Much like in the U.S., Dutch mask mandates are falling away everywhere… except on airlines and in airports. So four Dutch airlines led by KLM have decided this is so stupid, they’re just going to stop enforcing it starting March 23.
British Airways, meanwhile, announced an end to their mask mandate – but reportedly has told crew the rule remains in place definitely anyway.
The federal transportation mask mandate was extended through April 18 for no good reason, other than political fear from the Biden administration (that some new variant would come along) and political opportunism (they weren’t yet ready to declare victory and removing the ban will be useful as part of that).
The Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate has now voted 57-40 to overturn the transportation mask mandate. Here’s what to expect,
I’ve never realized that Marriott Bonvoy has a set of ‘supplemental’ terms and conditions and that benefits are completely different at all-inclusive properties. In typical Marriott fashion they’re complicated, because they do not apply to all all-inclusives. Instead these ‘special’ terms apply to new all-inclusives that are not part of a legacy brand, and not to Westins and Marriotts et al that happen to be all-inclusive.
Outgoing American Airlines CEO Doug Parker spoke at the JP Morgan Industrials Conference today and suggested that since he’s leaving and won’t be responsible for results after this quarter, he shouldn’t talk about American’s future forecasts. Instead he talked about the airline industry – and revealed something about his own investing in competitor stocks.
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.
American Airlines frontline and line maintenance employees work off of Apple iPhone and iPad devices. These are costly – so they’ve notified flight attendants just what happens if they lose their phone either by accident or if their phone is stolen.
The bottom-line is that cabin crew face discipline up to termination for misplacing or damaging their iPhones. And the airline will presume any claim of theft is untrue unless the flight attendance can, in effect, solve the crime.
A Captain for Russian government-owned low cost carrier Pobeda, a subsidiary of Aeroflot, demonstrated real bravery by announcing to his flight that his government’s invasion of Ukraine is a crime and must be stopped. Caveating that he was speaking for himself and not the airline that had brought passengers to Antalya, Turkey, he asked passengers to do everything they could to bring the war to an end. Passengers cheered.
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.
British Airways has followed the lead of some other U.K. carriers in announcing the end of its mask mandate effective March 16, except where they’re required to continue imposing one such as flights to the U.S. and to Italy.
Most Turkish Airlines routes between the U.S. and Istanbul are wide open for business class award redemption between October and January – for four or more passengers! – with some routes having availability starting in May.
Turkish is a Star Alliance airline, which means you can use United miles to book. Or you can transfer Citi, Bilt, or Capital One points directly to Turkish for some amazing award pricing. You can also transfer from Chase to Aeroplan or United, Amex to ANA, Avianca or Aeroplan, or Citi, Brex, or Capital One to Avianca as well.
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 »
