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Yes, we should not be travelling right now amidst everything that’s happening around the world, but that shouldn’t stop us from dreaming and planning for the day when we get to do that again. Things will eventually go back to normal, however long that might be. Travelling might never be the same again, with countries coming up with safe corridors between each other and airlines reducing their capacity by disallowing booking middle seats (YES, no more getting squeezed).
Even with all those changes, we believe that things will eventually resume back to normal and we should be for our adventures when that happens. These are some of the things that we have been doing to prepare for our future travels and we encourage you to do them too.
Look out for cheap deals
There are plenty of cheap hotel and packages deals going on right now! Exotic hotel brands such as Banyan Tree was even offering up to 75% off future stays at their top properties. Many hotel chains and airlines are also offering cheaper-than-usual points purchase promotion. This can potentially be very valuable in the future when travel eases up again. We would advise against buying points speculatively as they always get devaluated but if you have concrete plans coming in the near future then why not take advantage of this!
With many companies facing liquidity issues due to the economic impact caused by the pandemic, this is one of the ways they are trying to raise cash. I guess one of the biggest risks of this is the hotel chain succumbing to the pandemic and closing down, and you lose the money you paid. But as they say, no risk no gains right?
Collect points and miles
Continuing on to the topic of points and miles, now is the time to continue accumulating them for your future travels! Even though we are all stuck at home with potentially lower expenses, we should still take advantages of the current promotions going around.
An example is Chase recently which provided up to 5x more points for each groceries purchases! These are very valuable especially during a time like this when all we are buying are groceries ?. Amex is also giving a lot of free credits for their premium card members in an attempt to rebate them for the lost opportunities to use the travel benefits of their cards.
Look out in your email for newsletters sent by your financial institution or follow miles blogs to know the latest promotions going around with regards to your cards. We are also thinking of sharing more strategies that we’re using with regards to points to fund our trips on our blog so look out for that!
There are also several miles related blogs that provide very useful resources to plan out your points strategy!
The Points Guy
One Mile at a Time
Milelion
Suitemiles
Get inspiration for future trips
Although you’re stuck at home, it doesn’t mean you have to stop finding new places that you can visit! There are many ways to get inspiration for your future trips. Many companies are coming up with virtual live tours where you can join in the exploration from the comforts of your own home. If you have a VR headset at home, you can even bring the experience up a notch. Check out this amazing list of virtual tours compiled by smartertravel which you can join.
For me personally, I’ve been following several travel YouTubers over the last couple of years and they have been back posting videos of travels that they did just before the lockdowns began. I’ve already bookmarked several amazing places and can’t wait to visit them with M once we are allowed to again.
My YouTube travel channel recommendations
Kara and Nate
The Endless Adventure
Flying the Nest
Hey Nadine
Lost Leblanc
Other than Youtube, there are also many travel bloggers that write about their amazing travel experiences that you can draw inspiration from. Shameless plug but we also do that on our blog! If you’re looking for some inspiration, perhaps you can check out our previous trip to Japan here.
My travel Blog recommendations
52 Cities
The Sandy Feet
Alexinwanderland
That backpacker
The occasional traveller
