Monthly Archives for July 2020.
House Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) wrote to the TSA Administrator this week demanding the agency require people wear masks when going through security checkpoints.
The letter concludes that “a mask requirement is extremely important,” and it’s hard to disagree. The appropriate measure for members of Congress to take then is to pass such a requirement – there are four reasons why the TSA doing it on their own today would be illegal.
The Metropark Causeway Bay hotel, with its rooftop pool overlooking Victoria Harbor, has been one of Booking.com’s “top picks in Hong Kong.” Now in the words of one pro-democratic member of Hong Kong’s legislature, it’s “a visual and physical reminder that big brother is watching.”
Not since the conversion of the Ritz-Carlton Riyadh into a Saudi torture site has a hotel’s transformation from home away from home to instrument of the state so quickly. The Causeway Bay Metropark is now the Office for Safeguarding National Security – transformed in a day.
While you’re permitted to bring scissors, you need to handle them responsibly while inflight. That can pose surprising challenges. I present you with one example.
Airlines will be handing out quarantine forms for passengers to fill out when entering New York. Governor Cuomo also wants “a customs-like check-in at the airport” for domestic flights.
The forms will be used to enforce New York’s quarantine of arriving domestic passengers from states with “a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or a state with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.”
Huge waves were created this week when United revealed that travel bookings have been falling off. Things are headed south, it appears, and they’re sending out possible furlough notices to 36,000 employees. But they aren’t really going to lay off 39% of their staff, for four reasons.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Hyatt is making a number of aggressive offers to bring business into their hotels, from rate discounts to added benefits on stays to bonus points. In addition to the promotion, discount and breakfast offers they’re currently running they’ve announced three new offers that run through October 8: up to a 25% rebate on award stays, free parking on award stays, and triple points on hotel dining when you’re not saying at the hotel.
United Airlines is bringing back Los Angeles – Sydney service starting September 10, three days a week – Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. It’s part of larger growth in their schedule that includes a return of Chicago – Hong Kong and starting up Chicago – Tel Aviv.
But there’s something really interesting about the Los Angeles – Sydney service.
The latest partner addition is Brazil’s Azul, based in São Paulo. The carrier was started by Dave Neeleman, former head of JetBlue. Azul means Blue. Get it? (And like JetBlue they promote live TV.)
Redemption prices follow Air Canada’s partner award chart and are combinable with Star Alliance flights. And there re no fuel surcharges.
American’s new domestic first class seat is literally the same seat that they use in premium economy, except that it lacks a foot bar or foot rest. The seat is, therefore, premium economy-lite. It’s disingenuous in the extreme to call it ‘business class’.
However on some routes, up until now, that’s what they’ve done when flying Boeing 737s to Latin America. For their Iceland flight though they’re changing this practice.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
