Greece is already open to Americans. France says it is opening June 9. Spain has said it is opening. Now the European Union has come to an agreement to accept vaccinated visitors this summer, and this is expectted to be passed by member states. The specific re-opening date when Americans will be able to enter without a Covid-19 test or quarantine remains to be set, as countries determine how they plan to verify vaccination.
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory – the same people who brought you millimeter wave scanners at TSA checkpoints – are developing a new scanner so you won’t have to take off your shoes at airport security.
This project blasts these same millimeter waves at your feet, cutting down on the shoe carnival for flyers who lack precheck and reducing the time in line for passengers that no longer have to take their shoes off and put them back on.
15 properties that were not included in Marriott’s list of changes for 2021 went up or down in category.
They went up some time between the list’s publication and now, with 11 of the 15 going up in category (charging more points for hotels despite the pandemic’s historic blow to travel) and 4 hotels going down in category.
American Airlines reports they are “investigating” a pilot for his comments on social media and on a podcast about a diversity curriculum for his local Dallas-area school district.
The pilot has blasted the curriculum online, and the Southlake Anti-Racism Coalition which supports it. They, in turn, went to American Airlines claiming their employee is harassing them and sought to cancel him.
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.
At the beginning of the month I reported that Hilton had raised the top price of an award night to 150,000 points and that this applies only to the Waldorf Astoria in the Maldives. Some redemption nights there are 120,000 points, however.
When this was discovered there were no redemption nights available at all. Even with the higher pricing it wasn’t possible to spend Hilton points for a standard room, and could only use ‘points as money’ to book rooms based on the prevailing room rate (which can cost over a million points per night). All of a sudden that’s changed so act fast.
British Airways has a new nap lounge called Forty Winks” which opened on Monday in the First Class lounge at London Heathrow airport, which is currently open to business class passengers as well, and will also be a feature in London’s Concorde Room and at New York JFK.
Their sleep pod with Restworks (so there’s a revenue stream) feature “the world’s first chair designed exclusively for power napping.”
You’re either going to think this is awesome, and can’t wait to try this on your next American Airlines flight – or you’ll be appalled and finally agree with the Dallas-based airline that seat back video is a relic of the past, and applaud their decision to remove screens from their narrowbody aircraft.
Even as the world opens up, Covid-era travel remains complicated. The rules for travel are constantly in flux, and different everywhere you go.
Changing testing requirements actually forced an airline’s crew to spend a night in their Boeing 737, and fly home the next day without passengers or cargo.
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.
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 »
