Is it worth it to fly during a government shutdown?

Right now the government shutdown is in its ~12th day and prolonged government shutdowns have been known to cause mayhem for flights. The reason being that TSA workers get furloughed or receive backpay in a shutdown. And air traffic controllers would receive backpay.

There was a 35 day government shutdown from December 22nd, 2018 to January 25th, 2019. By the end of the shutdown, air traffic controllers were calling in sick at extremely high rates, causing the FAA to limit and delay flights at a bunch of major airports across the US.

The crisis is magnified as the US has been historically understaffed when it comes to air traffic controllers. Currently the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is around 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staff levels according to Reuters. Air traffic controllers are important for a number of reasons but they are most important for passenger safety. They ensure the efficient and orderly flow of air traffic, minimizing delays and keeping us safe.

There has been an increase in delays and cancellations across the US with air traffic controllers and TSA staff calling in sick/not showing up to work.

For instance at Burbank Airport (BUR) in California, there were not any air traffic controllers on site for a whole evening. ABC7 news of Los Angeles talked to passengers that had at least two to three hour delays because of the air traffic controller shortage. You can check out the article here.

What is a government shutdown?

A government shutdown happens in the United States when Congress fails to pass funding (appropriations) for federal agencies and programs — or when the President doesn’t sign that funding into law. Without that authorization, most government operations have to pause until a new budget or “continuing resolution” is approved.

What’s a good alternative to flying?

When you fly frequently for all your travel, it’s hard to think of getting around in any other way. But, there are always alternatives.

The Train

My personal favorite alternative way to travel is by train. No painful security lines, free WiFi (hopefully), and plenty of space to do work.

I am a semi-frequent train traveler as I take the Commuter Rail in Massachusetts to visit my girlfriend and friends. If you know anything about the Commuter Rail, you know it is painfully slow in comparison to European train travel. It does the job when I don’t feel like taking my car.

I’ve also taken Amtrak from Boston to New York City and then New Jersey Transit from NYC to Princeton, New Jersey. This was a great option to go watch my girlfriend play softball (she played in college) as flying was a bit complicated.

Renting a Car

Renting a car instead of flying can be a solid option if you aren’t traveling too far. And it can be nice if you prefer some privacy when traveling.

I like to rent a car via Hertz whenever I can because it’s so cheap. You get good prices for what you’re paying for and you can get an additional 20% discount if you have an AAA account.

You can also rent a car through most travel portals—I personally like the Chase Travel portal for rental car bookings.

Taking a Bus

I’ve taken the bus from Massachusetts to New York City and it's a surprisingly good option. It was $35 for me one way and I had really good Wifi the whole way there. The clientele were pretty normal as well—I saw some grad students working on papers and research on the way there.

Taking a Cruise

Hopping on a cruise may not get you to your destination but it can be a good alternative to resort vacation that you were planning on flying to.

You can book a cruise on the American Express Travel portal and the Chase Travel portal. On Capital One, you can use your Capital One miles to book your cruise with the company or through a travel agent.

You can even use United Airlines points to book cruises through the United Cruises portal. Or you can redeem Marriott points for fancy Ritz-Carlton cruises. All intriguing options.

To find out more on how you can use your points for cruises, you can check out The Points Guy’s article here.

Can you still get a passport during a shutdown?

In a government shutdown, passport services are mostly unaffected. The reason being that passport services are deemed essential. Generally, you should still plan ahead as getting a passport can take some time.

How can you use your points & miles if you are not flying?

It can be incredibly frustrating when flying is not the best option to use your points. However, there are some good alternatives.

You of course can still use your points at hotels. For instance, let’s say you have 25,000 Chase points and were hoping to use those to transfer to an airline partner. You could instead transfer those points to Hyatt or IHG hotels to book a hotel stay.

An underrated alternative to flying with points is to redeem your points for cash back. Now this process can be tricky depending on the card but let’s use the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card as an example.

With the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, you can earn $900 cash back after spending $6,000 in the first three months from the account opening. This cash back can be converted to Chase points but if you can’t fly for a while, it's a great option to take the cash back! And we even wrote an article about the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card and its welcome bonus here.

It’s unknown to some folks but you can rent a car with your points as well. Let’s take the Chase Travel portal as an example. All you have to do is choose a pick up date & time, a drop off date & time and location. And then you have access to rent a car with your points at a number of different rental companies.

You can also use the Chase Travel portal to book cruises, excursions and other types of activities. Check out the portal to see what’s possible!

I want to talk about the potential of using your points for rail travel. Amtrak is a popular form of rail travel especially for longer routes and they have credit cards. The Amtrak Guest Rewards Mastercard is a no annual fee card where you can earn 12,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first three billing cycles from the account opening.

There’s also the Amtrak Guest Rewards Preferred Mastercard with a $99 annual fee. With this card, you can earn 20,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first three billing cycles from the account opening.

On both of these cards, you can earn points on everyday spending as well. These cards could be great for you to get if you travel by train regularly already and are going to use the train if the government shutdown is prolonged.

What happens if you are planning on flying abroad?

During a government shutdown, customs will continue to operate but wait times may be increased. There could be furloughed US Customs and Border Protection workers along with workers that will only receive backpay. Workers, especially those with a more entry level salary may look for other jobs or start calling in sick.

The longer the shutdown goes, the worse this problem gets.

Should you fly anyway?

If your travel plans are flexible, I would still try to fly. Right now, folks are mostly only experiencing delays. Once there are more cancellations and delays, I would be more weary. The other thing to worry about is safety—with less air traffic controllers working, it can increase safety concerns for people.

If there is a government shutdown past the length of the 35 day shutdown in 2018-2019, I personally would not fly. I don’t have any trips planned until Christmas time and I don’t travel for work so my situation is nice.

I’d say if the shutdown goes that long, save up your points or use them for cashback. Short distance travel could also be a good way to use your points—let’s say a weekend stay at a hotel or a mini cruise.

Whatever you decide to do, I would closely monitor the news to see what’s up with air travel and listen to what people are experiencing.