The between holiday week ended up being a nightmare for travelers in 2022, especially the ones flying by air. Southwest had the worst breakdown of service, with them canceling upwards of 50% or more of their planes. Passengers were stranded, luggage was stacked up in airports and, adding to the madness, rental cars ran out.
Monitoring the chaos, in real time, it was apparent that there was sometimes another option for travelers: Amtrak. It is not always a solution, but it could be. As an example: you flew to Albuquerque for the Christmas Holiday. You need to get back to work in Chicago on Tuesday and can’t get a flight out on Monday. The next opportunity the airline offers you is the next weekend. What do you do? You can book a seat on the Southwest Chief and arrive at your destination on Tuesday. It is not perfect, but it gets the job done. If you have booked your flight with travel insurance, you are in even better shape.
Not every Amtrak route was running, especially the Empire Builder (due to the extreme cold weather), but most of them were. Delays did happen, but again, it beat the airlines in many cases. In a win for the traveler, you keep your luggage with you at all times and there are no TSA screenings either.
Something to think about, moving forward.
