John Kerry is a former U.S. Senator, former Secretary of State and former Democratic Presidential candidate. He is currently serving as United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.
And he was photographed in American Airlines first class on a Boston – D.C. shuttle flight not wearing a mask in apparent violation of the President’s – and the CDC’s – mask mandate. He wasn’t eating or drinking. He was reading a book.
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.
Iceland is opening its borders to vaccinated Americans tomorrow, but they won’t accept a CDC vaccination card as proof rendering the change problematic.
There’s clearly still a lot to work out in terms of the role that vaccination plays in re-opening international borders, and what proof will be accepted, however that Iceland is doing this – and doing it tomorrow – gives me hope that Greece’s plan to open to Americans this summer will hold, and that other countries will join as well.
Tuesday’s early morning San José, Costa Rica to Miami flight, American Airlines 1204, was delayed seven and a half hours for an unusual reason: the flight crew’s car to the airport was stopped on the road, and the flight attendants were robbed at gunpoint.
Already Wheels Up offers Delta miles for members joining or renewing with their jet card program, as well as SkyMiles elite status.
They plan to introduce benefits and offers to Delta 360, Diamond, and Platinum members and to offer SkyMiles redemptions for private jet travel.
Vaccines approved so far in the United States have been highly effective not just against preventing symptomatic infection but more importantly against severe Covid leading to hospitalization and death, and also – we are learning – against asymptomatic infection which means vaccination cuts down on spread of the disease. We just do not know how long this protection lasts because not enough time has passed yet to make this determination.
That’s a problem for policymakers as they consider whether to open up travel without testing or quarantine to those who have been vaccinated., so we don’t know how long ‘vaccine passports’ should be valid.
A group of identity thieves posed as Wu-Tang Clan to scam hotels out of more than $100,000. They also scammed a Rolls Royce. They stiffed The Georgian Terrace Hotel for $45,000 and Hyatt Regency Atlanta for $39,000. But they were no match for a suburban Fairfield Inn.
Award prices in British Airways Avios have increased without notice for flights up to 2000 miles.
The British Airways Executive Club pricing system is based on flight distance. Flights in the first 3 distance bands (1-650 miles; 651 – 1150 miles; 1151 – 2000 miles) have gone up by 750 Avios each way (1500 roundtrip).
JetBlue first announced they’d be flying to London two years ago. They have a brand new Airbus A321LR with new premium seats to carry passengers across the Pond. And they have landing slots in London.
However it wasn’t the slots they’d wanted. They couldn’t get into London Heathrow, and they weren’t given enough slots to operate their desired flights into Gatwick either. Three hints from JetBlue today – since removed – suggest this may all have changed.
After the January 6th riots at the U.S. Capitol, the FAA instituted a zero tolerance policy for inflight disturbances including failure to follow airline masking rules. These were temporary rules set to expire March 30, 2021. They have now been extended indefinitely, at least until the end of the mask mandate.
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 »
