Last year was extremely painful for all us travel enthusiast and even until now as vaccines are yet to arrive in the Philippines, countries like Brazil and some European countries continue to have lockdowns as new variants of the virus are causing new waves of cases.
The first half of this year is most likely going to remain difficult to travel, but there is some hope for the second half of the year. Using every ounce of optimism I have within in me, I'll quickly run down my travel strategy this 2021.
Credit Cards
Let's start with our bread and butter for earning points and miles. The pandemic brought about a renewed fear among banks, which prompted them to make it a lot more difficult to get approved for credit cards. I myself got declined for a card that I applied for online late last year. Banks will most likely continue to be cautious on who they approve for credit cards until the economy recovers.
With the devaluation of the Citi PremierMiles and other Citibank credit cards, I've been looking for one that gives a better spend to mile earn and transfer ratio. The devaluation was really heartbreaking because transferring miles from the Citibank portal is extremely convenient and Citi has several airline partners to choose from.
I've got 2 credit cards on my list this year. One being the EastWest Singapore Airlines Krisflyer and the other one being the Citi Prestige.
The EW Singapore Airlines Krisflyer card has great spend to mile ratio, points multiplier, and REALLY low foreign currency conversion fee. You'll need an EastWest account for at least 6 months in good standing to be approved of any kind of credit card, which I didn't know about when applying last year.
Bad thing about this card is you're tied down to Singapore Airlines and if you're destination isn't serviced by SQ you'll have a bunch of Krisflyer miles sitting and waiting to get devalued.
The Citi Prestige on the other hand has a ton of premium perks such as unlimited lounge access, fourth night free, airport transfers, rounds of golf, and a points multiplier for dining and shopping. The drawback is the hefty non-waivable annual fee of ₱12,000 (soon to be ₱18,000) and regular earn rate without the multiplier is super low at ₱90 = 1 airline mile.
With the the travel industry still in bad shape, it would only make sense to apply for the Citi Prestige at least later in the year as you won't be able to take advantage of the card's travel perks.
Me taking full advantage of the empty row on my economy PAL flight from to London
Airlines
When it comes to airlines I'm never too picky. You can often see me fly Cebu Pacific or AirAsia when a good deal comes on. For longer routes though I will spend more on a full service carrier like Philippine Airlines or Cathay Pacific.
Currently I only have one flight booked this year, which is a super cheap redemption promo I snagged last year from Cebu to Tokyo. Right now I'm not sure if it's gonna push through tbh.
If we are lucky enough to travel this year I'll continue to fly the airline that gives the most value to me, whether its super cheap fares on budget airlines or fair prices on economy full service carriers.
If I were to use my points to redeem for flights it's most likely going to be on Philippine Airlines or Singapore Airlines as I recently transferred a bulk of my Citi Premier miles to my Krisflyer account when I took advantage of the 15% transfer bonus and right before the Citibank devaluation.
Flying hasn't gotten better in 2021 so far and it's actually gotten a bit more complicated with fast changing travel and quarantine restrictions. PAL just recently let go of 2,300 of their employees as it struggles to survive.
I'm also still waiting on my refund from PAL and AirAsia from last year's flights, which shows how low on cash they are.
Moxy Tokyo Kinshicho
Hotels
If Covid is still a thing with travel returning, I might be opting to stay at hotel chains more than Airbnbs just because there is a better set of cleaning standards (although we can never be too sure). With that said, as a Marriott Bonvoy stan I have to admit other loyalty programs have outmatched them in terms of extending loyalty benefits this year due to Covid.
If travel kinda goes back to almost normal by the second half of the year and I'm looking at getting status at a hotel loyalty program it's most likely going to be with Hilton Honors.
Unlike Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors has reduced elite status qualification for 2021 by half. This is how its looking for the year:
Silver: 2 stays, 5 nights, or 12,500 base points
Gold: 10 stays, 30 nights or 37,500 base points
Diamond: 15 stays, 30 nights or 60,000 base points
Thats a massive reduction considering Marriott Platinum (Hilton Honors Diamond equivalent more or less) still requires 50 nights if you're starting from scratch.
Hyatt is offering the same reduced elite status qualification but honestly Hyatt's footprint isn't as global as Hilton or Marriott. Plus price wise you'll much easily find a cheaper Hilton to stay in than a Hyatt.
If you already had status in Marriott then you'll receive 50% elite nights this year so its not so bad for those who had status last year.
I'm not really chasing any airline or hotel elite status this year but the Hilton Honors and Hyatt promotions are pretty tempting if ever I do go for status this year.
Bottom line
Unlike last year where we couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, this year is different. Thousands are being vaccinated everyday worldwide and although vaccine rollouts have been particularly slow in the Philippines and other developing countries, the vaccines has given many in the travel industry some much needed hope.
As the travel industry continues to look bleak, it's important we take advantage of whatever earning opportunities and promotions that we get as we can't earn any points and miles the traditional way.
Most of our points and miles can be to carried over to 2022 if we can't travel this year but make sure you keep track of your points and miles that expire!
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