Category Archives for Destinations.
Canada can’t guarantee that its own Prime Minister’s plane will make it where it’s going, but the Government of Japan has publicly offered assurances that Taylor Swift will be able to perform in Tokyo and still make it in plenty of time to the Super Bowl
A college student had a brief burst of fame last summer for graduating from U.C. Berkeley while living in Los Angeles and using miles to commute to school to save money.
Leveraging miles and points for your commute turns out to be a tool for the professional classes, too as one Wall Street Journal reporter uses his points to live in cheaper Ohio and commute to New York.
Ecuador is under a 60-day state of emergency, including national curfew and military control of prisons and patrols of the streets, after explosions and looting following prison uprisings and the escape from prison of gang leaders. At least 8 people are dead in Guayaquil, and many schools and offices are closed. The government has declared war on gangs, which are being called terrorist organizations.
A Filipino woman applied for a Schengen Visa to visit Italy. This European visa was denied, because authorities weren’t convinced she would leave the country before her visa expired.
She reapplied for her visa, and this time included an e-mail confirmation of future-dated tickets to go see Taylor Swift in Singapore.
A Dutch motorcyclist and YouTuber documented their ordeal being extorted by police in Nigeria. Through the social media account ‘Itchy Boots’ they shared their travel through Abuja, where she captured a conversation with an officer who demanded money. The officer involved was dismissed. MilesQuest quotes a commenter who seeks sympathy for the officer, arguing that the conditions they face are tough. These men have to buy their uniforms, fuel and repair their patrol vehicles, sometimes repair their guns and buy their ammunition. It’s really a bigger conversation on the condition of service of the Nigerian police men and women. Some even have to make returns to their superiors. It’s common knowledge that the money they get on the streets goes to their superiors in the office. Not to talk of their living conditions. This gets…
The U.S. could sure benefit from airline competition measures proposed for Argentina. Foreign competition alone isn’t a panacea – government airports collude with airports to block access in the most desirable places and government slot controls block new entrants to congested airports as well – but we’d be far better off with both Ryanair and Singapore Airlines providing options to consumers for both cheaper and improved experiences in the air.
A Russian passenger flew from Copenhagen to Los Angeles on Scandinavian flight 931 last month despite not having a ticket, passport, or visa. He’s being called a stowaway, but he wasn’t hiding. He simply sat down in a seat.
Starting January 10, 2024 Brazil will require Americans, Canadians, and Australians to obtain a visa for entry to the country. The cost will be approximately $80 and allow multiple entry for 10 years (Canadians and Australians only get 5 years). They will require you to provide them with a bank statement showing account balance and 30 days of transactions.
A British tourist requested wheelchair assistance for his mother while transferring between terminals in Dubai. He didn’t like the answer that a wheelchair would be provided but that he should wait for an inter-terminal bus without him, since he saw another passenger already had one. Trying to escalate his request for assistance, things got heated. He used swear words.
Pollster Frank Luntz took to social media on Friday to decry a Qatar Airways for not recognizing Israel. For someone so politically savvy, that struck me as naive. The obvious answer here was that Qatar doesn’t recognize Israel. It would be more of a scandal for Israel to appear on the moving map of its state-sponsored airline than for it not to.
Yet this morning a Qatar jet flew from Doha to Israel. It had to make a technical stop in out of the way Cyprus in order to avoid operating the first non-stop between the two countries.
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 »
