January 2021
Volume 3 Issue 2
THE CHARTROOM
Twice a month travel news from Charting Memories Travel
Happy inauguration day!
Scrolling through social media and watching the news today shows that half the country is excited for a new day in Washington while the other half is fearful of what lies ahead. No matter where you are on the political spectrum, we all should be happy that we live in a country where we get to express our opinions and where every 4 or 8 years our President has stepped down from their elected position and made way for his predecessor. That is something that does not happen in every part of the world. Our country is divided politically, but I believe everyone wants to see our entire country prosper. We are more alike than we are different, and I truly hope that President Biden and Vice President Harris can bring some unity to the people and build on the greatness of the country.
Happy Inauguration Day
In the last issue of the ChartRoom, I said that I wanted to expand the educational component of this newsletter. With that in mind, today is going to begin a short series of what is currently like to travel internationally. Much of the world is still closed to international travel so for now I’ll focus on travel to the Caribbean.
The first thing I will say is the flexibility is a must. Rules and guidelines are constantly changing. Earlier this month I accepted an invitation to visit Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau. Within a day of making flight reservations my days of stay changed. I had made my flight reservations with Delta because of their current refund policy and because they are still limiting capacity on their planes. At the time of my booking, all fares were easy to change or cancel. I’m notoriously cheap when flying so I booked
the most restrictive fare which meant that I either had to call in to change my flight or just cancel and rebook. I went with the latter choice since hold times were rather long. The process was quick and simple, and my flights were refunded right away.
Beaches Turks and Caicos
A couple of days later, plans got changed again. Sandals Royal Bahamian delayed their grand reopening so now I’ll be staying at Beaches all-inclusive resorts in Turks & Caicos. This has resulted in another date change and of course another change in flights. Once again, Delta made it very easy to change my reservations. This does show the importance of understanding cancellation penalties. Be sure that you read and understand them before making your bookings. That is one of the things that I help my customers with when planning trips.
The CDC just implemented a requirement for a negative Covid test before boarding an international flight arriving in the US. (Yes, this is for US citizens as well) This will start next week. Many resorts have already contracted with local testing companies and will be offering these tests on the property in order to make meeting the requirements as simple as possible and without disrupting the guest’s vacation. As we get closer, I’ll share my experience with getting a test in order to go to Turks & Caicos as well as completing the test so that I can return home. There are also plans in place for those guests who may test positive and I will share those with you as well.
I plan to be conducting some live video sessions while on the island. These will most likely take place on February 8 and 9 but I’ll have specific dates, times and registration information soon. I hope that you will tune in to learn a little about what the resort has to offer or just to get a short virtual getaway. I know many of you are tired of the cold and need a little sunshine in your lives. As an encouragement to join in, I’ll be offering some special exclusive offers.
It is almost Valentine’s day. It has been a rough year so you better plan to make this one special!
Valentines Day- Don’t forget!
If there is anything about Sandals or Beaches resorts you want to know more about, send me a message and I’ll make sure that you get the answers.
Until next time, Keep Charting Memories.
Drew
Be sure to follow us on social media. We will be hosting some online events, sharing more interviews with other travel professionals, and there will be some opportunities to engage in posts and win some prizes.
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