Monthly Archives for April 2021.
The late husband to Queen Elizabeth II once said, “If you travel as much as we do, you appreciate the improvements in aircraft design of less noise and more comfort, provided you don’t travel in something called economy class, which sounds ghastly.”
IHG will be bringing back a generous offer for joining or renewing its Ambassador program, which is the chain’s paid status program for Intercontinental hotels..
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 has been testing protein boxes in domestic first class as meals which replace their serving the old coach buy on board options front. The airline tells me that next week this expands to non-premium flights over 2200 miles.
In other words premium transcon flights like New York JFK – Los Angeles and San Francisco continue to get hot meals. What’s new is that non-premium transcon flights, longer than Charlotte – Los Angeles like DC – Los Angeles or Miami Seattle, will get ‘Fresh Bites’ instead of the old coach buy on board wrapped sandwiches.
Former model Hannah Lee Pierson is accused of threatening to blow up her Air New Zealand flight between Melbourne and Auckland after being told by cabin crew that a glass of wine on board isn’t free, according to court documents.
She is said to have become abusive towards flight attendants, and was ultimately handcuffed and strapped to her seat to keep her out of the galley of the aircraft.
All arrivals from outside the state will have to undergo a rapid test at the airport or go into 10-day quarantine. That’s in addition to the required test 72 hours prior to travel, and regardless of vaccination status (even as the state has discussed proof of vaccination in lieu of testing).
The specific date this will begin hasn’t announced yet, noting that it will take ‘at least 10 working days’ to get the program up and running, but it’s expected to start prior to end of April.
IHG Rewards devalued their points without notice and in the middle of the pandemic, when hotel properties have been suffering. Those hotels, for the most part, should want award guests filling rooms more than ever before. And with room rates in most places down, points should go farther than before not be worth far less.
So why would IHG do this?
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.
he U.S. federal government isn’t going to require vaccine passports for citizens, nor are citizens going to be required to get vaccinated (though failing to require vaccination in exchange for $1400 stimmy checks was a huge lost opportunity in the fight against the pandemic).
However the Biden administration is working on standards to allow for vaccine passports, and has been in talks with airlines about creating them. The White House says it will offer its guidance for moving forward “soon.”
With the greatest drop in travel demand in history, hotels in many parts of the world have struggled mightily – although in the U.S. and some other regions business has been coming back – especially in popular leisure destinations that have been largely open during the pandemic like Florida and Cancun.
Hotel chains have relaxed the rules that their properties have to follow, limiting how much each has to spend on forward-looking investments and during each guest stay. Hilton recently updated its brand standard waivers, including outlining when some services have to return.
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 »
