Recorded in the beautiful home office of Chateau/ Relaxo.
Following up on the COVID-influenced holiday travel season between New Years Day and Monday, January 3rd more than 8,000 flights in the United States were canceled, that’s right around 1 in 10 flights.
I had a friend in town for a New Year’s visit with plans to fly out at 3:00 PM Sunday the 2nd. He just so happened to be awake around 1:00 AM Sunday morning when he got the text…… his 3:00 PM flight was canceled, thankfully he was awake as it gave him a several-hour head start on rebooking for his family of four.
Long story short in the middle of the night he booked himself and his wife on the last flight out of Orlando back home, and he booked the other half of his family on a late afternoon flight back home out of Tampa roughly an hour and a half car ride away.
Mid-morning he loaded up the rental and headed West on I-4 towards Tampa. Halfway there he tried Southwest one last time and there were two open seats on an earlier flight out of Orlando so he rebooked his kids on that flight and headed back towards Orlando. To end the saga the kids got home by midnight while he and his wife made the 10:00 PM flight and were back home by 3:00 AM.
So here are a few takeaways from all this.
* First, don’t sleep while on vacation otherwise, you might miss a 1:00 AM text from the airlines. Just kidding, but be aware. My friend had been following the news and knew that holiday travel was quickly going sideways.
* Make sure you have your airline’s app loaded on your phone. If your flight gets canceled fire up the app and at the same time call them along with everyone else. Over the holiday’s airline hold times were close to 3 hours.
* Book on the first flight that becomes available. Why? Because now at least you have a seat, and that’s your focus.
* Finally, keep checking back with the airlines because as people rebook seats will become available, You rebook, and then your seat becomes available. Think of it as paying it forward only not at Starbucks but with the airlines.
Since we’re talking about COVID-influenced travel what does one do? For me, I make sure I have a steady supply of masks and maybe some hand sanitizer and that’s about it.
However, if you’re planning some big National Lampoon’s Vacation style vacation here are some things to consider. In full transparency, I’m not breaking any new ground with these tips.
* Research - find out the COVID rules, restrictions, guidelines for your destination, especially if you’re leaving the country.
* The late 2021 early 2022 equivalent to toilet paper in 2020 is COVID home or self-tests. Find some and test everyone before you leave and pack the remaining ones in your luggage as you never know when you’ll need them. And you can always sell them for some quick cash.
* Be flexible, don’t book your return flight to land the night or even the day before the day you need to be back home for work, school, jury duty, or whatever. Give yourself a day of margin just in case.
* I’m not a big believer in travel insurance and that’s probably because I’ve never spent a small fortune on a family vacation…. Guilty. If you can find travel insurance that covers or includes COVID disruptions that might not be that bad of an idea.
* The last thing I’d do would be to make sure that I had access or availability to money. The reason? If you’ve got a whole family that you’re trying to rebook on flights, while at the same time working on extending your hotel for another day, possibly two days and then there’s that rental car. When you’re under all that pressure, combined with the possibility of a spouse or significant other offering their advice, and oh yeah the whining and complaining that is not the time you want to try and remember whether or not you’ve got any room left on your credit card.
So onto my 2022 Travel Resolutions.
Right off the bat over the past 24 months, my travel is down, way down. From a high, including vacations, of 248 nights away from home in 2019, to last year’s low of 40. That decrease in travel has carried over to a decrease in points and miles that I can use.
For 2022 I’m keeping with two credit cards - the Hilton American Express, for hotels, rental cars as well as everyday items around Chateau’ Relaxo. And the Southwest Chase card for Southwest flights.
If you follow any of the travel blogosphere websites, especially this time of year, you read post after post detailing strategies to hit the next level in your selected hotel or airline loyalty program.
For most baby roadwarriors hitting a new level in a loyalty program is a great travel resolution. In my case, this doesn’t make sense… the reason my airline of choice is Southwest, and more than likely I’ll make at least A+ if I don’t make A-List Preferred. I’ve looked at trying to hit the companion pass this year and short or paying my mortgage and car payment through some 3rd party service as well as sending a child, my own, or someone else’s back to college I don’t see any way to hit this.
For hotel loyalty, I’m lifetime diamond or platinum with both Hilton and Marriott, and the thought of chasing points with IHG has absolutely no appeal to me.
My 2022 travel resolutions are along the lines of this.
Record at least one or two episodes on the road.
* This should be doable as I’ve got an Atlanta, Chattanooga Nashville trip booked. At least one, possibly two trips to Texas beyond that and I know I’ll continue to travel the state.
Get the CEO back on an episode or two.
* It’s been well over a year since her last appearance and she’s been stuck with me being home a lot, a whole lot. Plus we did get to make a few trips together during 2021 and it might be interesting to hear her take on air travel, hotels, and food on the road mid-pandemic.
One or at least two family vacation trips -
* No Southwest companion pass for the flight so these will all be on points
The first is the Kentucky Bourbon Trail This is a trip we had planned in 2020 and still haven’t been able to pull the trigger on it.
* Fly into Cincinnati
* Head southwest to Louisville
* Old Foresters - 1910 & 1920
The other trip would be to Washington DC. Our last visit there was December 2021 for the burial of my father-in-law at Arlington.
Before that, we did a family trip there in 2012 and just barely scraped the surface. In the early 1970s, we lived outside DC and spent many weekends touring the area, but I’d like to go back and spend a day or two inside the Smithsonian as well as touring the FBI headquarters 50 years later. From there we could drive out to Mt Vernon. I’m a huge fan of Frank Lloyd Wright and just outside Mt Vernon is the Woodlawn & Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey House which I would love to tour.
Still want to spend time in Jacksonville, which is less than 2-hours away.
* Florida Salt Marshes and Wildlife Preserve
* This wildlife preserve provides birds and other animals with nesting and feeding locations. Here, you’ll apparently come across crocodiles, turtles, manatees, raccoons, and more.
* Riverside Arts Market - I love a good community market, be it farmers, arts & crafts, or beer brewers
* Every Saturday along the St. Johns River local artisans, craft makers, artists, and local farmers get together and offer the best of what they have.
* Who knew, but Jacksonville is one of Florida’s biggest beer destinations with more than 19 craft breweries. Somehow I figured either O-Town or St. Pete would hold this honor, but apparently not. This is a self-guided tour complete with the Jax Ale Trail Passport which gets stamped for each beer you drink along the trail.
* Yep, a candy store. But it’s a candy store that was featured on the CNBC show The Profit.
I’d like to post some videos, and I’ve said this in the past.
* The challenge is I have no idea what to film. In 2021 I began filming hotel rooms and their COVID preparedness. This lost all appeal after the third or fourth room. The reason was that every room was identical. There was the break the seal stick across the door, several packages of sanitizing wipes, and most TV remotes came with their own condom. Plus it never seems that I’m in the right place at the right time when someone melts down. Honestly in my heart of hearts, I don’t think I could film someone on what could be the worst day of their life. I’ll watch it, but doubt I could film it.
I want to find at least one cool new piece of travel gear or app this year.
* Not a piece of luggage, not a jacket, or even a new backpack, I’m satisfied with what I use. When wireless travel routers came out they were a game-changer. Same thing with noise-canceling headphones. This year I’m in search of a gadget, or app that makes me go “WOW” how did I ever travel without this.
I plan to keep eating local. Since I’m traveling less this is more important than ever. This past weekend The Entrepreneur went to Nashville and one afternoon I get this text, “Where’s a good steakhouse?” My reply, Stoney River or Jimmy Kelly’s. I’m not anti-corporate-run restaurants. Their strong point is also their weak point. Everything is the same, a Bloomin Onion from Outback will taste the same in Greenville, SC as it does in Baltimore, MD.
If you stick to the chains you’re missing out on some true food adventures.
* The White Duck Taco Shop in Asheville, NC. Order the Thai Peanut tacos.
* Need a burger when you’re in Chattanooga? Then it’s Slick’s Burgers.
* If you’re in Mississippi you need to sample some Mississippi catfish and that means a visit to Penn’s Fish House. Make sure to order extra hush puppies.
Maybe it’s time to revisit my old Off The Eaten Path episodes and give them an update.
In addition to eating local, it’s important to drink local. Micro-Breweries are popping up all over, and if you’re a beer drinker you should visit one and order a beer flight. We have several breweries close by and just down the road from Chateau’ Relaxo is Fox Valley Farms, Fox Valley is a hopyard, and last fall they invited close to a dozen local brewers to offer up their best brew, let us then sample and cast a vote for our favorite. The catch was that all the beer had to be brewed using Fox Valley hops.
There are also some things I resolve not to do - and this is well beyond the normal things such as….
* Don’t overpack
* Don’t wander aimlessly around a town you are not familiar with
* Don’t get hammered and forget which hotel I’m staying at
I’m talking about resolutions beyond common sense.
I resolve not to go on a cruise. I find it fascinating how fanatical cruisers are, so fanatical that they want to spread the cruise gospel to everyone. For me, if I come across a great destination I’m not that keen on sharing it with the masses. Why…. because the masses will ruin it. The Arizona story.
I’ve been on a cruise, one cruise and that was enough. Yes, there’s plenty to do. Yes, there’s plenty of food but you’re still stuck on a boat, you can’t go home, you can’t explore on your own timeline. The only thing that held my interest was the shows, but there’s only so much of that, that a person can take.
I resolve not to stay at a hotel that I don’t get points for, or that I’m not a member of their loyalty program. This one isn’t completely in my control. Yes, I book most of my own travel so for the most part I’m in control of this. However, throw in a rogue conference where the hotel is pre-booked or part of the conference and I’ll be scrambling to join their loyalty program. Even if it’s 100 or 200 points I’m joining. Many of these programs, even if you’re at the entry-level, will provide free WiFi, free breakfast, whatever that looks like nowadays, or complimentary snacks at check-in.
If you want detailed show notes, links, and pictures head over to podpage.com/travel-stories/.
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As I always say, travel safe, stay safe, and thanks for listening.
