Time to think about last-minute holiday gifts for travelers on your list — and to rethink the usual lists to see what might still apply during the various pandemic travel limits. The best place to start is with the definition of what constitutes a really good gift.
My definition of the best kind of gift is some extravagance — petty to major, depending on your budget; experiential or physical — that you know the traveler would enjoy but is not apt to arrange for him/herself. We all know that many “gifts” don’t meet this test: stuff that your recipient has told you he or she wants — that’s the easy cop-out choice. Many also consist of stuff you’d buy, anyhow, just wrapped in fancy paper. That’s also easy, if not very festive. Finding an ideal gift is tougher, especially because, at least for now, buying something for a firm upcoming trip is off the table when hardly anyone has a firm upcoming trip.
That leaves options that don’t have fixed dates. Absent firm travel plans, consider something that could enhance the travel experience anywhere, anytime. I have three primary choices here, each with a lot of flexibility, and each that you can arrange/download immediately — no lines, no shipping.
My number one choice, at least for a traveler who already isn’t in a program, is to arrange access to an airport lounge. Priority Pass (prioritypass.com) provides access to a wide range of lounges — a mix of airline and independent. Annual membership costs $429, with unlimited no-charge visits to more than 1200 lounges and airport restaurants, worldwide. It sometimes even offers promotional or coupon deals. If that’s overkill, you can use LoungeBuddy (loungebuddy.com) to arrange one-time lounge entry at an airport your traveler is likely to use, starting at $25 for a visit.
My second primary choice is to give an actual trip, but one with open dates. Perhaps the easiest way to do that is to buy a hotel or resort coupon from Groupon (groupon.com) or Livingsocial (livingsocial.com/travel). Those promotional coupons usually cover a two- or three-day stay at a leisure-oriented hotel or resort. You can find lots of options starting below $100 per night for a couple. The big advantage to these coupons as gifts is that they’re typically valid for a period of several months, so you don’t have to try to guess your traveler’s exact schedule. You can almost always find something within easy one-day driving range from about anywhere in the U.S., or you can concentrate on one of the popular destinations such as Las Vegas or Orlando.
My third choice is directed to those travelers who are always trying to finagle their way out of cattle-car economy or “main cabin” air trips without paying the outrageous fares that those cabins typically entail. Although lots of blogs cover premium class deals sporadically, consider one of two paid services that specialize in digging out deals in premium class air travel: First Class Flyer (firstclassflyer.com), with three service levels starting at $97 per year, and Mighty Travels Premium (mightytravels.com), $7.99 per month or $59.04 per year. Both keep you alerted to flash sales that bring the price for business class tickets down to reasonable levels.
I remain leery of those many lists that focus on gadget “stocking stuffer” gifts: luggage, clothes, money belts, passport and credit-card wallets, USB chargers, foreign plug adapters, and similar items. My take on those is that most travelers already have the gadgets and accessories they really want, and many such “stocking stuffer” travel gifts quickly become “drawer stuffers.” I don’t mean to suggest you ignore the terrific seasonal deals available on that stuff, but go for it only if you really know exactly what sort of gadget your traveler would really use on a trip that doesn’t duplicate something he or she already has. I’m also leery about those airline promotions for you to buy “gift” frequent-flyer miles: The per-mile prices are usually about three times what the miles are worth.
Send e-mail to Ed Perkins at [email protected]. Also, check out Ed’s new rail travel website at www.rail-guru.com.
(c)2020 Ed Perkins.
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