Commentary

Category Archives for Commentary.

The Pfizer Vaccine Looks 90% Effective, Great News For Travel!

by Gary Leff on November 9, 2020

Nov 09 2020

Pfizer reports their Covid-19 vaccine, in conjunction with BioNTech, so far appears 90% effective. With 94 people in the clinical trial having gotten Covid-19 so far, that means people in the control group receiving the placebo were about 10 times as likely to get the virus as someone who had received the vaccine.

The drug maker could reach milestone of 2 months since the second dose for half of trial participants in order to apply for Emergency Use Authorization next week. They report no ‘serious’ side effects in the trial. That’s great news, great progress. And it means we should have great optimism for travel.

Vaccine Tourism Will Be A New Trend In Early 2021

by Gary Leff on November 4, 2020

Nov 04 2020

Even if there’s an emergency use authorization for a vaccine in the U.S. in December it’s likely late in the second quarter before it’s available for most Americans. Will you wait until June for a vaccine, when you can get one somewhere else in the world if you have the ability to travel and the money to buy one? Would you take a trip to Dubai to get a vaccine six months earlier?

Federal Air Marshals Spread Virus, Ordered To Fly While Awaiting Covid-19 Test Results

by Gary Leff on October 29, 2020

Oct 29 2020

There have been thousands of cases of air marshal misconduct, and nothing has been done. Now air marshals are literally making travel less safe.

U.S. May Require All Foreign Visitors To Submit Biometrics Before Applying For An ESTA Or Visa

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

Oct 28 2020

The federal government is looking to require foreign visitors and prospective immigrants to submit “fingerprints and possibly other biometric information..into a new database” prior to being permitted to submit online visa applications and even ESTA requests.

How Business Travel Will Be Different After Covid-19

by Gary Leff on September 7, 2020

Sep 07 2020

The grand experiment in ‘work from home’ has gone better than expected for many companies. Employees all over the world are learning how to do it successfully. It’s not a replacement for in-person interaction, that will happen, just not as often in the office. We’re going to see a new kind of business travel, starting next year.

US Border Patrol Says They Can Create Central Repository Of Traveler Emails, Keep Them For 75 Years

by Gary Leff on August 17, 2020

Aug 17 2020

The U.S. government has taken the opportunity during the global pandemic, when people aren’t traveling out of the country much, to roll out a new platform for storing information they believe they are entitled to take from people crossing the border. A new filing reveals how the U.S. Border Patrol will store data from traveler devices centrally, keeping it backed up and searchable for up to 75 years.

If Our Government Was Competent, Banning People From Entering With Diseases Could Make Sense

by Gary Leff on August 11, 2020

Aug 11 2020

The federal government is considering new rules “that would allow border officials to temporarily block an American citizen or legal permanent resident from returning to the United States from abroad if the authorities have reason to believe the person may be infected with the coronavirus.”

However they’d do this based on their best guess – and not testing – and they’re considering doing this now after the coronavirus barn door has already been left open.

Hertz Is Falsely Reporting Cars Stolen, Landing Renters in Jail

by Gary Leff on August 4, 2020

Aug 04 2020

Hertz reportedly has a system glitch that has been reporting some cars stolen even though they’ve been properly rented out. The customers that have rented the cars? They’ve been getting arrested. In a few cases they’ve faced guns drawn by police. Several customers have gone to prison.

The Washington Post Calls It “Revenge Travel” I Just Call It “Intertemporal Substitution”

by Gary Leff on July 31, 2020

Jul 31 2020

After being stuck home, people are ready to get starting traveling with a vengeance as soon as they feel safe to do so. It’s as though the very act of traveling makes a statement that we may be down briefly, but we won’t give in, we’ll return stronger than ever.

Will State Coronavirus Travel Restrictions Become Permanent?

by Gary Leff on July 1, 2020

Jul 01 2020

One of the reasons TSA temperature checks at airports are a bad idea is that they won’t end after the pandemic. They’ll become the new normal. Just like all of the new rules put in place after 9/11.