Monthly Archives for January 2021.
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.
The Jones Act requires cargo ships traveling between U.S. ports to be built in the U.S., owned by U.S. companies, employing only U.S. workers. That means a ship from Asia can’t stop in Hawaii, drop off food and other products, pick up other cargo and continue to the West Coast. As a result goods are generally shipped to the mainland and then from the mainland to Hawaii. That’s one reason why things are so much more expensive in Hawaii.
Secretary-designate Buttigieg supports this because unions like it, and West Coast Senators like it, and the voices of the poor in Puerto Rico who are kept poor aren’t heard nearly as loudly.
Germany approved new rules to require medical grade masks on public transportation. Lufthansa has followed suit, requiring masks but banning cloth masks from meeting that requirement effective February 1. France and Austria may add similar rules.
If you travel, you find yourself in airports and on jet bridges, if you’re in indoor congregant settings with groups of other people then you want to use an N95 mask.
During United’s fourth quarter earnings call they made several revealing statements about their business, travel, and their mental models for the U.S. recovery from Covid-19. Here are 8 things that stood out to me.
President Biden issued an executive order on mask wearing, as well as testing and quarantine for international travel.
The order doesn’t actually do anything. Instead it outlines Administration policy and instructs various departments of government to come up with plans to implement. Here are the key elements of the plan that includes masks, testing, quarantines and vaccination records.
Hawaii’s Lieutenant Governor, an emergency room physician responsible for the state’s arriving passenger testing program, says to expect the testing requirement for arriving passengers to be lifted this spring for those who have been vaccinated.
While we haven’t proven that those who have gotten the vaccine don’t spread the virus, or that they spread it far less than those who haven’t, no one believes it doesn’t have this property we just don’t know for certain the magnitude of the effect yet.
President Biden announced that in addition to the testing requirement going into effect January 26th for passengers arriving in the U.S. off of international flights, there will be a quarantine requirement as well.
The details of the quarantine rule haven’t been published yet – who it applies to and how long it will last.
A viral video appears to show a passenger on Singapore Airlines capturing a UFO on camera, flying just beneath the wing of the aircraft, as it prepares to land. What’s more the pilot seemingly has to take evasive maneuvers to avoid contact with the craft.
As the video opens it’s just like any video trip report you might find on YouTube. However 30 seconds in the pilot announces everyone must be seated and in brace position. Then the plane banks right as it appears to head in the direction we’ll see the UFO.
Spirit outlined their new program in the fall but now there’s greater detail since the program has launched, specifically around the co-brand credit card and the value of points. And the program is enough of an improvement that it’s prompted me to join.
Thailand is technically open to visitors, but even with a negative Covid test there’s a 14 day quarantine requirement and the idea of being stuck inside a hotel room that long hasn’t been popular. It’s attracted only a few hundred tourists per month to the country.
However people will go to greater lengths to visit friends and relatives than they will for just a vacation long enough to justify the quarantine period. I saw on social media that the owner of my favorite Thai restaurant was back in Bangkok, in the middle of his quarantine period at a hotel with his wife. He was gracious enough to share his story and some photos.
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 »
