Category Archives for Destinations.
I’m looking forward to visiting family in Australia and they’re excited to now be allowed to leave to country and visit the States. I don’t vape but I’ve been keeping abreast of changing rules for travelers entering the country and this seemed worth passing along – especially since it’s a new change since most people have been permitted to go there.
In addition to welcoming foreign visitors coming from previously-banned countries and imposing a new vaccination requirement on non-residents entering the U.S. by air (with exceptions) there are new rules for unvaccinated Americans returning to the U.S.
They aren’t based on science of protecting public health, they’re meant to make life difficult for the unvaccinated. Depending on your view you may favor this! I’m 100% pro-vaccine. But don’t pretend it’s something else.
Starting November 8, most non-resident travelers to the United States will have to be vaccinated in addition to testing negative for Covid-19 within the prior 3 days.
This replaces the near-blanket ban on travel from China, Iran, India, Brazil, South Africa, the European Schengen area, the U.K. and Ireland.
New U.S. travel rules go into effect November 8th, and if the President of France were bound by them he’d be ineligible to enter the country – even though he’s fully vaccinated following European guidelines. That’s because U.S. pandemic policy is – still – not guided by science.
Australia’s federal government controls who is admissible to the country. Each state within Australia controls its quarantine procedures, and also whether each state is open to travel from other states.
And an announcement by the Premier of New South Wales, Australia (where Sydney is located) has thrown the country into something of disarray.
Bali planned to re-open to American tourism this month Instead they’re reducing quarantine requirements to 5 days I’m feeling good about my decision to drop Bali as a destination next month. Bali has been pushing hard against the string of the Indonesian government since last year.
Now Bali’s governor claims tourism isn’t actually good for Bali after all, despite representing over 50% of GDP.
Thailand will fully open to vaccinated Americans as well as those from China, Singapore, Germany and six other countries starting November 1. Travelers from additional countries will be welcomed starting December 1. Previously visitors could only enter – and had to remain in – designated resort places in the country such as Phuket.
Hundreds of millions of doses of Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines have been ordered, but recipients of these vaccines – while eligible to enter Austria on the basis of their vaccination – cannot check into a hotel using their vaccination record.
With tourism to and within Asia virtually halted by the coronavirus pandemic, Thailand has struggled mightily. In 2019 tourism represented over 18% of the country’s GDP.
So the country is going to impose a new tax on foreign tourists starting in 2022. The goal is to reduce low “quality” tourism.
Australia says it will re-open to the world starting in November but that’s not really true. There’s no timeline, even a rough one, for non-residents of the country to return.
What they’re doing for now is lifting the ban on Australians leaving the country, and working towards allowing Australians who return to forcibly quarantine – but to do so at home rather than in state-managed facilities.
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 »
