Subscription Travel Models Offer Encouraging Pandemic Resilience to Inspirato and BeRightBack

Many people subscribe to streaming TV, internet access, and apartment rentals, so why not vacations? That was Skift's thinking when we noted earlier this year that one of the rising megatrends in travel was the testing of subscriptions in services. Several travel companies have added subscription products and services in recent years, reporting encouraging early results. But only a couple of companies, most prominently Inspirato and BeRightBack, have gone "all in" on subscriptions. Inspirato, focused on luxury, and BeRightBack, focused on budget travel, both say they have held up better-than-expected during the pandemic. Other travel companies may watch their resilience with interest. Airlines, hotels, and other travel providers have more supply than demand right now and might adopt a whatever-it-takes approach and test subscriptions. Inspirato, a luxury hospitality club based in Denver, debuted a year ago Inspirato Pass, which let people book unlimited travel for a monthly fee, as Brent Handler, founder and CEO of Inspirato explained in September 2019 at Skift Global Forum (see video). Customers of the startup are mostly based in the U.S. and Mexico. They pay about $2,500 a month, without taxes or resort fees being extra, and can book up to about 25 stays a year at a curated list of destinations, homes, and hotels. "When we first started to share this idea with large hotel groups, they literally laughed as out of the conference rooms," Handler said. "They said, 'There's no way this will work. You'll have to pay them instead of customers paying you.'" But the early customer reception has been promising. Inspirato expects this year to book around $70 million in recurring revenue from subscriptions. The pandemic gave heartburn to Inspirato, which has raised more than $79 million in funding. The company basically shut down in March, April, and May. It asked subscription holders to continue to pay their monthly fees during those months when they couldn't travel on the pledge that they could skip payments in July, August, and September while traveling after stay-at-home restrictions had lifted. "We haven't had much attrition at all," said Handler. "The pass has done unbelievably well and really changed our business." The situation is stable, even though travel restrictions continue to essentially block U.S. residents from visiting Hawaii or Europe, trimming by a third Inspirato's inventory available to U.S. residents. The Denver