Airport Security Becomes Social Distancing Nightmare As Travelers Crowd Checkpoints On Memorial Day

by Gary Leff

May 25 2020

We’ve seen social shaming of airlines for failing to block middle seats. Oddly people are shocked there would be others sitting near them on a plane. They’re surprised the airline was selling them a ticket and selling tickets to other people, too.

A new front in the traveler shock and frustration over crowding in the coronavirus era is the airport security checkpoint, which became a big deal today at the end of a three day weekend despite travel still being down over 80%.

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U.S. Airlines Are Now Pawns In The President’s Re-Election Saber Rattling Against China

by Gary Leff

china memorial
May 25 2020

Delta and United are looking to restart flights to China. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is largely under control there. It is home to several important business markets. Delta owns a stake in China Eastern and has viewed Shanghai as a hub, while for United the country is their sixth largest international market. (For American, despite owning a stake in China Southern, the country has mostly been a place to light cash on fire.)

However they’re caught up in escalating tensions between the U.S. and China and the President’s re-election strategy.

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Hotels Cut Amenities To Pay For Cleaning

by Gary Leff

May 25 2020

Expect hotels to look at ways to cut costs anywhere they can and to use coronavirus as an excuse. Even better when changing consumer preferences make it easier to impose cost savings. Several chains already say they’re trying to make their increase investments in cleaning cost-neutral.

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The Latest on Chase’s 5/24 Rules for Getting Rewards Credit Cards

by Gary Leff

credit card with chains wrapped around it
May 24 2020

May 4th is Star Wars Day (“May the Fourth Be With You”). It’s easy to forget in the middle of a global pandemic that today – May 24th – is Chase Day because of the importance of 5/24 in whether you’ll be approved for a rewards credit card. In most cases you can only get approved if you’ve had fewer than 5 new credit card accounts in the last 24 months.

I’ve talked about this guideline in the past. If you’re already an expert on this, stop here, but 5/24 is important enough in signing up for credit cards and there are enough new readers that it is worth going over.

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