Race against time: Travel bookings to US spike after Trump's visa diktat

The US move to hike H-1B visa fees to $100,000 triggered a surge in last-minute bookings to the States, though officials later clarified the rule applies only to new applicants

Online travel aggregators witnessed a spike in bookings to the US as people rushed to make reservations, following President Donald Trump’s order to raise the H-1B visa fee and tech companies, based in America, issuing directives to their employees to return to the country before the deadline kicks in.

 

NASDAQ-listed travel booking app MakeMyTrip witnessed a notable increase in last-minute bookings to the US since Saturday morning.

 

“This increase in bookings for same-day or next-day travel is atypical for a long-haul segment,” said a MakeMyTrip spokesperson.

 

Similarly, at Cleartrip, bookings to the US over the weekend were unusually high. “We are closely monitoring the H-1B development and understanding its short and long-term implications. From bookings point of view, we are seeing a substantial increase in demand for bookings to the US,” said Manjari Singhal, chief growth and business officer at the platform.

 

“President Trump’s announcement has created a sense of unease among people and they will want to stay put in the US. While we haven’t seen an impact on long-term bookings yet, the sense of anxiety will impact travel from the US to India in the coming peak season,” said a senior executive at a travel platform, who did not wish to be identified.

 

US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order requiring companies to pay $100,000 annually for each H-1B visa worker. Following this, companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and JP Morgan issued advisories to employees to avoid foreign travel. The tech firms also asked workers, who are not in the country, to return before the September 21 deadline.

 

However, the US government later clarified that the new rule will apply only to new applicants from the next lottery cycle, and not to existing H-1B holders. It also stated that the $100,000 visa fee hike would be a one-time payment imposed only on new applicants.

 

 

Meanwhile, online searches for travel to the US came down on Sunday. This, executives said, could be on account of the visa-related clarification issued by the US administration or bookings already made.

 

However, an executive of an airline that operates direct flights between India and the US, told Business Standard that there has been no sudden increase in cancellations or bookings following the recent H-1B-related announcements by the US government. The executive added that although there was a brief surge in traffic on the airline’s website for US flights after Trump’s first announcement on the new fees, the activity quickly subsided.

According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, three airlines — Air India, United Airlines, and American Airlines — currently operate direct services on the route, with Air India running 50 flights a week and United and American 14 each.

 

However, the majority of passengers travelling between India and the US still opt for one-stop connections through hubs such as Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, or London, and direct flights cater to a smaller share of the overall traffic.

 

Testing times

 

Tech firms had urged employees abroad to return before the September 21 deadline

US clarified the fee hike applies only to new H-1B applicants, not existing holders

Flight demand surged briefly, then dropped after the clarification

Air India, United Airlines, and American Airlines operate direct services on the India-US route