Flying back from Europe

After spending five weeks in Europe, yesterday we got back.  Of course, in the course of those five weeks, the dollar lost over 10% of its value over the euro.  However, the flight back from Heathrow to Chicago was interesting. 

When we flew to Europe from Dallas, the fight was full.  That was not this way on the way back. 

In the third section, over half the seats were unoccupied.  The three seats in front of us were empty.  We were in a three seat section and the third seat was unoccupied.  I asked one of the cabin crew about this and she was surprised, too.  I said blame on Trump and she replied she couldn’t respond to what I said but just smiled. 

Clearing customs in Chicago was easy, too.  My spouse has green card with no expiration date.  There was almost no line for green card holder.  The line for those with visas was a lot shorter then the line of US citizens. 

This is just one data point and the Easter vacation in Germany was over, but it was still surprising. I would love to know what the returning flights from Europe to Florida or NYC are like now. 

Did I just see an early result of Trump’s tariff war, the problem of green card holders getting back into the country, and the stories of Europeans having difficulty clearing customs?   

Have you just returned from Europe?  Was the flight full of not?