How to protect your hard-earned vacation dollars: the inside scoop from a trusted travel advisor

Plus: Australia reopens, new calls to eliminate Covid testing, the tech glitch that clouded Frontier's big announcement and an 'Epic' regret

Taking pricey vacations can be risky during a pandemic, when the most basic elements of travel are in constant flux. That’s why we often turn to professional advisors for the skinny on travel, whether it’s for advice on package deals to Hawaii, the best safari operator in South Africa, the most reliable airlines or which financially struggling companies to avoid. After all, they’ve built their careers on navigating the complex and often fragile global network of companies that provide everything from your accommodations to day tours, land transfers, even that cooking class in Budapest. They know what to expect and how to eliminate risk. And that’s absolutely vital today, right?

As the recent collapse of Crystal Cruises reminded us, no company is immune to the financial devastation the pandemic has wreaked on the travel and tourism industry. So we turned to Jay Johnson, part of the Virtuoso luxury travel agency network, for advice on how to protect your hard-earned vacation dollars. Jay, who owns Coastline Travel Group in Garden Grove, Calif., gave us his take on the current travel supplier landscape, along with the inside scoop on how professional agents vet the health of their supplier partners.

Here are his seven key takeaways:

• Simple, risk-free travel no longer exists. “I think we’ve all seen through this pandemic that even simple trips can turn out to be complicated while COVID is still causing havoc,” Johnson said. “Even if it’s a simple trip, I still suggest consumers use a trusted advisor."

• The worst of the pandemic fallout is (hopefully) behind us. While we have seen few high-profile failures like Crystal, many small travel companies around the world have quietly failed or simply shuttered over the past two years. Still, Johnson says, “I truly believe we’ve seen the worst already. …Obviously, a tremendous amount of debt will need to be paid back."

• Credit card companies crack down on refunds. “Credit card companies can only protect you so much,” Johnson said. “And since the pandemic, I’ve noticed that the credit card companies have gotten much more strict about what they are willing to protect when a trip is canceled. They are using just about every tool at their disposal to not take the financial hit. Thus, I strongly urge all consumers to take out travel insurance using a reputable insurance company provided to them by their advisor.

• Travel advisors can leverage proprietary data. No one has a crystal ball, but advisors have access to information that isn’t available to even the best internet sleuth. “It’s considerably easier to research companies that are publicly held, while it’s next to impossible for a consumer to research the health of a [private] supplier on their own,” Johnson said. “I strongly encourage consumers to use a trusted advisor that belongs to a major consortia, such as Virtuoso, to help weed out the suppliers that may not be in the best of financial health."

• Like Santa Claus, agencies compile “naughty and nice” lists. “When the pandemic first started, we created a list of suppliers who were not refunding deposits, paying commissions late, not responding to inquiries, etc. and shared this information with our advisors,” Johnson said. “We continue to hold weekly network calls to help pass on information regarding suppliers who were falling behind on commissions or refunds. I called it our ‘Naughty and Nice List,’ since there were some suppliers who bent over backwards to make sure we were being paid on time, even when their staffs were on furlough.

• Agents have a “fiduciary responsibility” to clients. This means they make sure they’re only working with trusted companies, he said. “This is even more important now considering the health of the industry. One other very important item Coastline Travel looks for in a supplier is the ones who have a ‘trust fund’ set up. This means that the supplier does not spend their commissions until the trip has passed. The suppliers that operate this way did very well during the pandemic. It was much easier for them to refund our clients.

• And just like travel advisors vet their suppliers, consumers need to vet potential advisors. As with any other service, Johnson says, “trust your friends and relatives and get recommendations. I wouldn’t think of going to a new accountant, or financial planner, or doctor without talking to someone that I trust that has used their services in the past. I also suggest scheduling a call with an advisor to make sure they are a good fit for you before committing any funds. I tell our advisors to do the same Key questions to ask: “How long have they been in business? Is this their primary career? Do they belong to any travel networks such as Virtuoso, American Express, Signature, etc? Where have they traveled to in the past? How long does it take them to respond to calls and emails? Do they charge a planning fee and if so, how much?”

Here’s what else we’re following:

Calling Joe Biden…

Travel groups have renewed their push on the White House to scrap COVID-19 testing requirements for vaccinated inbound travelers, saying many people remain reluctant to travel internationally out of fear of getting stranded if they test positive. Indeed, that’s why I was walking the dogs in a winter storm last week rather than sipping margaritas in Loreto, Mexico. Ironically, I was less concerned about being exposed in Mexico than on my flights down, given that – despite the tough international rules – any American can hop on any plane to anywhere in the continental U.S. or Mexico, regardless of testing or vaccination status or the infection rates where they are traveling from. So when might we see the U.S. loosen the onerous requirements for inbound, vaccinated travelers? The Biden Administration hasn’t publicly responded.

But here’s hoping the White House is listening – and watching. The U.K., one of the first countries to implement new testing requirements on vaccinated travelers when the highly contagious omicron variant exploded, is eliminating its testing mandates for vaccinated travelers starting Friday. Even Australia, which has been all but shuttered for the past two years, will reopen – without any testing requirements – to vaccinated tourists on Feb. 21.

Talk about unlucky timing

The country’s largest budget airlines, Frontier and Spirit, on Monday announced plans to merge in a $6.6 billion deal that would make the new company the nation’s fifth largest carrier. But as CBS reports, the announcement came the same day that a technical glitch forced Frontier to cancel one-fifth of its flights.

And finally, Orlando theme park owner’s ‘Epic’ regret

Universal Theme Parks just recorded its most profitable fourth quarter ever, with its Orlando operations logging the best quarterly results in company history. The booming demand has Comcast CEO Brian Roberts lamenting the company’s decision to slow construction of what will become one their biggest theme parks – Epic Universe in sunny Orlando, now slated to open by summer 2025. “If I look back over Covid, one of the things I wish we could redo was slowing down Epic,” Roberts said on Comcast's most recent earnings call. “This is a business that if you build wonderful attractions, there is pent-up demand…We're going as fast as we can now to make up for lost time.”

You can check out footage from local TV station WESH, which filmed the park rising near Universal’s main campus.

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