Emirates Now A Citibank Transfer Partner, Becomes Transfer Partner Of All Major Bank Currencies

by Gary Leff

shower in plane
Apr 19 2020

Citi has added Emirates Skywards as a points transfer partner for its Citi Premier and Prestige cards. Emirates is now a partner of Citi, Chase, American Express and Capital One – this strikes me as a problem for Barclays which is rolling out an Emirates credit card in the U.S.

Emirates offers great award availability from a variety of U.S. destinations, however fuel surcharges (which depend on the destination flown) are often very expensive and premium cabin awards are priced at 2x coach for business class and 3x coach for first class.

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Italy May Be Off Limits For Travel Until April 2021

by Gary Leff

Apr 19 2020

Plans to re-open the economy in phases are still speculative, and still just plans. They haven’t yet hit the reality of local politics (sustaining closures in the face of a struggling economy) or European politics (and pressure, perhaps coming from Germany and in exchange for economic aid, to follow a more unified approach). Thus pronouncements about re-opening Spain ‘at the end of the year’ and Italy ‘after March 2021’ are at this point merely suggestive of the challenges that international travel will face, rather than something to be taken at face value.

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Even During A Global Pandemic Airline Passengers Are Awful

by Gary Leff

Apr 19 2020

Before we were all grounded, air travel had become incredibly small-d democratic, with people of all walks of life, cultures, and belief systems mixing in a small metal tube. It had become far more affordable over the past 40 years, no longer something you dress up for but also a place where behaviors clash and people come into conflict with one another. (This was the worst passenger of 2019.)

Now with only the most pressing or somber of occasions leading people to travel by air, you’d expect the level of bad behavior on planes to lessen.

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Where Will We Be Able To Travel That’s Safe This Summer And Fall?

by Gary Leff

Apr 19 2020

Until there’s a vaccine life may not return truly to normal. We may be asked to social distance. We may be asked to wear masks. And many countries may have restrictions in place on who can visit, and what documents are required to do so.

However the world will – hopefully – begin returning to some semblance of normal in the coming months, having bought time to expand testing, expand health care capacity to deal with a potential influx of patients, and perhaps most importantly doctors and researchers will have learned much about how to treat patients with the virus.

Where will be safe to go? Where will we be able to go?

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Lack Of Domestic Travel Restrictions May Be Our Greatest Risk Going Forward

by Gary Leff

Apr 19 2020

Travel restrictions have a very limited benefit for the place imposing them when the virus is already spreading somewhere. U.S. restrictions on travel from China, and from Europe, came after they were too late to matter.

Yet they haven’t come domestically. That may be one of the bigger risks we face as different areas of the country struggle to overcome the spread of the novel coronavirus on different timelines. We’re seeing restrictions on domestic travel in places that are dealing relatively well with the virus (Australia) and those that have suffered greatly (Italy).

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Hotel Demands $400,000 Cancellation Fee Despite City’s Ban On Events

by Gary Leff

Apr 18 2020

While hotel chains have been good about allowing cancellations of non-refundable, non-changeable consumer bookings, this flexibility has not been extended to events in most cases. Most hotels seem to be asking event hosts to reschedule for a future date, not cancel, and are reluctant to return deposits.

Some hotels are asking event organizers to cough up cash for events that aren’t happening.

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As Hotels Struggle, One Chain Markets Rooms As An Escape From Your Spouse During Lockdown

by Gary Leff

Apr 18 2020

Facing an unprecedented downturn, hotels are struggling to stay afloat. Some are turning to unconventional means to fill rooms, like providing luxury quarantine services or serving the homeless at risk for infection.

One furnished apartment chain based in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo is taking a different route: they’re marketing themselves as an escape for spouses at wits end with their partners during the lockdown and the perfect antidote to ‘corona-divorce’.

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