Membership Gets You More

In the time of Coronavirus, what subscription travel offers is a sense of being in this together – apart

- SUSAN MCKEE

Some call them “isolation vacations”. Others call them Corona breaks – safe travels to beautiful spots where you can cut away from your crowded daily life and try out a new normal in holiday-making without getting tripped up by COVID-19 worries of gloom and doom. Comfort has become king. When I first started travelling extensively, I joined a travel club to be assured of like-minded companions, a staff dedicated to smoothing my journey end to end, and amenities keyed to my contentment. It made travel easy, comfortable.

These days, travel is fraught with difficulties involving not only the intrinsic hassles of the experience but the unknowns due to the global pandemic.

Once again, clubs come to the rescue. But growing trends in membership clubs and subscriptions are taking hold. They’re the travel equivalent of gated communities offering private transportation, vetted accommodations, expert-travel advisors, and on-site concierge services, plus stringent cleaning protocols and contactless check-in options.

The two basic categories for these arrangements are travel and stay.

GETTING THERE

Air travel is essential. Business travellers fly to meet clients because it’s inefficient to drive long distances. Most companies cannot afford to have private jets and dedicated pilots on standby. That’s where business jet clubs and subscriptions come to the rescue.