It’s that time of the year again. Tomorrow is Travel Tuesday!
I imagine you’re probably saying one of two things right now. “What in the world is Travel Tuesday?” or “Ugh, it’s 2020. There’s a global pandemic. Where in the world can I even go?”
It’s a good thing I have the answers to both of those questions in my Quick Guide to Travel Tuesday.
Travel Tuesday is the moniker given to the Tuesday after American Thanksgiving. You have Black Friday, then Cyber Monday, followed by Travel Tuesday. It’s called Travel Tuesday, because it is the single day of the year with the deepest discounts on travel, and you can expect the deepest discounts ever tomorrow, because the travel industry has been hit so hard this year due to Covid-19. As a frequent traveler, this is my single favorite day of the year. Michelle and I will purchase airfare for numerous trips the following year on Travel Tuesday. Get your favorite credit card ready (the cards we use currently are Citibank AAdvantage Executive World Elite and Chase Sapphire Reserve) while I will take you through my Travel Tuesday workflow with just 3 easy steps.
Step 1: Coffee
The first step is always coffee, because you can’t get through anything this stressful without your cup of joe. Just like every morning, I wake up and grab my latte of choice for the day, before sitting down in front of my computer ready to spend a few hours of travel planning.
Step 2: Tools
It’s difficult to accomplish any goals without the proper tools. If your goal is to save money next year, all you will need is a computer with an internet connection. If you’re like me, then you go a little over the top: 34” ultrawide monitor with screen split into 3 so you can see everything you need at once without cycling through different windows. One section should be a web browser, one a spreadsheet, and the last one should be your calendar. Our calendar contains FormulaOne races on it. Last year on Travel Tuesday we scored an amazing flight deal for this year’s Singapore Grand Prix, which was unfortunately cancelled due to Covid-19.
Yes, you’re reading that correctly. $1459 for two round trip tickets on Qatar Airways from DFW to SIN. This flight typically will cost at least that much for a single ticket. That’s more than a 50% savings.
We also purchased airfare for our Oman trip earlier this year during last year’s Travel Tuesday.
Step 3: How to Save
When you decide where you would like to travel, direct yourself to Google Flights in your browser. Select the destination and then hover over to the dates. With Google Flights, you can actually see what the cheapest departure and return dates are without choosing them. This makes the search go a lot faster.
Use the spreadsheet to keep track of the cities, flight numbers, and dates. This will make your life so much better when it comes time to actually book the flights. It will also give you the ability to research places prior to committing to your travel purchase, just in case you find a deal for a destination you are curious about, but haven’t really paid it too much attention before.
One you have your spreadsheet filled out, you can go back to the airline websites and input the dates as if you are going to book the flight. But, once you get to the confirmation screen DO NOT PURCHASE THE AIRFARE. Instead, place the tickets on hold. This will give you 24 hours to research the destinations before you commit. Just don’t forget to book the airfare before the 24 hours expires on Wednesday.
Hotels.com has some of the best lodging with refundable rates. Sign up for the free Rewards program and collect a credit voucher for the average cost of your previous 10 nights stayed. The mobile app will come with even deeper discounts. The more you stay, the better your discounts will be. Most of the bookings will allow you to choose “Pay Later at the Hotel” so you can book your hotel stay to correspond with your flight on a refundable rate and paying later. This will allow you to change hotels or even recover better rates at your booked hotel if the rate drops before your trip.
Pandemic Travel
There are still reasons not to allow Travel Tuesday to pass you by. First off, with the recent announcements by pharmaceutical companies, there will be vaccines widely available in 2021. This should give you some comfort to book travel for the latter half of 2021. Secondly, there are places with extremely safe Covid protocols for travel like the Maldives. To travel to the Maldives, you need to have a negative PCR test within 96 hours of your departure. You will be on a small private island with other people who have tested negative. And, virtually all activities and dining are outdoors. The Maldives is just one example of a safe destination. We’ll be checking out Kagi Island in Maldives later this month so check out our Instagram stories for more on our adventure.
Make sure you research the country’s pandemic protocols before you make your purchase.
