Hotels Want To Take Your Money Without Even Having To Give You A Room

by Gary Leff

Mar 27 2021

The hotel industry is asking for a $15 – $29 billion bailout, with 40% earmarked for hotel investors to make mortgage payments to big lenders. This is being pitched as something that ‘goes well with infrastructure’ which the federal government is preparing to spend $3 trillion on. Of course, the hotel buildings already exist and aren’t new infrastructure.

The American Hotel and Lodging Association’s chief lobbyist complains, “You have whole segments of our industry that did not receive any financial assistance whatsoever.” It’s not fair that everyone else has been taking your money and hotels haven’t been able to do so yet.

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American Express Ends Print Editions of Departures and Centurion Magazines

by Gary Leff

Mar 26 2021

American Express will no longer publish Departures or Centurion magazines in print. They are in-sourcing both publications which will be available online only. Meredith Corporation, which had been publishing for American Express, has “laid off most of the staff and halted publication of the seven-times-a-year print titles.” According to American Express, We regularly evolve our premium card offerings and have made the decision to transition the Departures and Centurion US magazine benefits to a new digital-first editorial platform. The magazines used to be produced in-house by American Express Publishing, which was sold to Time in 2013 and then Meredith in 2018. The final print issue of Departures is May/June and the final Centurion Magazine is Spring/Summer. These print publications lasted longer than many, since they were reaching a highly targeted affluent cardmember audience. However they’re…

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Will A Federal Court Overrule Biden’s Transportation Mask Mandate?

by Gary Leff

Mar 26 2021

The holdings in two recent court rulings against the CDC’s eviction moratorium have caused questions about the legality of the Biden administration’s transportation mask mandate. The mask mandate goes beyond the specified example powers in the statute cited by CDC for its authority, and Congress may not have been able to delegate broader unspecified powers to the CDC even if it had wanted to.

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Thailand Approves Re-Opening Of Holiday Destinations To Vaccinated Travelers (But Wait To Book)

by Gary Leff

Mar 26 2021

Thailand has approved the re-opening of Phuket starting in July for visitors who have been vaccinated against Covid-19, provided that 70% of its population is also vaccinated. And “[b]y the fourth quarter, the quarantine waiver is expected to be implemented in five holiday destinations..”

Don’t go planning July travel to Phuket just yet.

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Spirit Airlines Flight Diverts After Passenger Tries To Exit Plane Mid-Air

by Gary Leff

Mar 26 2021

Wednesday’s Spirit Airlines flight NK185 from Cleveland to Los Angeles diverted to Denver after a passenger tried to open the emergency exit door of the Airbus A320.

The plane was pressurized. The passenger was never going to succeed. But he was ‘unruly’ and several other passengers on the plane held him down and zip tied him. When the plane made it to Denver the man was “wheeled out on a gurney by paramedics.”

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