From travel pods to private jets, affluent travelers are eager to make vacations happen

Millions of Americans have altered their travel plans amid the pandemic, with some switching to road trips this summer and others postponing long-haul air and sea travel till next year or beyond.

But one demographic — the affluent vacationer — appears to be more optimistic, making plans and holding onto reservations made pre-coronavirus. Industry experts see this resilience among luxury travelers as an encouraging sign a rebound might be just around the corner. How the wealthy are traveling, however, is evolving, too.

“Affluent travelers tend to be a little more comfortable with the wait-and-see scenario,” said Misty Belles, managing director at Virtuoso, a global network of 1,100 travel agencies and more than 22,000 travel advisors specializing in luxury and experiential travel.

“Because they’re well-versed at travel and it’s such an ingrained part of their lifestyle, our clients are really more in that sit-and-wait camp — especially if there’s no financial penalty for them to do so.”

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Jon Grutzner, president of Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold— two high-end guided vacation brands owned by Cypress, California-based The Travel Corporation — said he’s heard Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch refer to luxury travel advisors as “the canary in the coal mine” regarding travel recovery. “We’re seeing that that really is the case,” he said. “Their clients are the first guests who are coming back and feeling more comfortable with travel.”

Belles said Virtuoso has polled affluent travelers and found that 39% were ready to travel within three months, and 66% were ready to immediately board an airplane.

For his part, Grutzner says Insight and Luxury Gold currently enjoy an 80% “save rate” on customer bookings.