Australia and New Zealand have launched a ‘travel bubble.’ That means citizens of either country are permitted to travel to the other, and then return home without a government-enforced quarantine. There is three times as much travel going from Australia to New Zealand as there is the other way around.
A reader asks why this is considered “lopsided” in media reports when there are 5 times as many people in Australia as there are in New Zealand?
Some state governors have issued orders against vaccine passports, but these have only limited meaning, such as not requiring state employees to get vaccinated and not requiring proof of vaccination for state business. The Biden administration has said they’ll facilitate but not require vaccine passports.
But do governments have a constitutional obligation to offer vaccine passports? That’s the argument that two law professors make, that government action to protect people from public health risks must use the least restrictive means possible. – and vaccine passports are required because they allow people to escape restriction.
The State Department announced a ‘do not travel’ recommendation for 80% of the world’s countries. They are explicit that this decision is not their assessment of risk for those countries, but a change meant to mirror what the CDC already says. Indeed the CDC’s current guidance does not match actual risk.
However this is the wrong direction for travel guidance, and it’s the CDC that should be updating risk assessment.
Travel has been picking up, and airlines haven’t always scaled their call center capacity to match. Add in some bad weather – take Denver, for instance, on Monday where there was snow and more delays than any other airport in the world – and wait times to speak to an airline agent really grow. This has been an issue across airlines, and even wait times for elite frequent flyers who get call center priorities have been longer than usual at times lately.
American Airlines customers, especially, reported long wait times on Monday and into Tuesday – 5 to 8 hours, even – and customers are bringing receipts.
Two weeks ago Radisson hotels shared that Radisson Rewards would split into two geographically-distinct programs on June 17, 2021. This is being required by the U.S. government to keep data on Americans separated within the Chinese-owned chain.
When this happens there will also be changes to award redemption, and there will be status matching and points transfer between the programs.
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.
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.
What American has been doing in economy is providing a bag with small bottle of water, cookie, and sanitizer wipe. Instead beginning June 1 you’ll be able to have water, juice, or canned soft drinks plus pretzels or Biscoff cookies. And starting this summer they will bring back sale of alcohol and buy on board food in coach.
United Airlines is woke but American Airlines wants you to know that they aren’t just opposed to voting law changes that target people of color, they are “taking a stand..for LGBTQ rights and hate crimes legislation.
The American Express® Gold Card‘s new monthly Uber credit is live, and American Express has brought back the option for a Rose Gold physical card. They’re promoting these with a custom UberEats food option that looks very cool.
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 »
