Dear Explorer!
Believe it or not, more of you are traveling. I try to use this weekly column (and this whole site) to give you the tools to make good decisions.
But for those of you who want to travel (and are planning to) this weeks edition will be informative as well!
By: Anne Heintz
Welcome one and all to the third quarter of this memorable year. Quite a few of you have outstanding credits to apply toward future travel . While some of you may not feel “the urge” as of yet I have been repeatedly warned by others in my business that future 2021 bookings are robust and could present some problems for those who are looking at a popular destination and/or popular dates such as holidays.
Please know that I am here to help you navigate these waters. Rest assured there are places that you can even go right now and new destinations are continuing to open up. I promise! I also know that this is a “fluid” situation. That is why you have me to keep on top of things.
The airlines have certainly helped by getting rid of change fees. Many hotels, tour operators and cruise lines have made cancellation penalties much more consumer friendly. This should also ease your mind!
Cleaning and sanitation best practices are getting tweaked on a daily basis as new innovations are being rolled out. There has never been this much collaboration in the travel industry. Open dialogue between what used to be the “competition” is now typical operating procedure. Similar to post 9/11, we all understand how important it is to get our industry safely back on its feet!
The airlines and hotels are adding to their safety protocols on a regular basis. We can help with specifics but I'm sure a lot of you will start the process by doing your own research. We have a number of Safety Updates posted on this site that might be helpful. We've organized those updates into one post to make them easier to find. There will be a link to those at the bottom of this post.
People as a whole have learned the importance of resilience and adaptation. There are many positive things to come out of 2020, which we will no doubt look back on and recognize after the fact!
October is here! If virtual education for the kids is weighing on you ,and you are already dreaming of the next break be aware that I do have festive requests. The properties that are perpetual “go to” and those that are either more contained or remote are seeing “brisk” business.
Contact me for that or CONTACT me so that we can catch up about what new things you’ve learned and experienced in the last six months.
You can find access to all of our safety updates by clicking here.
When you're ready to travel, we're here to help!
**Anne Heintz is an independent travel advisor based in Washington, DC who always has her bag packed. She loves the fact that the journey creates memories and connections for her clients. She is affiliated with Worldwide Travel Associates and Tzell Travel. She is the co-founder & namesake of TravelAnne.com. Anne can be reached at Anne@TravelAnne.com