Early in the Trump administration the U.S. banned electronics like laptops on board flights to the U.S. from certain locations. It was a dumb move that compromised airline safety, because when electronics in the cargo hold catch fire, that’s dangerous. When it happens in the passenger cabin it’s easy to contain.
That’s what yesterday’s Alaska Airlines flight 751 from New Orleans to Seattle reminds us as a cell phone caught fire in the cabin upon landing.
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 now has firm re-opening dates for the New York JFK Flagship business class lounges and first class dining rooms, and even an update on the orphaned Flagship Dining facility at LAX – as well as new celebrity chef cuisine for these lounges and new bath amenities.
Rudy Giuliani was caught shaving while eating at a table inside a Delta Air Lines lounge at New York JFK. Despite having rather nice restrooms – the normal place you’d shave in an airport – he chose to use the selfie camera on his iPad as a mirror and take breaks between soup and snacks to clean up his face. No one got close enough to verify whether his shavings got into the soup.
For September 7 through December 31, 2021 they’re running PowerUp which is double points for all members on all stays, and triple points for co-brand credit card members.
As Covid-19 cases surge once again the solution for Hawaii’s politicians is to blame and keep out foreigners (fellow citizens). Hawaii’s Governor David Ige is asking people to refrain from coming to the state.
As of today Gulf Air is a new mileage earn and burn partner of Air Canada Aeroplan. Gulf Air is Aeroplan’s 8th new airline partner in the last 14 months and the program says to expect “additional airline partners in the months ahead.” Those Amex and Chase points are getting more valuable thanks to Aeroplan transfers.
U.S. travel restrictions are for show. There’s a huge status quo bias in policy. Lifting restrictions looks ‘soft on Covid’ which is galling from an administration that was supposed to be ‘guided by science’ yet has been unwilling to reverse the policies put in place by the previous administration. These restrictions have real consequences separating families and raising the cost of doing business.
We now know that there were Covid-19 linked deaths in the U.S. as early as the week of January 5, 2020. That’s contemporaneous with China’s first reported death on January 9, 2020. And there were January deaths now attributed to Covid-19 in California, Georgia, Alabama, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.
Cases could have been brought here as early as November on flights from China.
Australia is caught in a bind. They managed the early stage of the pandemic well, so well that they’ve backed themselves into a corner haven’t had an end game. Lockdowns have increased, frustrations have grown, and citizens haven’t been able to travel abroad – and often even domestically – for a year and a half.
Against this backdrop Qantas has a new commercial: get vaccinated and maybe the government will let you leave the country. I cried watching this.
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 »
