Europe is more popular than ever.
In 2018, there were 710 million international visitors to Europe, and this number seems to be only increasing. Tourists in 2020 are especially interested in Scandinavian trips, in part as a result of protests in other parts of the world. Barcelona and Venice will be less welcoming of tourists in 2020 due to overtourism, but it’s become much easier to get around Sicily, taking a few hours to drive from Catania to Palermo, when it used to takea day.
New routes.
In 2019, there were new flights between Newark-Naples on United, Tampa-Amsterdam on Delta, and Chicago-Athens on American Airlines.
In 2020, United will begin a Newark-Palermo route and Newark-Nice. American Airlines is beginning Chicago to Prague, Krakow, and Budapest–as well as Philadelphia to Casablanca. Delta will have routes from Boston to Rome, London Gatwick, and Manchester.
One of our favorite airlines for discounted business class fares, Norwegian Air, will be launching seasonal flights from Chicago to Paris and Rome, as well as Denver to Rome.
Better transportation within Europe.
And, once you’ve flown to Europe, it will be easier to get around. There are more high-speed trains across Europe than ever, and no border checks across 26 European countries. In 2020, there will even be a train to run direct from Amsterdam to London.
United and Newark…the model for Dante’s seventh level of Hell. Incompetency by airport staff coupled with a New Jersey attitude plus United’s famous non-communication or miscommunication with travelers during delays all just combines to a perfect storm of egregious mind-numbing pain. It resulted in a day’s delay getting from Newark to Nashville…an overnight stay that United says was weather caused…but we were on the tarmac and turned around due to a mechanical issue.