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Planning Your 2021 Summer Travel - Travel Stories, Episode 143
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Planning Your 2021 Summer Travel - Travel Stories, Episode 143

Recorded in the beautiful home office of Chateau’ Relaxo, Florida.

Not much travel in the last few weeks, I did receive my second “Fauci Ouchie” and had zero side effects, no fever, no achy joints, and no exhaustion. My very non-scientific observation, actually two observations of coming down with COVID is this… 

First, do stupid things, win stupid prizes.

Second, genetics, and/or your environment factors into coming down with COVID.

In my whole life, I’ve never been a sickly person, I don’t use hand sanitizers, I don’t wipe off the tops of beer cans before drinking them and I’ve only gotten a flu shot once, and haven’t ever had the flu that I can remember. When it comes to the environment I’ve traveled for the last 21 years and have been exposed to germ-filled hotel rooms, airplane seatback trays, and rental cars that more than likely have never been cleaned. I feel like I have a solid base of immunity built up. November 2021 we had a guest at the house that was COVID positive, they had no idea till the next day when their test results came back. We drank from the same glass, we prepared food together. I didn’t get sick and neither did any of the other four Chateau’ Relaxo residents.

The reason that I got vaccinated is for one simple reason, since my job requires meeting face-to-face with people I didn’t want to deter any of those meetings, and second I want to give everyone in those meetings peace of mind.

Again this is never political we all have to do what we feel is best for us and our families.

Depending on your health beliefs approaching 2021 summer travel from a wait-and-see perspective might make sense. but from a booking perspective, maybe not so much.

Airline prices are steadily increasing, rental cars are expensive and in short supply. In episode 139 we talked about that during the month of March, the cheapest rental car in Maui ran for $722 a day, so people were renting U-Hauls for much cheaper.

And there’s an inventory shortage on AirBNB coupled with ever-increasing prices. 

A recent Airbnb reports stated - Based on US guest bookings, rural stays near national and state parks, the Great Lakes and white sand beaches are exploding compared with summer 2019. 

The most popular are:

  • Whitefish Mountain, MT (near Glacier National Park)

  • Panama City Beach, FL

  • Florida Panhandle

  • Hilton Head Island, SC

  • Black Hills, SD 

  • Miramar Beach, FL

  • Michigan Upper Peninsula 

  • Acadia National Park

Three of those eight destinations are in Florida, and nowhere on that list is Orlando. No Disneyworld no Universal & no SeaWorld. Are people looking to avoid crowds or have we all suddenly become more fiscally responsible over the past year?

In case you didn’t know…..

For Disney, a single-day single park ticket is anywhere from $109 - $159. A single-day park hopper ticket is $174 - $224.The price gap is based on being a Florida resident, or not and what day of the year you wish to visit. Think Uber surge pricing during the Super Bowl.

Because no one vacations at the Mouse House for just a day, a three-day single park ticket is between  $105 - $149. A three-day park hopper ticket $130 - $174. 

If you’re a Florida resident there is an endless supply of ticket combos for multiple days and multiples parks. We’ve done it a few times over the years, but a three-day park hopper works best for us as we prefer to just hang out in Downton Disney.

So for a family of four, a three-day park hopper visit will run you from between $1500 and $2000.

Here’s a Disney tip, waiting to buy your park tickets until you arrive at the gate will be more expensive.

For Universal Studios it’s very similar, a single-day single park ticket starts at $109.00 and runs up to $132. These two parks are in fierce competition so their pricing is going to be similar.

Again figure north of $1500.00 for a family of four for a three-day visit. 

All this is before transportation, lodging food, souvenirs, express lane passes, and on and on. There are countless blogs offering tips for saving money on lodging, food, and entertainment. However, you have to be flexible and willing to do some, make that a lot, of leg work to put it all together. Just like Vegas the house always wins, or in this case, the Mouse House or Universal O-Town always wins.

Make no mistake about it you will have a great time at either location. But, only after you’ve made peace with the fact that you’ve opened your wallet to strangers and said ….. please help yourself. 

According to CNN 72%of Americans will make at least one trip this summer, and I know for us there will be at least one, and more than likely it’ll be a road trip like we talked about in Episode 136.

If I was hopping on a bird I would go at it in this way - 

Select a destination, that makes sense. In the past, our summer trip was often inspired by places I’ve been on business and typically it was someplace that I had been to in the previous year. The reason is that it takes a lot, like a whole lot for a town or destination to come completely unwound in less than twelve months without it making the headlines. This past year most business travel has been local, I haven’t been on a plane since February 2020.

So if I was flying this year, I would choose someplace that I’ve been to in the past, and it would be in the continental United States. I’m not concerned about COVID, I’m vaccinated. The reason I would stay stateside is this…. I would be concerned that a foreign country might impose a random quarantine as soon as I arrive, or as I go to depart. It makes more sense as I was departing so it quickly becomes a 10 to 14-day money grab as we would need lodging, food, etc.

The CEO and I discussed visiting Denver, Colorado the other night, Neither one of us has been there, There’s plenty to do fly fishing, rafting, food, and of course craft beer.

I offered up Seattle, WA after my 2019 5 day business trip. Seattle is a haul requiring a full day of travel even with the 3-hour time difference.

The next thought was attending a Dave Matthews Band concert in late July in either Raleigh or Charlotte, North Carolina. This might still be on the table as we celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary right around those dates. O-Town to Raleigh, according to Google is an 8 ½ hour drive which translates to 10 hours possibly longer since the CEO has never visited South of the Border, Southwest offers at most two direct flights each day… advantage flying and adding an extra day onto the trip to fit around Southwest’s schedule.

Charlotte, Google weighs in at 7 ½ hours, truer would be 8 ½ to 9 hours. Southwest can get me there in under 5 hours for, get this, 100,000 points, the CEO flies free or $1100.00 for each of us. Advantage road trip, I’ll let you know what we decide.

Here’s one take-away from the last 12 months, I’ve become more engaged when it comes to using/spending my hotel and airline points. Five years ago if a family member or even friend need a hotel room or flight I was like Oprah, you get a voucher, you get a voucher, you get a voucher. In 2021 I’m a bit stingier even with my own personal travel.

Thinking back to 2019 - 

  • I spent 225 nights in hotels

  • Over 50 flights

  • And 22 rental cars

Between credit card points and travel loyalty points, I knew that there would be a huge monthly deposit in my travel point bank.

Over the last 15 months, I’ve taken zero flights, and there have been less than 150 nights in hotels…. My travel point bank account is feeling the pinch.

One trip that we do have planned is a visit back to Greenville SC. This isn’t our first or even second visit there, but it will be the first time that Greenville is base camp.

If you’ve never been to Greenville it is worth at least one multi-day visit.

There’s plenty of great food, plus Falls Park and the Reedy Bridge area, complete with a Hampton Inn overlooking the park. They also offer a Mice on Main Scavenger Hunt. Nine small brass mice have hidden along Main Street, similar to the hidden Mickeys at the Mouse House. 

Back to planning a 2021 summer travel, especially a destination that involves a flight. 

This would be my strategy…... 

  • Decide on a handful, yes a handful, of destinations.

  • What are the dates (are they flexible?)

  • What do I want to do?

  • How many people do I want to bring

Nothing that out of the ordinary. Then to narrow down my destinations, and this might seem weird, but I would make sure that my destination has rental cars that I can rent and that I can afford. Yep, for 2021 that is the motto for summer travel, Will there be a rental car.

Why the shortage? Glad you asked… Chips, not potato, but microchips. Car manufacturers are having a hard time keeping up with demand due to a global shortage of microchips. 

How does that make it tough for rental car companies? Glad you asked. Many rental car companies sold off 40% to 50% of the fleets last year due to the pandemic. Way back in Episode 88 we talked about this - 

May 2020, Business Insider reported more than 20 yellow and black-striped 2019 Corvette Z06s were for sale on Hertz’s own car sales website. The Z06s were all part of the Hertz 100th Anniversary Edition Corvette collection — 100 special-edition Z06s made especially for Hertz and the customers who wished to rent them.

At the time the Hertz website had them priced right around $60,000 well below the $80,000 that the car was getting on Autotrader. 

According to Yahoo Finance, these are the worst cities for rental car shortages.

  • Denver - Strike that from the list

  • Las Vegas - As many times as I’ve been to Vegas, I’ve never rented a car, and this town is doable without a rental…. Besides the only reason to go to Vegas is the casinos and the shows. If you’re so inclined to visit Hoover Dam there are plenty of tour buses going there.

  • Honolulu

  • Maui - If you’re heading to Hawaii think U-Haul because a recent Hawaiian website posted that “All rental cars are booked until early August”. Check out episode 139 for all the details. 

  • Anchorage, Alaska

  • Miami - Of course

  • Los Angeles

  • Seattle - Strike that from the list as well.

  • Phoenix

A few weeks ago Forbes, posted - This Startup Company Has A Fix For The Car Rental Shortage.

The car rental shortage is America's number-one travel problem of 2021. This summer, more people will have to make a difficult choice between car-sharing, relying on mass transportation, or paying hundreds of dollars per day for a rental car — if they can find one.

Forbes recently wrote about Avail

From Avails website -Avail is a car-sharing service created for people like you. No up-selling. No tire spikes. Just clean, safe cars when you need them.

Here’s the value statement - 

  • Reservation Guaranteed - Your car is always ready to go when you arrive.

  • Full Coverage Included - No choosing plans, just full coverage from Allstate included with every trip.

  • Honest Pricing - Upfront, affordable pricing with no surprises at checkout.

That being said, a quick internet search shows that the jury is still out on Avail. Folks that are offering up their cars are complaining about Avail’s slow pay and those renting are complaining about the condition of the cars.

I talked to a neighbor down the street and they have a September trip planned to Hawaii, and the first thing they did was book their rental and then airlines and hotel.

And if that’s not enough there is an endless amount of car rental scams out there. 

  • Stick with the major brands.

  • If using Google avoid the ones listed in sponsored ads.  These are typically the first few results and will have “ad” denoted.

  • Don’t pay for your rental with a pre-paid debit card or gift card. For that matter don’t use your traditional debit card either.

think the best strategy is to shortlist your summer destinations, find out what rentals are available, and the cost… if that’s not acceptable, find a destination that can be done with mass transit and Uber or Lyft. Think Chicago, Atlanta, and even Nashville, all of which are great destinations with plenty of things to do.

Summer travel isn’t going to be cheap. According to TripActions the median round-trip fare has climbed 12% to $357.36 since the first quarter of 2021. I can’t remember my last sub $400 round trip ticket.

Hotel occupancy rates are also increasing and with that comes a pricing increase as well, so plan, plan and plan some more.

Closing with this…...

For die-hard road warriors, perks are a big deal, upgraded WiFi, free parking, and concierge lounge access all have value. 

If you’re on per diem some of those perks translate to money in your pocket. Over the past year, many of those perks have disappeared, understandably. As we’ve begun to travel more not all of those perks have been so quick to return, and if you’re a Marriott fanboy one of those perks has been free breakfast for their elite members. 

Well have no fear on July 1, Marriott will require that eligible hotels provide breakfast to elite members. This means gone is the point credit to your account in lieu of breakfast, and honestly, 500 points in my account isn’t a game-changer.

As a Marriott lifetime platinum elite, I’ve had more than my share of Marriott breakfast, and there are only two properties that I would rave about their breakfast - the full-service Marriott in Mobile, AL and the Marriott Courtyard in Duluth, GA. Currently, most Courtyards now offer a Bistro instead of a full-service breakfast so I don’t think we’re missing out on much. However, theInternet Travelsphere was all up in arms about Marriott dropping the ball on breakfast

If you want detailed show notes, links and pictures head over toPodPage

Leave a message onAnchor, or shoot me an email atTravelFrick@gmail.com.

As I always say, travel safe, stay safe, and thanks for listening.

Thanks for listening.

Check us out on the web at PodPage orInstagram.

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I'm a road warrior who has spent the last 21+ years traveling the Southeast. Eating great food, drinking wonderful beer and listening to amazing stories.
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