, a third-year religious studies and Philosophical Anthropology major, bought a plane ticket to Miami, FL about a month before spring break. “Prices drastically dropped when I was there,” Aiello said. “I also figured Miami would be a better place than New York City while this outbreak was happening, considering that it’s warmer so I would be outside in fresh air and swim in the ocean,” Aiello said. “Both the sun and saltwater have such strong healing benefits for our immune system.”
Aiello ended her time in Miami two days early in case domestic travel within the United States were to be limited in any way, which Aiello is surprised hasn’t happened yet. “I can feel the effects of being in the sun and salt and how they’ve cleared and balanced my body,” Aiello said.
As of now, The New School has canceled all school-related international travel for the rest of the semester, while online classes will continue and make remote learning (and other travel) realistic.