I wouldn’t hesitate to spend time in the Maldives. And at present there’s very little confirmed spread of the virus in the country. My approach would be this: be prepared (and be prepared to fund) a longer stay if something went wrong. And if you’re in an especially vulnerable group, for instance over 60 with pre-existing conditions, consider staying home.
Airlines are requiring passengers to wear masks inflight, and this has led to a needed change to inflight safety briefings. Flight attendants are telling customers “face masks need to be removed prior to using oxygen.”
It makes no sense to ban travel from places where virus spread has slowed to a much lower pace than it’s already circulating here, especially when we’re not banning travel from some of the places in the world where the virus is spreading fastest.
The China travel ban failed because the CDC blew its implementation and the Europe travel ban came too late. Those were policies that might have helped if implemented at the right time and in the right way back in January and February. But they no longer make sense in June.
As properties re-open in Las Vegas it looks like there’s a new opportunity for a surprise ‘gotcha,’ a COVID-19 surcharge. When destinations around the world that have re-opened, or that are looking to, are practically paying you to come, we’re starting to see extra charges not listed on the menu show up on bills in Las Vegas.
And yes – it’s identified as a “COVID-19 crisis” surcharge.
The airline industry makes for strange bedfellows.
Delta is rushing to save a key American Airlines partner, because that keeps it from being on the hook to repay the loan they guaranteed. However if they fail they will take partial ownership in Gol’s frequent flyer program, a key American Airlines partnership.
Currently the border closure lasts through June 21, though Canada has loosened restrictions somewhat to allow family members of citizens and permanent residents to return starting today.
However the ban is expected to be extended by both the U.S. and Canada into late July, according to sources on both sides of the border.
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The Vancouver Hotel Destination Association will arrange for you to receive visa gift cards for every night of your Vancouver hotel stay, up to the first five nights.
Earning Aeroplan miles is independent of payment method. That means you can choose any credit card to pay that is bonusing food deliver (or, like Capital One, that is letting you redeem miles at full value to pay for food delivery).
That means this is an entirely new, stackable, avenue of value for Uber Eats food delivery orders which is huge – especially since Aeroplan lets you redeem for Star Alliance awards on their website, at reasonable rates and many partners without fuel surcharges, and now including awards on Etihad as well.
I could see airline meal delivery services finally taking off. I’d happily pay for Singapore Airlines laksa or ANA ramen at home. Not Ural Airlines chicken or frozen Canadian airline Thai food. But I’d love to try Thai’s meals – if they succeed in the Bangkok market they’d probably be ‘good enough’ to expand and offer Thai frozen food internationally.
Here in Austin I’d happily stock my freezer with their stir fried tiger prawns with salt, garlic and chili. I’m not sure $8 in Bangkok having to pre-order and pick it up makes this a winning business strategy, however.
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 »
