The Islamic State Central Africa Province hasn’t announced any plans for rebuilding of the resorts they’ve burned down, or a path re-opening to tourists during the pandemic.
A passenger and flight attendant on Spirit Airlines got into an argument over whether the passenger’s mask constituted a ‘mask’. The flight attendant offered the passenger a ‘real mask’- instead of an American flag gaiter – which they refused to wear. Police were contacted to meet the plane.
The most 2020 thing ever is a debate over what the word ‘mask’ means on a commercial aircraft.
New York City’s council passed a law allowing restaurants to add up to a 10% ‘Covid surcharge’ for eat-in dining. Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to sign it. It is stupid. Restaurants can already raise their prices.
This accomplishes two things: it lets restaurants charge a higher price than they advertise on their menus, and since customers are willing to pay a certain amount for their meal the surcharge reduces tips. It shifts income from restaurant workers to owners.
Kosher Arabia should be up and running in January, and will serve Emirates as well as other airlines operating from Dubai. The Dubai-based carrier will no longer have to use a contract caterer to source Kosher meals. Emirates is even exploring opening Kosher restaurants both in Dubai and throughout the region.
For anyone not dedicated to the destruction of Israel, I think, this seems unambiguously a good thing – at least as long as Emirates doesn’t displace some of its fine wines with Manischewitz.
Capital One has temporarily introduced redemption of Venture and VentureOne Miles for restaurant delivery, takeout, and streaming service spend. You can apply statement credits with your points at full value, as you would have for travel purchases. That’s great strategy to encourage cardmember retention and spending, to help customers conserve cash, and to benefit local restaurants that are struggling.
Capital One and Amazon are offering a first-use promotion of $20 off $80 for Capital One cardmembers who have never used their miles or cash back to shop at Amazon.com.
You wouldn’t buy the basic economy tickets airlines were selling, but they’re going to take your money anyway.
President Trump’s Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said on Friday that not giving airlines another $25 billion, after providing $25 billion in payroll support and another $25 billion in subsidized loans, is akin to punishing them:
Chase has one of the most lucrative credit card offers we’ve seen for the premium Southwest Airlines business card. It’s a great card as I’ll show you in a moment but let’s first look at the initial bonus offer for the card, meant to make a really big splash and it does with up to 100,000 points as an initial bonus, which in 2020 is enough to earn a Companion Pass. When you earn the bonus you have enough points for a Companion Pass even under standard rules that return in 2021.
Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal, known for its cheap business class fares, has deals right now from the U.S. to Europe starting at just $82 one way and $229 round trip. And that’s not just East Coast to Europe, but even from San Francisco as well.
And while most people in the U.S. cannot travel to most destinations in Europe now, at least without quarantining on arrival (U.K.), this fare is available through next summer and at these prices it may be worth taking a flyer.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
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 »
