Category Archives for Destinations.
We don’t yet know how much transmission is reduced, especially when the second shot has been added into the mix. We do know based on new data that vaccination with at least some Covid-19 vaccines reduce transmission, though. We’ll soon know if they reduce transmission enough to allow those who have been vaccinated to travel more freely.
Hawaii requires a negative Covid-19 test in order to avoid 14 day quarantine on arrival. But the process is cumbersome, error-prone, and anything but transparent.
One family was forced to split up, with the husband flying back across the ocean to Los Angeles to get a new test,, after a night spent in a rental car when Hawaii rejected his negative Covid-19 assessment from the world-famous Mayo Clinic.
China’s initial Covid-19 outbreak was probably 40 times worse than they reported.
While much blame for lack of transparency is leveed at the national government, early on it’s likely local officials who downplayed the severity of the crisis. Now President Xi relies on projecting an image that China has beaten back the virus and is among the best in the world at doing so. Without this his re-election is at risk. What does a 50% year-over-year drop in air travel after China supposedly beat the virus say?
The CEO of Qantas said Australia would re-open to visitors in July. The government said not so fast, without actually denying the claim. Now we know a little more about Australia’s re-opening plan.
I am making fully refundable bookings using points. However I’ve been avoiding transferring American Express and Chase points when I do not have to, because while awards can be redeposited into an airline frequent flyer account the points cannot usually be moved back from the airline account to Amex or Chase. When you transfer flexible bank points there is a cost in lost flexibility.
Domestic travel should be mostly doable this summer, especially for the vaccinated. We’ll likely be able to travel to hard-hit destinations with vaccination and a negative test, though countries that have quashed the virus will probably stay closed longer.
Last spring I wrote about a new documentary under development about the frequent flyer hobby. There have been many stabs taken at this.
Now there’s a new twist on travel, not about earning miles and points but about taking regular people on incredible adventures. I reader has an IndieGogo campaign but this one looks like it could really happen.
The Jones Act requires cargo ships traveling between U.S. ports to be built in the U.S., owned by U.S. companies, employing only U.S. workers. That means a ship from Asia can’t stop in Hawaii, drop off food and other products, pick up other cargo and continue to the West Coast. As a result goods are generally shipped to the mainland and then from the mainland to Hawaii. That’s one reason why things are so much more expensive in Hawaii.
Secretary-designate Buttigieg supports this because unions like it, and West Coast Senators like it, and the voices of the poor in Puerto Rico who are kept poor aren’t heard nearly as loudly.
Hawaii’s Lieutenant Governor, an emergency room physician responsible for the state’s arriving passenger testing program, says to expect the testing requirement for arriving passengers to be lifted this spring for those who have been vaccinated.
While we haven’t proven that those who have gotten the vaccine don’t spread the virus, or that they spread it far less than those who haven’t, no one believes it doesn’t have this property we just don’t know for certain the magnitude of the effect yet.
President Biden announced that in addition to the testing requirement going into effect January 26th for passengers arriving in the U.S. off of international flights, there will be a quarantine requirement as well.
The details of the quarantine rule haven’t been published yet – who it applies to and how long it will last.
Thailand is technically open to visitors, but even with a negative Covid test there’s a 14 day quarantine requirement and the idea of being stuck inside a hotel room that long hasn’t been popular. It’s attracted only a few hundred tourists per month to the country.
However people will go to greater lengths to visit friends and relatives than they will for just a vacation long enough to justify the quarantine period. I saw on social media that the owner of my favorite Thai restaurant was back in Bangkok, in the middle of his quarantine period at a hotel with his wife. He was gracious enough to share his story and some photos.
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 »
