European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Sunday that because the U.S. is using vaccines that are approved by the European Medicines Agency, the European Union will accept proof of vaccination to allow Americans to visit this summer, “because one thing is clear: All 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by E.M.A.”
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.
These are paper certificates that you have to mail in. American doesn’t actually issue the tickets until they receive and process the certificate. I was entitled to two companions at $99 plus tax, but American Airlines was overcharging the tax. Here’s how they took me for $21.
Washington National airport built an entire new concourse to replace one miserable gate. Gate 35X was a bus gate that served 14 remote stands for 50 seat regional jets. The new concourse, in contrast, supports 14 large regional jets.
Just after the opening of this new concourse for American Airlines flights, which will also feature an Admirals Club, American Airlines shared some construction updates with employees as part of a question and answer session on earnings call day last week.
An Alaska Airlines state senator who “has sparred with Alaska Airlines employees over the mask policy” since January has been banned from the airline – although apparently just for 30 days even though mask refusal is supposed to result in an indefinite ban, at least until the end of the mask requirement. It remains to be seen if a temporary suspension will be converted to a longer duration.
Lora Reinbold was recently fined $250 for refusing to properly wear a mask in the state capitol. On Thursday she was captured on video having a disagreement over keeping her mask above her nose at the Juneau airport before a flight to Anchorage.
Two premium services updates: American Airlines has no plans to return meal service up front to the way it was before the pandemic, instead working on “meaningful changes.” There are, however, 3 Admirals Clubs that will re-open in the next month.
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.
Marriott hotels – though not only Marriotts – ignore elite breakfast benefits because of Covid-19. In fact you now need to do a lot more research on hotels when considering a booking to find out whether they’re offering the facilities and services that you want and are paying for. No towels for the pool? Blame Covid.
Union boss Sara Nelson doesn’t want flight attendants working on flights because Covid. The CDC, apparently, needs to update its guidance on virus spread to include catching Covid-19 from aircraft galley ovens because the temperature of food is a risk – Nelson thinks flight attendants serving hot food is unacceptable in first class, but wrapped sandwiches are ok.
When parents travel with a child under two years old, the child doesn’t need their own seat. A so-called ‘lap infant’ travels free when flying domestically. In general for international travel the lap infant will need a ticket, and so the parents have to purchase an ‘infant fare’.
Fortunately as of April 23, 2021 American Airlines no longer requires customers to pay more for their infant ticket when they upgrade which can mean a savings of hundreds of dollars – and a lot of headaches since the process used to be confusing.
Mileage Plus founder Steve Grosvald writes in the comments of a post on the launch of American AAdvantage about the speed at which United built and rolled out it frequent flyer program i 1981.
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 »
