Sunday morning 185 baby turtles were found wrapped in plastic inside a red suitcase at the Baltra airport in the Galapagos Islands. The passenger and his luggage were bound for Guayaquil, Ecaudor.
These animals were declared as ‘souvenirs’ but were discovered going through x-ray. Sadly, 10 of the tortoises had already died. An additional five died on Monday. The rest “were not in good health.”
With the CDC continuing to recommend against non-essential travel during the pandemic – even for those that have been vaccinated, despite their own science – a reporter asked the White House Press Secretary whether that guidance applies to the President and Vice President.
Jen Psaki said that it does not. Her reasons why are revealing.
We already know that approved vaccines are highly effective protecting you against Covid-19, especially for serious cases. We now have great data showing they protect others from you as well. In other words – if you’re vaccinated you aren’t just preventing yourself from getting sick, you’re preventing yourself from being a carrier of the virus too.
The Biden administration is driving a project to introduce vaccine passports, which could be used not just for travel but also for return-to-work and attending events.
While many countries will require proof of vaccination for entry, it’s entirely unnecessary for domestic use since by the time it’s introduced everyone who wants a shot will already have protection – and the compromises necessary for the passport project will render them next to useless.
Want to change your flight, change your seat, or try to score an upgrade? You won’t be able to use an American Airlines gate-side kiosk to do it anymore starting April 1.
American Airlines reports internally that its online sales volumes are nearly back to 2019 levels, which were record-setting. They’re seeing the strongest revenue performance they’ve had since before the pandemic.
And last week they filled nearly 80% of their seats systemwide, which for an airline is nearly completely sold out.
Southwest Airlines has placed a huge a huge new Boeing 737 MAX order: 100 Boeing 737 MAX 7 aircraft, Southwest also converted 70 MAX 8 orders to MAX 7 orders, and added 155 options for MAX 7 or 8 aircraft.
This is huge for Southwest – but especially for Boeing.
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.
Taiwan has a strategic interest in closer security ties with the U.S. Seeking cooperation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security advances that interest. So does adding flights between Taiwan and the U.S. ahead of real passenger demand, which will mean fare deals and award availability.
Whether or not Taipei gets a preclearance facility depends largely on U.S. judgments about its relationship with China.
What if it’s immoral to travel even though it’s safe? An epidemiology professor argues one reason that the CDC hasn’t changed its guidance to allow vaccinated people to travel is it’s inequitable, it creates haves (vaccinated) and have nots (unvaccinated) and that’s morally wrong. In other words, you shouldn’t take advantage of being vaccinated because you’re privileging yourself over others,
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 »
