deepsea21
Contributor
Maybe my situation is unique and others can comment but I started sensing that as more and more people are vaccinated diving Cozumel and other destinations are going to experience an incredible surge in business as 2021 rolls on. There is so much pent up travel demand that I sense will start being unleashed that if one waits too long they could find no availability at their dive shops if they wait too long to book. Also, accommodations are going to get more and more expensive as demand returns.
So, I started looking at flights this weekend and noticed that for those who book with air miles (which we always do) there were very few "cheap" air miles flights available that would get us from our departure point to Coz on the same day and back on the same day without an overnight layover somewhere. This was pretty odd as usually there are piles of air miles seats available this far out.
Then it occurred to me that while the airlines will be adding more and more flights as demand increases, given the financial hardship the airlines have experienced I think the air miles seats could get pretty pricey. This is because air miles earned from credit card use associated with a specific airline generate revenue for that airline as you earn them and they accumulate, not when you actually book a flight with miles. So, as flights are added and more seats become available the airlines may chose to maximize revenue by focusing on selling tickets to cash paying customers, not giving away seats to air miles holders as they were already paid by the bank issuing the credit card for those miles. If you fly on air miles, look at your flights for your future travel dates and see if you experience the same as I found.
We chose to book our annual December 2021 trip now with our dive op and our flights as well to make sure there is room on the boats when the time comes and we've locked in our "cheap" air miles flights (which may very well be changed several times) but having a "cheap" seat booked today with air miles is better than no seat at all or a grossly expensive one if we waited too long.
Just my thoughts, for what they are worth. Be safe everyone.
So, I started looking at flights this weekend and noticed that for those who book with air miles (which we always do) there were very few "cheap" air miles flights available that would get us from our departure point to Coz on the same day and back on the same day without an overnight layover somewhere. This was pretty odd as usually there are piles of air miles seats available this far out.
Then it occurred to me that while the airlines will be adding more and more flights as demand increases, given the financial hardship the airlines have experienced I think the air miles seats could get pretty pricey. This is because air miles earned from credit card use associated with a specific airline generate revenue for that airline as you earn them and they accumulate, not when you actually book a flight with miles. So, as flights are added and more seats become available the airlines may chose to maximize revenue by focusing on selling tickets to cash paying customers, not giving away seats to air miles holders as they were already paid by the bank issuing the credit card for those miles. If you fly on air miles, look at your flights for your future travel dates and see if you experience the same as I found.
We chose to book our annual December 2021 trip now with our dive op and our flights as well to make sure there is room on the boats when the time comes and we've locked in our "cheap" air miles flights (which may very well be changed several times) but having a "cheap" seat booked today with air miles is better than no seat at all or a grossly expensive one if we waited too long.
Just my thoughts, for what they are worth. Be safe everyone.