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.
Australia sent soldiers to Afghanistan to rescue refugees and they aren’t being allowed to return home due to Covid-19 protocols. The country only allows a limited number of ‘state quarantine’ beds each day, there’s a give figure backlog of Australians who have been stranded abroad for the duration of the pandemic and have been reserving beds. As a result these soldiers are stuck in Dubai, waiting for “a special exemption to quarantine in the hotel system” from the state of Queensland.
Register by September 9 and then travel on Southwest Airlines by November 18, 2021 and you’ll earn a Companion Pass that will be valid January 6, 2022 through February 28, 2022.
That’s two months of companion pass for two one-way flights (that can be a roundtrip, of course). That companion pass means being able to take someone with you on your travels (whether paid or award) for just the cost of security taxes.
The man can be seen yelling in the galley, declaring “you can’t hold us!” The crewmember stands strong and the passenger returns to his seat while he moves his mask beneath his nose. Then things go off the rails in the second video, as the man appears maskless and growling while he struggles with his face covering, putting it over his eyes and chewing it.
Etihad doesn’t have a first class cabin on its Boeing 787-10 aircraft, though it still has these suites on some 787-9s. According to Etihad’s CEO this isn’t the end of first class on the airline but it’s being limited and de-emphasized. They’ll still operate planes with a first class cabin on routes where there’s historic paid demand for the cabin, though we’re already seeing last minute aircraft swaps where it’s scheduled for planes that do not offer the product.
Air India has had several rat incidents and recently a bat was found in business class.
Now an Air India Delhi – London flight had to be delayed as a swarm of ants were found in the business class cabin.
Amazon is now shipping packages for the US Postal Service and starting to roll out “logistics as a service” to companies in the U.S. and rolling out its lower-cost competitor to UPS and FedEx over the next year and a half.
There’s a new Chinese airline forming out of Hong Kong, expected to partially launch in four weeks, with an explicit aim of celebrating – and fostering – the turn of Hong Kong away from the west and towards the Chinese Communist Party.
Greater Bay Airlines plans to make its inaugural flight – a charter to Beijing – on October 1, the 72nd anniversary of the Community Party takeover of China.
Airport concessions can be high-priced. But the bigger challenge is that so many of them remain closed as concessionaires struggle to find employees (and the airport works hard to keep wages down). That means fewer places to buy snacks and long lines for the places that are open.
One man has stepped into the breach, sensing an entrepreneurial opportunity.
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 »
