Holiday destination Maldives: pool villa with breakfast at previously unthinkable prices
Photo: DB Aliki Nassoufis / picture alliance / dpa
There is great optimism that the corona pandemic will end in the new year.
He relies primarily on the new vaccines and the hope that herd immunity can be achieved by summer.
In view of the current shortage of vaccines, it is still questionable whether this will also be the case for Germany.
However, processes can sometimes get going much faster than you initially think: The travel industry is also inspired by this optimism - in the hope of quickly winning back customers, many providers go far towards early bookers.
You can currently book incredibly attractive travel deals for 2021.
The deals are also incredibly attractive in the luxury travel segment - whether for premium flights, luxury hotels or bonus programs.
Flights
: There are regular
first class sales, some of which start for less than 1,500 euros
- a price that would otherwise be a top offer in business class - but was unthinkable for first class before the pandemic.
To dream destinations such as
B. Hawaii there are regular business class flights between 1,200 and 1,500 euros - before the pandemic it was twice as much.
Hotels
: Booking luxury hotels with 30 to 40 percent discounts is currently the order of the day.
The rates are usually flexible and contain numerous extras that would otherwise have to be paid for, such as breakfast.
Bonus programs
: With the bonus programs of airlines and hotels, miles and points are sold as cheaply as never before, or status levels are extended free of charge.
The thresholds for reaching a status are currently being weakened in many cases - it is therefore easier to reach the next higher status.
Prices, points, status:
sometimes everything is combined with one another.
For example, you can book Hyatt hotels for luxury trips through selected travel agencies until the end of the year as part of a 3 for 2 campaign (pay two nights, stay three), receive triple World of Hyatt bonus points and double status nights until the end of February 2021, and the status criteria have also been changed halved for 2021.
This then leads to the fact that at the absolutely best travel time in the Maldives, for example in the Park Hyatt Hadahaa, you can stay overnight in a 180 sqm pool villa including breakfast and many other benefits from 380 euros a night.
A price unthinkable until now.
Booking early is rewarded
At the moment, all those who already commit to a vacation in 2021 are being rewarded - especially in the first half of the year.
But will the low prices continue?
I think that there will still be many attractive travel offers in the first quarter.
From Easter onwards, many travel enthusiasts will be able to venture abroad again, while others will prefer a vacation at home again.
A travel boom in summer like never before expected
The number of bookings should increase significantly from summer onwards.
A travel boom like never before is to be expected for June, July and August.
If you want to secure favorable conditions, you should book your summer vacation in spring: If you wait too long, you will either not find anything or only at very high prices.
Cruises should also be offered on a large scale again in summer and, of course, many are longingly waiting for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
For autumn, many experts expect that herd immunity can be achieved in some countries due to the vaccinations.
In other words, the summer travel boom continues into autumn.
If you don't have to travel during the summer holidays, you better book for the months of September and October, where you can e.g.
B. in southern Europe still has perfect weather conditions.
The EXPO in Dubai is certainly one of the top events for the winter, as November to April is the best time to travel to the United Arab Emirates.
What to do in 2021
If you are looking for particularly cheap offers, you should seize the opportunity now and at the beginning of 2021, because there will not be anything comparable anytime soon.
With miles and bonus programs from airlines and hotels, it pays to top up your mileage or points balance with particularly low-priced offers, because especially when general prices rise, miles and points offer the perfect opportunity to still book at "crisis prices".
If you are looking for a top status with airlines and hotels, you should still find many promotions in the new year, because it is one of the most effective levers to motivate customers to be more active.
The way to Lufthansa status
Lufthansa Miles & More has meanwhile postponed the new status program indefinitely, ie it is still necessary to collect status miles according to the old scheme.
It is to be expected that there will be some status actions e.g.
B. with double status miles or similar.
should be given as well as very cheap first class sales at Lufthansa and Swiss, which are perfect for quickly getting to Lufthansa Senator status or even HON Circle status, because for the latter the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 combined count around 600,000 HON Circle miles to reach.
So overall very good prospects for 2021.
Alexander Koenig is the founder of First Class & More, the largest German-speaking advice portal for cheap business and first class flights and the optimal use of frequent flyer and hotel programs. Before that, he worked for many years as a management consultant at McKinsey and BCG. In his column "Koenigs Klasse" he regularly takes up topics that are of interest to frequent fliers and travelers.