Daydreaming about future travel has become a regular pastime in recent years. With flight and trip changes the norm, many airlines, including heavy hitters like Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines, are extending flight cancellation policies into 2024. That means it might be a good time to start planning your 2023 flights and adventures — including spring break.

What’s to gain from booking your 2023 spring break now?

Though there is plenty of uncertainty about travel for the rest of 2022, much of the travel industry is hungry to look to future travel plans. So there are bargains to be found for 2023 — especially for peak travel periods like spring break.

More good deals

Securing your spot on a March flight to Cancun or Palm Springs can make sense if you have the income to spare now. That said, managing travel credits and money across companies can be a bit of a challenge. (For instance, I currently have hundreds of travel credits tied up with Airbnb, Delta and Sixt due to COVID-19). But with companies spurring future bookings by offering more lax change policies, there are plenty of opportunities to find deals.

Waived change fees

Airlines have done away with change fees on most non-basic economy fares. This means you can book a random flight now based on your future travel assumptions and still be able to adjust your destination or dates in the future for free (assuming you don't mind tying up some money in an airline voucher).

Different airlines have different fine print. For instance, on American Airlines, you must start all travel within one year of the original ticket issue date, for Delta, you must change your flight within one year of purchase, but not necessarily fly within that time frame.

More time to earn points

If you have zeroed in on your ideal spring break destination already, your advance planning means you can further optimize your credit card spending (and points accrual) to fit your travel plans. You have plenty of time before spring break to earn points on everyday purchases like groceries and gasoline. You could also spend the next few months fulfilling any bonus or sign-up offers for credit cards to later put the points toward your next spring break trip. Then, you’ll have a good supply of points to cash in by the time spring 2023 rolls around.

Why you might consider holding off

Despite travel deals you may find, we are still in the thick of a global pandemic for a disease with no known cure or vaccine. The confusing nature of the novel coronavirus, from the way it spreads to its symptoms, continues to baffle scientists and laypeople alike.

CDC Director Robert Redfield has suggested that the virus might have a huge resurgence in the fall and winter that may be even more devastating than the current outbreak. If a second wave hits in flu season, hospitals and clinics could be overwhelmed to an extent even worse than we saw this spring, Redfield warned. So it’s worth thinking through your contingency plans and making sure you can get refunds for any travel you’re booking (or purchase appropriate Cancel For Any Reason travel insurance).

The bottom line

With generous booking allowances and travel credits available from major airlines, you could reserve your 2023 spring break trip with very little risk of losing money if you have to rebook. But there’s still some risk, especially if airlines start going bankrupt.

Still, the financial and emotional risks are different for every traveler: Do you want to get your hopes up for another trip that you inevitably need to cancel due to future COVID-19 realities? That’s for you to decide.