Buy Now, Stay Later to Invest in Your Future Vacations
Photo by Jason Briscoe / Unsplash.
Buy Now, Stay Later is an innovative new program that just launched to help the hotel industry weather this debilitating coronavirus pandemic.
The idea is simple: Travelers can invest in hotel "bonds" in increments of $100, directly from participating hotels. After 60 days, that $100 will be worth $150 in credit at the selected hotel, which can be redeemed in the future when it's safe to travel.
So $300 becomes $450, $500 becomes $750, $1,000 becomes $1,500.
It's a win-win: You get to invest in your future travel at a discount, and the hotels get a much-needed boost to help them stay afloat while no one is traveling. They will be using your investment to help pay their staffs — housekeepers, bartenders, concierges, cooks...
Try these on for sobering statistics: In the United States, the Transportation Security Administration is reporting a 96 percent decline in airport passenger traffic. Worldwide, 75 million jobs in global hospitality are at risk, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
Every hotel is managing and arranging their own transactions. Clicking on a hotel will generate an email to that hotel. Your money won't flow through the website, and there is no third party taking a cut here. Everything goes to the hotel. The website is not affiliated with a hotel company or group, and the program is open to any hotel that wants to participate. So far, hotels in Paris, Tulum, St. Barths, Nantucket, and Chicago have signed up — all destinations we'd be happy to visit soon!
Of course, like all investments, there's a risk that you could lose your money if the hotel goes out of business.
But this will hopefully help ensure that won't happen. And that we'll all be #BackInTheWorld soon.