I was on the phone this morning to American Airlines and had about an hour wait on hold to get through to speak with a human. The CS agent I spoke with sounded like he was slammed.
I suspect there are many factors at play here:
- Optimism -- some of it completely justified, some of it very misplaced (the vaccine situation domestically and in a few other countries is going well, but there's a lot of politically-driven idiocy to just start acting like the pandemic is over....it's not, and won't be for some time -- see Texas et al -- and the covid situation in popular destinations remains grim -- Mexico and Italy, for example). Still, when people start seeing signs that things are getting better, many are ready to press the "Book it" button regardless.
- There's a vast pent-up demand -- nobody should be surprised by this. Once things "open up" (difficult to really define) many expect there to be an initial gush with high numbers of people going places. I saw one article today about the travel industry alternately lamenting and celebrating that they expect a mad rush "once the dam breaks" as they said.
- Plenty of people have "vouchers" and credits with airlines and hotels for trips that were canceled. You add that into the mix and it makes booking things much more complicated, so CS agent call-times spike. People are highly motivated to use these travel credits (since they were paid for long ago and often have expiration dates).
- Spring is coming (or already here, depending on where you live). With warmer, sunnier weather hard to ignore, people are itching to go somewhere, anywhere (even if they shouldn't).
- And -- even for cautious, responsible folks -- the outlook does look significantly better up ahead, so it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of feeling like "the end is in sight!".
Personally, I'm trying my best to be responsible. Both me and my spouse are fully vaccinated. As much as I would love to go diving tomorrow, I have no intention of heading for Cozumel (or anyplace else in the developing world where the health care system is fragile or overloaded, the COVID situation is still bad, and getting a majority of locals vaccinated is nowhere in sight or even dreamed of). Not right away, not for a while. I will consider Cozumel or Indonesia or other places like that later in 2022 -- depending on how things go. I'm HOPING to travel in September 2021, if things continue to get better
both here and there (in my case, destination is someplace warm in Europe where they have a good handle on things and a vaccination program progressing). And everything I'm booking for Fall 2021 is 100% refundable, I'll make the go/no-go decision in August based on both our/ AND
their progress -- not just what I can get away with.
That said, the demand is clearly there -- even while the CDC continues to urge everyone to defer non-essential travel (that's still the recommendation, even for those of us who have been vaccinated). Some folks are suggesting it also makes economic sense to avoid trying to jump the gun and be part of the first big wave this summer...as the OP has discovered, prices may be crazy high as everyone rushes to be among the first out the door.
The pandemic isn't over folks. You don't spike the ball when you cross the 20-yeard-line...