Planning a trip can be a daunting task which requires paying a lot of attention and juggling myriad moving parts — including flights, lodging, ground transportation, food, and attractions and landmarks which limit access during certain hours to a finite number of people.
One mistimed reservation can throw an entire schedule out of whack.
One Reason More Airlines Should Have Calendars Like This…
Countless stories are told pertaining to reservations mistakenly booked for the wrong days and incorrect times. People who plan travel must exercise care when creating an entire itinerary — especially if it is complex.
Holidays can especially potentially wreak havoc on a travel itinerary. People usually know that New Year’s Day is celebrated on January 1 every year; and that Christmas is celebrated on December 25 of every year…
…but then there are those pesky holidays which move around and fall on different dates every year. Two of them start this weekend: Passover begins at sundown tomorrow, Friday, April 19, 2019; and Easter falls on Sunday, April 21, 2019.
Holidays which occur as a result of being scheduled during a calendar which is different from the Gregorian calendar can especially cause confusion.
Although finding out what specific dates holidays such as these fall during a certain year only requires seconds of time, what would really be helpful is if airlines had calendars during the ticket booking process which displayed the holidays.
JetBlue Airways has such a calendar. Notice how Easter is displayed on Sunday, April 21, 2019. This is convenient for the customer who is busy enough trying to fit all of the pieces together for as ideal an itinerary as possible without having to worry about some holiday which moves around every year. Passover, however, is missing from the calendar.
Showing how many open seats remain on each given day is also a nice informative feature.
Summary
I wish that more airlines — and, for that matter, lodging companies, rental car companies, and other entities in the travel business — had calendars which displayed holidays for the convenience of customers who might otherwise accidentally schedule travel during one of those days.
Ideally, the calendar would include international holidays celebrated around the world in addition to religious and cultural holidays. Imagine booking flights to Australia or New Zealand and then attempting to schedule something to do on April 25 — only to find out that that is not possible because of the celebration of Anzac Day.
Travelers have been known to be surprised that they are required to be confined to the hotel or resort properties at which they are staying as the entire island of Bali in Indonesia closes for an entire day in celebration of Nyepi — as silently as possible; and with no lights at night. This year, Nyepi was celebrated on Thursday, March 7, 2018. Next year, Nyepi will be celebrated on Wednesday, March 23, 2020.
Would including all of those holidays require that much extra effort on the part of the individuals who are responsible for creating them? Would such a calendar improve your travel planning?
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
