I’ve written about buying N95 masks and using them correctly if you’re going to travel. They’ve been expensive, $3+ apiece. However for a traveler putting themselves in indoor congregant settings I think they’re worthwhile.
Quality masks have become much more available, and prices have come down a lot. Over the summer you might have spent $7 to get an N95 mask from the limited places where you could find them.
In 1989 David Hasselhof stood atop the Berlin Wall belting out “Looking for Freedom.” Less than a year later East Germans were finally free.
Thirty one years after David Hasselhof stood between East and West Berlin the East’s old airport finally became Berlin Brandenburg airport. It’s a costly reminder of East German-style planning, with workers still being harmed by the 23 year long project that more than tripled in cost.
Norwegian helped drive low cost transatlantic travel with its Boeing 787s, much to the chagrin of legacy carriers. British Airways even considered buying the airline in order to quash it as a competitor. Now it will focus on domestic and regional flying with its narrowbody aircraft.
None of this is surprising but it’s disappointing for consumers who benefited from the competition, whether they flew Norwegian or not.
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.
The government’s $900 billion Covid relief bill passed at the end of December included $15 billion to airlines, on top of the $50 billion provisioned to U.S. airlines as part of the original CARES Act.
This was pitched as payroll support, meant to cover the cost of the less than 40,000 people who were furloughed or laid off from U.S. carriers. In exchange for the money airlines have to bring these people back onto payroll through March 31, and pay them retroactively to December 1, 2020. American Airlines found a way not to do that with many of the employees they’ve laid off, however.
This new testing requirement isn’t going to control spread of the virus, which is already running rampant throughout most of the country. It isn’t going to stop entry of new variants of the virus, which are already here (and which we’re doing little tracking of in any case).
We need fewer barriers to low-cost at-home testing. We need greater tracking of new variants of the virus. We need more rapid approval and deployment both for Covid-19 treatments and vaccines. A travel ban that applies internationally, but that does nothing to limit spread via travel within the United States, at what’s likely the tail end of the pandemic is purely cosmetic but may have long-lasting consequences.
With the recent normalization of relations between Israel and both the U.A.E. and Bahrain, new airline flights have become possible. Dubai-based Emirates now even has a kosher kitchen, a result of its desire to fly Israeli passengers through its hub to the rest of the world.
This requires employees, though, to go along with the flights.
IHG Rewards Club has launched its first quarter promotion, reduced elite status requirements for 2021, rolled over 2020 to count towards earning status this year, and extended the pause on points expiration and the validity of free night stay certificates.
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.
Service Properties Trust, which owns 329 hotels across numerous brands, has had disputes with IHG and Marriott and is transitioning those properties to Sonesta Hotels where it’s a one-third owner. Hotel chains often guarantee minimum revenue to property owners, and Service Properties Trust had a dispute over those payments.
Hyatt hasn’t refused to make payment, but has reached its full $50 million guarantee on the 22 hotels under its Hyatt Place brand owned by the company. That gives Hyatt the right to terminate its agreement with 90 days’ notice. Hyatt sent this notice of termination which is effective April 8, 2021.
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 »
