Texas is experiencing a weather event it hasn’t seen in a generation. We don’t do single digit temperatures, negative wind chills, and significant snow. The problem compounded when the state’s electric grid couldn’t handle demand. Freezing temperatures took some power generation offline (due to frozen natural gas pipes) at a time when everyone cranked up their heat.
Local residents without power are complaining about hotel price gouging.
Are there risks to using a dental appointment confirmation email to circumvent travel restrictions? Just show up for your appointment while on vacation. Those who use the dental loophole, and prepay might as well get a cleaning out of it rather than no-showing, even though “current law permits travelers to be charged only at the point they attempt the overseas journey, not after the fact.”
Ten of the top twenty airports in the world for departing seat capacity this week are in China,. Some of the busiest airports in the world may be places you haven’t heard of or at least, couldn’t place precisely on a map like Hangzhou, Chongquing and Kunming.
For all of China’s dominance here in Covid times around Chinese New Year the busiest airport in the world for domestic flying is still Atlantaa – and by a lot (17% ahead of the number two airport). Middle seat blocking helps here (Delta is flying more seats than they are selling) but Delta has retrenched to Atlanta to a large degree and it skews as a domestic hub even during normal times.
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The busiest international airports by seat capacity in the world right now are all in the Mideast: Dubai, followed by Doha and then Istanbul. All of the world’s top international airports have seen an increase in seats offered this week compared to last week.
The top 20 international airport whose international seat capacity has dropped the least year-over-year is Cancun. North America close-in leisure travel to warm weather destinations has fared relatively best during the pandemic.
Alaska no longer requires a negative Covid-19 test to avoid quarantine on arrival, however they encourage testing: Alaskans already had no cost testing, that’s now available to visitors too.
Two guys started the United States Mask Company in the fall, set up a factory and got NIOSH certification for their N95 masks. They’ve manufactured 200,000 masks but haven’t been able to sell them. How can you make money manufacturing masks when you can now buy Made in the U.S. N95s on Amazon for $1.16 each with free shipping?
Alaska is no longer blocking seats in first class, or in regular coach. And they’ve taken baby steps at re-opening first class confirmable upgrade (“U” bucket) inventory. Here’s the current upgrade philosophy at Alaska Airlines.
The federal government committed $65 billion in grants and subsidized loans to airlines in 2020, and is now considering a third bailout. While the funds were marketed as protecting jobs, only about one eighth of the second bailout actually went to pay workers who had been furloughed (and airlines that never furloughed anyone received billions).
After bailouts during the Great Recession there was a national conversation recognizing that bailed out companies weren’t really private enterprises and the need to make sure bailouts never had to happen again.
Lavatory ice (‘blue juice’) isn’t the only snow that planes cause to descend from the sky. When aircraft descend through below-freezing temperatures and high relative humidity (saturated air), they can create snow. Planes aren’t causing snowstorms – just a localized event – but under the right conditions they do cause snow to form and fall to the ground.
This requires water vapor that’s below freezing but that doesn’t form ice crystals because it lacks the particulates on which to freeze.
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 »
