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