Episode Summary:
In this week’s episode, we discuss eleven tips for planning your dream “vaxication”, which is a post-vaccination vacation. People are excited to travel again, but there are some new challenges to navigate when it comes to transportation and hospitality and some great opportunities! We share our summer vacation plans and tips for making the best of cost-effective summer travel during this unique time.
Episode Notes:
Travel is such an important part of many people’s lives, including ours! When you’re ready to get back out on the road, you might need to put in a little more leg work than normal to plan that dream vaxication. Here are our top tips:
- This should go without saying, but get vaccinated. And if you’re not vaccinated yet, don’t travel yet. It’s not worth it for you or the travelers around you.
- Start planning right now. The trend in travel right now is short windows between booking and staying. That drives prices up, so book now for your summer trip. One of the things you can do to start planning now is consider signing-up for credit card offers for travel hacking.
- Avoid the tourist traps, not just because they’re tourist traps. Popular beaches for example are going to be insanely packed and expensive. A trick for testing how packed a place will be is to look at hotel and car rental prices for the time you want and other, less popular times. If a hotel is $100 on a Monday and $500 on the days you are there, it’s going to be too busy.
- Airfare might still be expensive. Flights to popular destinations are going to be normally priced, if not more expensive. Consider alternative destinations and you can score a deal.
- You might need to forgo the car rental. In the depths of the shutdown last year, rental car companies had to sell off much of their inventory. The result is massive demand and no supply. IF you can get a car, you might pay $200 a day for a sedan!
- There are many great hotel deals to be found in destinations that are still recovering. Look for specials to include breakfast or hotel credits in addition to lower nightly rates. But also check out AirBNB and VRBO for house rentals if that’s your thing.
- If you can’t find deals on hotels and airfare, consider your points, but don’t waste them. Get a good redemption rate of about $0.02/mile for air and $0.005-1/point for hotels. Divide the cost of booking by the total points to get this number.
- Skip the restaurants. This is especially relevant today, but in general, buying and preparing most of your own food can save you hundreds a day. Find a place with a kitchen or kitchenette to at least make and bring lunches for the day.
- You might need to pre-order tickets and battle it out for limited spots. In order to balance a surge in visitors, while maintaining social distancing, expect certain places to release limited tickets. Check this for the activities you’re interested in BEFORE you book your travel.
- Research the location you’re going to first, and cost out any unique covid-related travel requirements they have, such as travel insurance or covid-tests.
- Be respectful and wear a mask, and wear it properly. Congrats on being vaccinated, but be mindful that we have a societal responsibility to end this pandemic. Even if you are unlikely to contract covid, your example helps reinforce good behavior.
Top 3 takeaways:
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Start planning any vacations right now.
- Consider destinations away from the summer surge.
- Treat this like any other vacation by controlling costs for the little things and focus on the memorable events you’ll take back with you.