The U.S. government is officially shut down until a new budget agreement can be reached.
TPG has been covering how this will affect the travel industry. The U.S. Travel Association estimates that it will affect the economy to the tune of $1 billion lost every week. Travel is the country’s No. 1 service export and directly employs 8 million American workers. And that’s not counting the millions of federal employees who will have to work without pay or could be furloughed.
A shutdown will likely have a ripple effect across the country, such as postponing Federal Aviation Administration training for new air traffic controllers, eventually causing a slowdown in passport and Global Entry processing times, and likely shuttering many national parks, which directly affects the economies in many rural gateway communities.
Some state governments are stepping in to devise plans and help fund operations to keep select national parks open for visitors (many of whom plan years in advance for these trips) — like Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and Zion National Park in Utah.
And if you are traveling in the next few days or weeks, since we could also see an increase in airport delays or flight cancellations as these impacts often grow with time, make sure you have a backup travel plan and follow these tips:
Posts in this newsletter contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products, and this may impact how or where they appear. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.
You are receiving this email because you opted in atthepointsguy.com.
Where to find us:
The Points Guy 100 5th Ave., 16th Floor New York, NY 10011 USA USA
If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here.
Advertiser Disclosure:
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don’t cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
