This week the government announced their plan for the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine giving hope to everyone on the island. Now a life that resembles life pre-COVID is on the horizon and we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. 

One part of life we’re most excited about is getting back to exploring destinations near and far. But, with some uncertainty remaining around travel, when is the best time to book your 2021 adventures?

Book when you normally do!

January is a key month in the travel industry. There’s always sales and great reductions in airfares. So, if you usually book in January, why do anything different in 2021? Once vaccines are rolled out across the world and we can travel with more confidence, you’re likely to see a jump in prices. Airlines and hoteliers will use this as a chance to recoup for costs lost in 2020. As we enter the spring months, we expect to see an increase in prices across the board. Why wait? 

Are there any downsides to booking later?

Apart from an increase in price, yes. In 2020, millions of holidays were put on hold or cancelled so we expect to see a big demand in 2021. After a year of being stuck inside our homes, people are itching to get away as soon as possible, especially for a holiday to sunnier climes. As the year goes on, availability for certain flight times or certain types of accommodation will be limited. This is especially true for family holidays where you might want flights at more sociable times and self-catering apartments with two or more bedrooms. 

Isn’t it risky booking?

If you’re worried about booking and your holiday then not going ahead, there’s no need. Since the pandemic shook the travel industry to its core, a wealth of flexible booking policies have been implemented by travel agents, airlines, hotels and attractions across the world. 

By booking with a travel agent, they’ll work on your behalf in case anything does go wrong. As your holiday contract is with them, you and your holiday are fully protected. We offer refundable and amendable accommodation options on all our holidays so if you need to cancel or change your dates, you can do it without fuss. Similarly, Aer Lingus have introduced free, unlimited changes on any flight and any fare until the 16th of June 2021. Combine the refundable accommodation and free changes on Aer Lingus flights and there’s minimal risk to booking your holiday in January. 

But money is tight in January…

As a travel agent, particularly as an Irish one, we know how much of a financial strain 2020 has been. That’s why we do everything we can to make booking a holiday as accessible as possible. We have a number of ways you can pay for your holiday to make it stress-free:

  • Book a holiday with Aer Lingus flights a minimum of 10 weeks before your departure date and you can secure it with just €1 per person!
  • Flexible payments at the time of booking allow you the choice to spread your payments equally over many months
  • Use MyClick&Go to pay off the balance of your holiday in easy instalments, whether it’s a set amount every month or ad hoc payments when you can.

When will we be vaccinated?

As we mentioned at the start, the government announced their rollout plan for the COVID-19 vaccine this week. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is set to finish its review of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine on Monday, meaning vaccination could start in Ireland as soon as the 27th of December. 

In the government’s plan, the population is prioritised into 15 groups for the vaccinations with the most vulnerable getting vaccinated first. Ireland has ordered 14.3 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine from 6 different suppliers. If the different vaccines are approved and the mass population gets the vaccine, it’s hoped that Ireland will open up again in the summer. Similar plans are being rolled out across Europe.