You know that feeling when you're watching the news and thinking, "Thank God that's not my travel day"?
I had that feeling twice this fall.
First, when my client returned from Jamaica on a Friday, and Hurricane Melissa, a catastrophic Category 5 storm, made landfall there the following Tuesday with 185 mph winds. Then again when another client was returning from an international trip the exact day flight cancellations started ramping up due to the government shutdown, but they were flying into major airline hubs where rebooking options actually existed.
The travel gods were with us. But I'm not interested in relying on luck.
October and November 2025 were full of those close-call moments. A 43-day government shutdown that had air traffic controllers working without pay. Hurricane Melissa devastating the Caribbean. Visa rule changes that eliminated workarounds people had been using for years.
These weren't freak occurrences. They're examples of disruptions that happen all the time in different forms. Government issues. Natural disasters. Policy changes. Technology failures. Pandemics (remember those?).
The lessons from this fall aren't just about what happened in October and November. They're about how to build travel plans that hold up when the inevitable curveball comes your way, so you're not just hoping the travel gods show up.
Let me paint the picture:
The Shutdown Mess
The shutdown began October 1 and stretched for over 40 days, the longest in U.S. history. Air traffic controllers had to work without paychecks, and by mid-November, after missing two full paychecks, staffing hit crisis levels.
The FAA's solution? Order airlines to reduce flights at 40 major airports by up to 10%. On one particularly bad Sunday, more than 10% of U.S. departures were canceled. About 6 million people had their plans disrupted.
Hurricane Melissa's Path
Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on October 28, causing catastrophic damage and at least 102 deaths across the Caribbean. Scientists recorded a wind gust of 252 miles per hour, the highest ever measured. Travel to and through the Caribbean was chaos for weeks.
Travel disruption isn't an exception. It's part of the system. Weather happens. Governments make decisions. Technology breaks. Geopolitics shift. Staff shortages occur.
The difference between travelers who navigate this smoothly and those who end up panicking in airport terminals at 2 AM? They plan for things to go wrong.
Forget what the actual insurance covers for a minute. What actually protects you:
When you're heading to a conference where you're speaking, or meeting a client who flew halfway around the world to see you, or starting that sabbatical you've planned for two years, arriving just in time is a terrible strategy.
During the shutdown, people learned this the hard way. You need arrival cushions, especially when:
During the shutdown, airlines waived fees and offered refunds even on basic economy tickets, but that was crisis mode. Don't count on it happening the next time something goes sideways.
For high-stakes trips, the extra $100-200 for a flexible ticket isn't an expense. It's insurance. Can you afford to miss that conference keynote or critical client meeting because you saved $150 on a non-refundable ticket?
This is especially critical for small firms covering travel for employees. When flights get canceled or plans change, that non-refundable ticket becomes a credit in the traveler's name—not the company's. If that employee leaves or doesn't travel again soon, you've just donated money to the airline. Paying a couple hundred extra for a refundable fare could save you thousands.
Travel experts recommended downloading airline apps and enabling notifications for individual trips. When hundreds of flights cancel in a day, the travelers who get rebooked first are the ones who knew first.
Text alerts. App notifications. Email. All of it. Yes, it's annoying. You know what's more annoying? Finding out your flight was canceled when you arrive at the airport.
(For our full-service clients, we handle this through our itinerary app that sends live flight updates automatically. One less thing you have to monitor yourself.)
Climate change warmed the waters Melissa passed over by 1.4°C, strengthening the storm's winds by about 10 mph. This is just science now, not politics.
Hurricane season in the Caribbean and Gulf runs June through November. Monsoon season in Southeast Asia. Winter storms in Europe and North America. Wildfire season in the Western U.S. and Australia.
You don't have to avoid these places during these times, but you need to know what you're walking into and plan accordingly.
U.S. embassies are advising people to apply 4-5 months in advance, and processing times keep stretching. If your trip involves visa requirements (for you or your team), whatever timeline feels "safe" to you, double it.
Government processing doesn't care about your schedule.
Tools That Make Travel More Resilient:
Want someone managing all of this for you? Let's talk about the Travel Arranger Program →
For the consultant flying 25+ days a year:
You're booking direct flights whenever humanly possible, even when they cost more. Those connection cities that saved you $200? They were exactly where the worst delays happened during the shutdown. Your time is worth more than the savings.
For the group travel coordinator:
You're not just booking the cheapest group rate. You're vetting properties, verifying what management companies actually know about their buildings, and having backup options already researched. When one of my groups hit unexpected construction at their "highly rated, professionally managed" Airbnb, we had them relocated to a better lodging option in less than 24 hours. Knowing Airbnb's policies, communicating clearly with management, and documenting everything meant they got a full refund. That's not luck—that's preparation.
For the sabbatical planner or slow traveler:
You're arriving a day early before any can't-miss events. You're buying travel insurance that actually covers multi-month trips. You're checking entry requirements monthly (not just once) because they change—and when you're moving between countries every few weeks, missing one visa requirement can derail your entire itinerary. You're booking accommodations with flexible cancellation policies for the first and last stops, because those are where delays ripple through. You're coordinating overlapping leases, managing mail forwarding, timing vaccine requirements, and ensuring your credit cards won't get flagged for fraud when you're charging from three different countries in six weeks. Sabbatical and slow travel planning isn't just about picking destinations—it's about understanding the logistics and scheduling that make extended travel actually work.
For the business owner coordinating team travel:
You're not just booking flights for multiple people—you're managing different travel preferences, varying budgets, coordinating arrivals so everyone gets to that kickoff meeting on time, and tracking who needs what visa documentation. You're working with someone who understands that when five people are traveling from three different cities to one conference, one delayed flight doesn't just affect one person—it affects your entire agenda. Someone who has relationships with local providers who can pivot fast, knows how to negotiate group rates that actually save money, and can rebook an entire team when plans shift. And critically, someone who knows how to expense and report this properly so your finance team isn't spending hours reconciling receipts in five different names.
Airlines are forecasting international travel at record levels, up 10% over last year. More people traveling means fuller planes, less flexibility, higher likelihood of delays and bumps.
The travel system is running at capacity. There's no slack left for when things go wrong, and things always go wrong.
This isn't doom and gloom. It's just reality. And once you accept that reality, you can plan for it.
October and November weren't bad luck. They were a reminder that the travel industry operates on thin margins, and when one thing breaks, everything else gets wobbly fast.
The high-performing consultants we work with don't have time to deal with this themselves. The growing companies we support can't afford to have their teams stuck in airports. The professionals planning sabbaticals or milestone trips shouldn't have to become travel experts just to pull it off.
That's why professional travel coordination exists, not to book your flights (you can do that yourself), but to build plans that account for what happens when everything doesn't go according to plan.
Because this fall proved something important: it's not about if something will go wrong. It's about whether you're ready when it does.
Planning travel for 2026? Let's talk about building trips that hold up under pressure, because "just booking a flight" isn't enough anymore. Schedule a consultation →
P.S. If this article resonated with you, forward it to someone who's been burned by travel disruptions. They'll thank you for it.