Monthly Archives for April 2021.
Malta is giving a new reason to visit: a payment to tourists of up to $261 to encourage the trip, provided hotel accommodations are booked direct.
The country plans to re-open to tourism June 1 and intends to allow anyone that’s vaccinated to enter without testing, or welcome unvaccinated tourists with negative test taken ‘a few hours’ prior to arrival.
In the latest Airlines Confidential podcast former Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza questions whether the CDC mask order actually applies to the time passengers spend on aircraft.
Let’s look at the order and its legal authority to see.
American Airlines used to have espresso machines on board Boeing 777, 787, and Airbus A321T aircraft. They don’t anymore. The airline has removed the machines from these aircraft, a spokesperson confirms to me, “to help conserve fuel and prevent confusion about what services are currently offered.”
Earlier in the week IHG Rewards seemed to devalue their points raising the cost of many properties without notice. Indeed, 100,000 points was no longer the most you’d pay for an Intercontinental and it became possible to spend as much as 79,000 points for a single Holiday Inn room night.
Right now prices, in some cases, appear back to where they were before the devaluation.
The Lufthansa business class lounge at Washington Dulles is now part of Priority Pass. That’s a great new option in the airport.
There are already other lounges on the B concourse that are part of the program, like the Turkish Airlines lounge, but in normal times that gets so crowded they cut off Priority Pass access. Another lounge should help equalize the traffic and make it possible to get into your preferred location.
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.
American Airlines is calling AAdvantage members with awards on hold for travel on Cathay Pacific and telling them they either have to ticket right away or cancel their bookings, thanks to a glitch where Cathay is cancelling held itineraries.
For years TSA has been warning that if you don’t get a ‘REAL ID’-compliant drivers license you won’t be able to fly and I’ve explained that isn’t true because you can fly without ID, in fact people do it all the time.
In fact, the TSA has now posted a video to its social media explaining the process of flying without ID.
On April 1 the Harvey family was flying from Denver to Austin on Southwest Airlines. They had practiced for days with their two year old wearing a mask. Boarding went fine, but once seated the child took the mask off and the family was booted from the flight.
Father Erik Harvey went to Facebook and posted an 18 minute discourse on the events. A pilot named James Peck saw the video.
Currently American Express Platinum and Centurion cardholders can bring two guests into a Centurion lounge.
Starting in 2023, only Centurion cardmembers as well as Platinum cardmembers who spend $75,000 per year or more on their card will continue to receive free guest access. Platinum cardmembers who do not spend that much on their card will have to pay $50 per guest.
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 »
