Megan Singleton: BloggerAtLarge.com writer on the impacts of the US Govt shutdown

The US Government shutdown is continuing on with no end in sight, and it's starting to impact travel.

While essential services will continue, air travel and passport renewals are among the services being disrupted, meaning travel in and out of the US is set to get more complicated.

BloggerAtLarge.com Megan Singleton unpacks the delays further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News talksedb Travel with Wendy wo Tours Where the
world is yours.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
For now I can breathe again. Time to talk travel,
Megan Singleton, Good morning, Monday morning.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Take a breath.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm not good at watching men punch each other in
the head, and the boys here in the studio have
been watching me watch They've actually been I think more
entertained by watching me trying to watch boxing. Anyway, let's
move on, because of course we're all traveling. We're going everywhere,
and a lot of us are heading to the US.
But there's the course, the shutdown. How is that impacting
travel and tourism.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yeah, it is impacting it. I'm heading up on Thursday,
so I've been keenly following. We're up to day twenty
five of the government's shutdown. And what that means for
travel and tourism is that out of the one point
four million federal employees that are on unpaid leave or
working without pay, a lot of them are border protection,

(01:04):
custom security, air traffic controllers. So I've been looking at
delays on flights and they're saying, you know, if you've
got a connecting flight, add an extra hour. Well for me,
the bookings made right, So I'm going into LA on
Thursday and transitting through to Chicago for the All Blacks.
So we'll just have to see how it looks. I
did look it up this morning. So far no delays

(01:26):
out of Los Angeles, but Houston could look like it's
having some delays.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
And you've got.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Lesser airports that that are not condeemed like essential I think,
and maybe that's where they're having some struggles. But the
National parks are affected, and that includes Grand Canyon, Alcatraz,
the Smithsonian museums in Washington, DC, which are all free
to go into, and the Zoo. They're all shut down
because they are all actually government run. However, for Washington

(01:53):
there are a lot of other museums and attractions and
things to see. But no, it really is affecting people.
And I did also read that members of Congress are
still being paid.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Francesca well the area and look, you know, as you say, museums, zoos,
clothes in Washington, d C. All these all these different things,
you know, which it's.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
A massive impact. And then then are they going to
be back paid. That's a big question. And then what
is it doing to you know, brand Essay has already
had their fund and cut by the US government, so
they're out there trying to encourage international visitors with a
brand new campaign, America the Beautiful, and you know, then
on the other hand, we're reading the news and going, actually,
are we really welcome? Very difficult.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, all of the thing too is a lot of
people have already made their plans, right. It's not like, oh, okay,
if I'm going to book to go up in a
couple of weeks, I'll make sure I leave a lot
of room before I connect to somewhere else. People's plans
are made, the trips are planned, that's where they're going.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
And you know, yeah, so the good thing is a
book on the one ticket. So I've booked the one
ticket right through from Auckland to Chicago. So that means
if there's a delay or anything or a cancelation, I'll
be put on the next flight. If you book them
in single sectors, you and you just missed that flight,
you become a no show, Well then you might have
to buy another ticket. So that's always a thing. I

(03:06):
get a through ticket through your agent or directly online
with your airline website, and that should cover you for
things like this.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Ah, that's very good advice. Hey, you've been to Chicago
to see the All Blacks play before, haven't you.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
And they lost and I'm going up again, so am
I to change for costume this time or something? I'm
not sure.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Look forward to talking to you next Sunday. Thank you
so much, Megan.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio