Category Archives for Destinations.
Several weeks ago China deployed an ‘anal swab’ test to detect Covid-19, believing it to be more accurate than other testing methods. Passengers in several Chinese airports are now being subjected to these tests, where authorities “insert[..] a cotton-tipped stick three to five centimeters (one to two inches) into the rectum.”
Now China is using this for passengers from ‘high risk countries’ and when multiple people test positive on a flight.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves is lifting mask mandates in the state and allowing businesses to operate at full capacity starting Wednesday. Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that capacity restrictions on businesses and mask requirements will be lifted next Wednesday.
The short answer is this means very little for travel including travel to, from, and in states where state and local mask and other requirements are lifting.
Up through 2014 most United Airlines flights to Hawaii featured the “Halfway to Hawaii game” where you could win a bottle of champagne. Passengers would be invited to guess the exact time they’d be halfway across the ocean to Hawaii. Some would just take a close enough guess by listening to the pilot’s announced flight time, cutting it in half, and adding that to the departure time. Others took it as a more complex math problem.
The game is back – and starting March 3 there’s a new prize.
The concern with travel abroad is that someone might become infected by the virus, including a new variant, and bring it back with them when they returned. But in this case the CEO was being vaccinated and the inactivated virus vaccine is highly likely not just to protect from symptoms but also infection (and spread). He’ll be less of a risk than most Canadians when he returns to the country. Getting vaccinated is a public benefit, not just a private one.
Furthermore, he’s now one less dose that Canada needs to provide for, meaning one more Canadian will get vaccinated more quickly. In places where vaccines aren’t widely available yet, three cheers for vaccine tourism!
Two pilots and an official with a private jet operator have been convicted in Turkey over the daring escape from Japan of former Nissan, Mistubishi, Renault and Michelin North America head Carlos Ghosn. Meanwhile two flight attendants were acquitted of failing to report a crime. International fugitive Ghosn was once Fortune‘s “Asia Businessman of the Year,” “Man Of The Year, and “10 Most Powerful People In Business Outside The U.S.” His life has been chronicled in Japanese comics. But he was arrested at Tokyo Narita airport in November 2018 for tax evasion and misappropriating Nissan coompany assets. He was granted bail, but re-arrested and released on new charges in April 2019. Renault then uncovered over $13 million in improper expenses he’d incurred. On December 29, 2019 Ghosn left his apartment in Tokyo around 2:30 p.m.…
Covid-19 will probably become endemic and manageable, rather than be eliminated. With advances in treatments and with vaccinations, the virus doesn’t seem likely to overwhelm the health care system again. And that means we should look to lifting restrictions, educating people about risks, and allowing them to once again make their own decisions. For some, that’ll mean ‘jab and go’ – precisely the airline message that has been banned in the U.K.
Canadians are used to driving across the border into the U.S. to find cheaper airfare – even to get other places inside Canada. Flying from Canada to Mexico and back to Canada used to be known among frequent flyers as ‘the Mexican Hat Dance’. And the challenge of sky high fares for Canadians may get worse in the future with Air Canada acquiring Transat.
However Canadians have a new reason to make use of U.S. airports: a loophole that allows them to circumvent mandatory quarantine on arrival.
Two tourists were arrested on arrival in Hawaii last Friday after trying to bribe a Honolulu airport worker out of required quarantine on arrival, since they lacked eligible negative Covid-19 tests.
This tells us 3 things about Hawaii’s quarantine.
Are there risks to using a dental appointment confirmation email to circumvent travel restrictions? Just show up for your appointment while on vacation. Those who use the dental loophole, and prepay might as well get a cleaning out of it rather than no-showing, even though “current law permits travelers to be charged only at the point they attempt the overseas journey, not after the fact.”
Alaska no longer requires a negative Covid-19 test to avoid quarantine on arrival, however they encourage testing: Alaskans already had no cost testing, that’s now available to visitors too.
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 »
