Social Distancing Saturday is a new series by 10xTravel that shares ideas for how to pass the time while you are doing your part to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by engaging in #SocialDistancing. These pieces will not be directly related to points, miles, or travel, but rather are being shared just to help bring some joy to anyone who needs it in these difficult times.

Happy Social Distancing Saturday!

Here’s to hoping we don’t have too many more of these before life starts to return to “normal”.

I say “normal” because I can’t go more than 10 minutes without seeing an article about all the things that are supposedly going to change forever thanks to COVID-19. Handshakes, hugs, and work conferences are apparently trending down as video calls, working from home, and skepticism of private zoo owners from Oklahoma are on the rise.

Strange times.

Anyway, I have three things for you today; bingo, statistics, and the questionably appropriate use of a semi-colon and the oxford comma in the same sentence.

With one of those out of the way, let’s talk about the other two.

A vintage bingo game set with cards, wooden balls, and a metal cage is displayed. An overlay text reads: COVID-19’S IMPACT ON 10XTRAVEL READERS with the hashtag #SocialDistanceSaturday, highlighting changes in travel points and miles use.

10xT Bingo!

If you are a travel website and don’t create a bingo card for instagram during the COVID-19 lockdown, are you actually a travel website?

Hard to say, but we certainly aren’t going to risk it.

Which is why we created a 10xT themed bingo card for you to play! Simply take a screenshot of the bingo card below, mark off the spaces you have completed, and post it to instagram (tag us!) or the thread in the 10xTravel Insider’s Facebook Group after completing 5 in a row.

You can also open the photo using this link for an easier screen shot.

A Travel Bingo game card with 25 travel-related activities in a grid, such as Traveled solo, Used miles for a trip, and Lost your luggage. The title reads 10XTravel: Travel Bingo.

Financial Impact Survey Results

Last week we asked 10xT Readers to take our brief survey to learn more about the financial impact that COVID-19 has had on our readers.

More than 1,800 people responded and the results were incredible! Overall we were very impressed with the financial resiliency of our readership.

Have a look for yourself.

After accounting for those who do not work a conventional job/were not employed prior to the outbreak, 90% of 10xT Readers are still employed, with 71.5% seeing no change to their jobs at all (other than likely working from home).

A pie chart shows how COVID-19 impacted employment: 59.7% report no change, 16.5% furloughed, 15.4% reduced hours but still employed, 5.4% no longer employed, and 3% were not working before the pandemic or earning travel points.

Business owners didn’t fare quite so well, with 50.88% of business owners reporting either a significant (>40%) reduction in business or a total shutdown due to government mandate.

Pie chart showing points earned from business owners responses on how the virus impacted their business. 71.8% answered N/A, I do not own a business. Other responses reflect various levels of business impact.

But that didn’t seem to shake your confidence. A whopping 89.4% of you said that you are either “very comfortable” or “somewhat comfortable” with your current financial situations in light of COVID-19.

A pie chart illustrates survey responses about financial comfort during COVID-19: 53.1% feel very comfortable, 36.3% somewhat comfortable, 9.8% somewhat uncomfortable, and 0.8% very uncomfortable, from 1,813 points of feedback.

Less than 5% of you have asked a bank or financial institution to defer payment on any type of loan or credit account.

A pie chart shows that 95.1% of 1,813 survey respondents have not asked to defer loan or credit payments in the last 2 months, while a small blue section represents those who have—perhaps to save points or miles for future travel.

And less than 3% of you anticipate that the virus will cause you to fall behind or default on any outstanding debt.

A bar graph shows survey responses about anticipated debt default due to COVID-19. Most respondents (1,760) do not anticipate defaulting; few expect to default on mortgages, student loans, or credit cards. Points or miles aren’t a factor. Total responses: 1,813.

Assuming that current conditions do not change, nearly 69% of you believe you can “hang on” for 12+ months before falling behind on debt payments. Only 2.1% of respondents anticipate an issue in the next 1-2 months.

Pie chart showing how long people can financially hang on before likely falling behind on debt payments. 68.8% say 12+ months, 12.1% say 1-2 months, with other smaller percentages—helpful for planning miles or points travel.

Moving away from the financial side of things, it appears that the majority of 10xT Readers will not feel comfortable going to bars, movie theaters, or concerts until a vaccine for COVID-19 is widely available. About half of you would feel comfortable traveling on an airplane again and most would feel comfortable going to restaurants or small social gatherings at friend’s houses.

A bar chart shows survey responses about post-lockdown activities without a COVID-19 vaccine. The most selected is social gatherings (70.6%), followed by restaurants (57.5%), and travel by airplane (49.9%) to earn miles or points.

And most importantly, a staggering 41.9% of you have not watched Tiger King yet!

But of those who did, it seems that the majority of you think that Carole Baskin killed her husband by feeding him to tigers. 74.88% voted yes, 5.69% no, and 19.43% said maybe.

A pie chart titled Did Carole Baskin kill her husband by feeding him to tigers? with 1,813 responses. 43.5% Yes, 41.9% Who is Carole Baskin?, 11.3% No, and 3.3% Maybe—no points for guessing the most popular opinion!.

That’s all for today, have a great weekend!

Happy Travels,

Bryce