We aren’t sure why January always bring a spike in travel bookings. Perhaps is the cold weather around the country that people want to get away from, or just looking forward to getting away from the stress of the coming year, but the good news is you will find plenty of travel deals available in the month of January.
Since 2018, a new travel holiday has popped up ….National Shop for Travel Day, sponsored by Travel Tech Association. They started this holiday to celebrate the joy of travel and technology that has revolutionized how consumers can shop for travel online. For example, new price trackers like Hopper and Free cruise price alerts that help people book with confidence that they are getting the best value. Apps that no longer require you to take paper documents when checking into a hotel or cruise line.
Another annual promotion is through CLIA, the world’s largest cruise industry trade association sponsors an annual World’s Largest Cruise sale where all cruise lines offer special deals. We will post specifics for each cruise line a little later this month.
The last Tuesday of January is National Plan for Vacation Day.
Wherever and whenever you have your heart set to go, start shopping now. Whatever the trip may be, January is the perfect time to visit an online travel company and book it to take advantage of early booking deals and promotions. For example, you can now take advantage of flights for January & February for as low as $200 to $299 round trip, from Baltimore to Montego Bay. As a matter of fact JetBlue, Spirit, United, Delta & American have discounted airfares to many Caribbean islands from JFK, Newark, LAX and BWI.
Make that dream vacation come true! Call a travel specialist today for free advice on your next trip.
In other news, Amtrak is offering a 1-2-3 FREE promotion where you’ll get a free tickets once you have booked several paid trips. You will need 3 round trip tickets (or 6 one-way tickets,) on Acela or Northeast Regional between now and February 29, 2020 and you receive a free one way ticket for an Acela or Northeast regional trip for travel between July 1st and August 31, 2020. Amtrak offers its own loyalty program to reward frequent customers and help you earn free rides called the Amtrak Guest Rewards program.
December 2020, Amtrak will open a concourse in the new Moynihan Train Hall adjacent to New York’s Penn Station. The Long Island Railroad (LIRR), which is operated by New York, will also move its main operations to Moynihan from Penn when the new head house opens.
JetBlue will join Delta, Air France & British Airways in efforts to offset emissions for all of their domestic flights. They announced this week a plan to offset up to 17 billion pounds of CO2, which JetBlue states is the annual equivalent of removing more than 1.5 million passengers vehicles from the road. Starting in July 2020, JetBlue will partner with Carbonfund.org to offset all flights operating within the U.S through forest conservation projects, converting landfill gas into renewable energy, solar & wind farm development projects to name a few. JetBlue will also be replacing older aircraft with more fuel efficient models.
Related: Ways to Reduce the Use of Plastic When Traveling
Carnival Cruise Line’s new ship the Carnival Panorama cruise ship will feature Carnival’s first cooking classroom. Carnival’s Kitchen, offers 9 state of the art, marbled granite cooking stations for 2 people as well as an instructors station at the front and a dedicated dining area to enjoy the fruits of your labor. More than a dozen classes will be offered where you can learn to make Carnival favorites including the famous Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. Classes are reasonable priced starting at $30 pp for shorter classes to $59 pp for an Elegant Affair Class with dinner. The Carnival Panorama was christened in Long Beach California last month and will sail from the West Coast on weekly voyages to the Mexican Riviera with stops in Puerto Vallarta & Cabo San Lucas. Learn more about Carnival Cruises 2020.
Related: Best Cruise Lines for Family Reunions
State Department warnings have been issued for any U.S. citizens to leave Iraq immediately. South Africa warning remain in place due to high rates of crime particularly in the cities of Johannesburg & Cape Town after dark. There are ways to get updated travel warnings by signing up for the STEP program. Read more on How to get travel warnings on my phone.
Related: Differences Between Travel Warnings & Travel Alerts
More plant based options are now available when traveling. For example, Emirates is introducing an extended plant-based menu. Rather than it having to be a special order in advance, there will also be a vegetarian option the menu. Royal Caribbean cruises has added vegan options fleet wide in the main dining room including edamame stuffed portobello mushrooms, vegan spaghetti bolognaise and orzo pasta stew with green vegetables, as well as vegan dessert options. “As the number of people and families adopting a vegan lifestyle continues to grow, we wanted to formalize our vegan offerings in a dedicated menu (available upon request in the Main Dining Room) where guests can explore options and choose their dish—it’s all part of the dining experience. It’s important to us to meet vacationers’ dietary choices.” It will be a 7 day rotating vegan menu so there will be plenty of options.
Related: Gluten Free Cruising 2020
