5 Reasons to Book Ahead of the Wave
The majority of Canadian travel companies are reporting a great up-tick in travel demand in the last 4 weeks, especially since yesterday when the Prime Minister advised that fully-vaccinated travellers no longer need to quarantine when returning back to Canada effectively July 5th, 2021. “We’re seeing travel bookings increase to pre-COVID times”, reports Laurie Keith, owner of Romantic Planet Vacations and Boutique Travel Services.
Here are 5 reasons why travel-seeking Canadians should book in advance and before the wave.
1. Lowered Deposits
The majority of suppliers like Air Canada Vacations, Transat Holidays and Sunwing Vacations require only a $50-$100 deposit per person to hold your seat and room for travel now until April 2022. That’s an 80% discount from the standard $250 deposit. And final payment isn’t due until 45 days prior to departure allowing you ample time to decide later if you remain committed to the trip or not.
2. Full Refunds: up to 3 days before departure!
Until June 30th, 2021, get CareFlexPlus and CareFree protection plans (valued at $99 per person) for FREE with all Air Canada Vacations packages! This provides you with standard seat selection, free changes, cancel with full refund to original form of payment until 25 days prior to departure, 50% refund to original form of payment and 50% to in-store credit if cancel between 21 – 24 days, and 3-20 days before departure, 100% refund to in-store credit!
Until July 5th, 2021, Sunwing Vacations has their own “Change or Cancel with Ease” allowing full refunds up to 4 days prior to departure. Up to 25 days you will receive a full refund to the original form of payment, 15-24 days you will receive $250 in future travel credits and the remainder to the original form of payment, 4-14 days prior to departure, you will receive $500 in future travel credits and the remainder to the original form of payment.
3. Complimentary COVID-19 Travel Insurance
If a lowered deposit and full refund up to 3-4 days before departure wasn’t enough incentive, our valued travel partners are throwing in free Covid-19 travel insurance! If you end up catching Covid 24-hours to 2 weeks before departure 24 hours, the cost of your trip is covered. The majority of resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico will assist you with any required Covid testing before your pre-return flight. If you happen to test positive for Covid before your return back to Canada, this insurance will cover the cost of emergency medical and any possible quarantining required.
4. Travel is as Safe as Ever
Although the federal government still advises against non-essential travel at this time, this may lift in the future as the pandemic comes to an end. The majority of bookings that we are seeing right now are for the winter season and 2022. For those travel-hungry Canadians who are ready to take-off now (me included), you can still travel, and not have to quarantine upon your return. According to the Public Health Authority of Canada, only 0.4% of all Covid-19 cases in Canada was from international travel in March 2021 and only 0.3% in December 2020, traditionally the busiest travel month of the year and before the added travel restrictions. In November 2020, Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam said, “There have been very few reports, extremely rare reports, actually, of transmission aboard aircraft. Very, very little.” IATA reported that the chances of catching Covid onboard an airplane is 1 in 27 million. It is because of the design of the airplane with the back of the seats acting as natural barriers between passengers and most importantly, the way the air is circulated – pushing air down and through a high-tech HEPA filter. All resorts have their own health and safety protocols and many clients are opting to upgrading their seats and/or hotel rooms with a private plunge pool and ordering room service to err on the side of caution. 
5. The Sales and Availability Will Disappear
It simply comes down to supply and demand. If you think about it, not only have millions of Canadians been cooped up for over a year, so has the billions of people around the world! That’s a lot of people coming out of their isolation and ready to get traveling again! Cruises are already booking out for 2022. Popular resorts frequented by American travelers are already pricing out three times higher than normal for winter 2021/22. Luckily, our Canadian tour operators have contracts in place to hold rooms and pricing, but that won’t last. The sales and incentives are in abundance now but these will soon disappear the more travelers start booking them up.
At the end of the day, only you will know when you will be comfortable in BOOKING travel and when you will be comfortable in TRAVELING again. It’s important to note that these are, indeed, two different things. You may already be ready to take the first flight to paradise or you may be more comfortable in traveling when the snow arrives or not until next year. That’s entirely your call. We have all of the prices for 2021 and 2022 South, Europe, and Cruise packages and they are incredible….for now. These five reasons to book before the wave and before the sales and promotions end, which are set for June 30th and July 5th at this point, should hopefully show Canadians why placing a low deposit to secure their spots now is so important.
If you are thinking about a destination wedding, friends or family reconnection holiday, romantic escape, momcation, stag/stagette party, or to check off that bucket-list travel item, Romantic Planet Vacations c/o Boutique Travel Services, has been in business for 17 years and is eager to put our travel expertise to serving you.
The next step is to fill out out the complimentary quote request form herein to get things started. Please note that group quotes only require a minimum of 8-10 passengers and a $300 – $400 deposit to hold 30 seats for 90 days! However, group quotes can take 2-3 days so don’t delay. They can award you with invaluable group discounts and amenities, seat selection and upgrades, and complimentary passenger credits.