As 2.1 million travelers passed through airports last Sunday alone, we can expect a spike in Coronavirus cases. At the same time, the first shipments of the vaccine are arriving in the Northwest, expected to first go to healthcare heroes. Decisions beyond that will be interesting, considering current politics. As a 69-year old male, I’m among the most vulnerable but certainly don’t expect any preferential treatment. Somehow, I’ve been able to avoid exposure for eight months now, even despite some risky traveling, or I’ve been infected without symptoms. 

On the economic front, the Dow just had its best month since 1987. Personally, I’ve seen a jump in my credit card balance, spending more in anticipation of 2021 travel. I also have several airline, ticket, cruise, and hotel credits that will need to be used in the next year. Since we couldn’t get into Hawaii and have our doubts about Spring travel in Europe, there will be additional dollars returned in the way of credits. For example, Viking Cruises already gave us 125% credit from the cancellation of Egypt. This was reinvested in a Russian expedition next summer. If our trip from Spain to Norway is cancelled, we’ll probably re-book Egypt with the bonus dollars rather than take a refund. This reflects the sad state of the travel industry, having to provide incentives to keep the dollars already collected. 

The Marriott Vacation Club has not been a good investment this year. We still had to pay maintenance charges, despite only using their facilities in Orlando, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Desert Springs this year, totaling just 20 nights. 24 nights were cancelled, and 13 are already scheduled for early 2021. We need to stay at least 40 nights a year to make this deal feasible. Once the travel bans are lifted, we’ll have a lot of time to make up. Fortunately, there are more more easily accessible Marriott resorts in Florida and on the East Coast than here in the Northwest. Mother Marriott is tired of all the cancellations and calling for us to come home. Get us the vaccine and Stop our Travel Woes!