Save money—and the hotel industry—by purchasing hotel bonds.
While there’s light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel thanks to the COVID-19 vaccines, we’re still a ways off from the travel industry returning to the boom times of 2019. Hotels have had to get creative to attract bookings from nervous travelers. That means not just enhanced cleaning protocols, but also incentives (discounts, mainly) to entice people back through hotel doors.
“Hotel bonds” from Buy Now, Stay Later is one of the more creative ideas I’ve seen. Available in $100 increments, they’re like an advance-purchase gift card, but with a bonus. You buy a “bond” for $100, and after a “maturation period” of 60 days, it’s worth $150 that can be spent at the hotel (including on advance reservations). The term “bond” is used to illustrate the concept of purchasing what is essentially a gift card at a discount and then spending it at a later date at full value. Note: if the hotel you bought a bond for goes out of business before you cash in, you could lose your money.
The Buy Now, Stay Later hotel bonds program currently sells bonds for dozens of participating hotels around the world, with more being added on a regular basis. Notable properties include Nihi Sumba in Indonesia, Greydon House on Nantucket in Massachusetts, Labotessa in Cape Town, South Africa, and the Fairmont Austin in Texas.
Travelers can purchase multiple $100 bonds for any hotel. For example, you could buy five bonds for $500 and use them 60 days later to book and prepay a $750 stay. Individual terms and conditions vary by property, so make sure to check before you purchase.
The hotel bonds program is a clever way to stimulate demand and bookings with a guaranteed discount on future travel. The prepayment aspect of the program also helps keep hotels afloat.
Twist’s Take: Traveling to a particular hotel in the future? Consider buying a hotel bond to lock in a discount and help sustain hotel operations in the meantime.
