All good things must come to an end as Southwest starts filling middle seats on December 1st –

One of the few good things to come from this nasty pandemic for travelers willing to travel has been empty middle seats on Southwest, Alaska Air, and Delta Air Lines. Last week we found out that Southwest will no longer block the middle seats on their flights beginning December 1. Delta and Alaska Air are the last hold outs and both have indicated they will wait until sometime in 2021 to consider lifting the ban on filling middle seats on their flights. CLICK HERE to read more.

Pay the extra $50 – $100 this winter and fly non-stop flights – Missing a connecting flight because of a delayed flight could cause you to be stuck for days this winter. This year the airlines have eliminated 50% of their flights. Pre-COVID if your flight was delayed or canceled you had another dozen flight options to help you find open seats to get home. Today, there are just not enough flights for a backup plan. With this in mind, I recommend you consider paying a little more to try to find non-stop flights to get to your destination. Besides, direct flights (non-stop) may cost you a few bucks more but it saves you as much as a half-day of travel.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! – I have circled Christmas on my calendar as the time when the travel industry finally starts to get some good news about a vaccine and easy testing that will open up the travel industry for next year. I hope the good news comes in November but I feel confident that by Christmas travel will have turned the corner. The sooner the better! I think a lot of people will want to “get out of Dodge” this winter and head to sun and fun destinations once the green light on COVID is given. There are some great prices right now. However, with so few flights I anticipate that waiting to book will cost you a lot more money. Please feel free to contact one of our friendly travel advisors at 402-435-8888 and let us help you celebrate life again. CLICK HERE to listen to “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by Bing Crosby”.

Travel to Europe is toast for the rest of this year – Originally everyone had high praise for Europe when they shut down almost completely late spring and the virus slowed considerably. Now Europe is seeing a large second wave of COVID and this weekend they went into a full mask shutdown across the E.U. Now everyone around the world is holding their breath for the new vaccine to get us through this mess. I’ll so miss visiting Europe and seeing the Christmas markets this year. My favorite Christmas market in Munich is tentatively still open but many throughout Germany have already been canceled. CLICK HERE to see a list of European Christmas markets that are open and closed this year.

Hawaii is finally starting to see tourists as testing opens up 8000 new tourists a day – Hawaii has been hit hard by COVID as the state government decided to completely shut down the “Aloha” state with a required 14-day quarantine upon arrival. This month that quarantine has been deferred if travelers take a pre-flight test and post-flight test upon arrival and test negative. One question many travellers have been asking is what happens if they test negative pre-flight but upon arrival in Hawaii test positive. The answer is that you have to do a 14-day quarantine in your hotel. You better have a good line of credit on your credit card if heading to Hawaii. I think it is still worth the chance of visiting this great state.

Do not pre-pay hotels more than 30 days in advance as 50% of hotels could go belly up in the next 6 months – This pandemic has been a tsunami for the travel industry with the airlines and hotels facing massive losses. A recent report I read was almost unbelievable as it showed that up to 50% of all hotels will either close or be foreclosed on in the coming months. This made me think that it would be unwise for anyone to make full payment or even a deposit too far out in the future if the possibility of a hotel going belly up would cause you to lose your money. If you make payment within 30 days of your stay on a credit card the credit card company should protect you from not being able to receive service and refund your money (please check your credit card company for their protection offered).