Travel to places where human rights aren’t fully respected entails risks. Those risks are on the rise in China for instance. I’ve enjoyed visiting Doha. The Museum of Islamic Art is absolutely worth the stop. But this incident certainly gives pause.
A London-based flight attendant who worked United Airlines flight UA15 from London Heathrow to Newark on Tuesday tested positive for Covid-19. That flight attendant quarantined at an airport hotel. Eight London crew were supposed to work United flight UA829 from Newark to Mumbai the next day. They were taken off that four-day trip. The next day, I’m told, four of the eight tried to deadhead back to London Heathrow the next day but the flight’s Captain refused to carry them as passengers. So they traveled back on Thursday. Others pass rode back to Europe.
I asked United why passengers from the flight weren’t notified of their exposure and why the other flight attendants were allowed to deadhead back to Heathrow rather than quarantining?
There were no drugs found. There was no evidence of wrongdoing other than carrying the cash itself which is perfectly legal. This was a domestic flight. But did you know you have to declare carrying cash greater than $10,000 when you leave the country – not just when you enter?
Nonetheless the American Airlines passenger won’t get their money back because they had the bad luck of connecting in Charlotte and because the government decided travel to California is presumptively tied to drugs.
One flight attendant asked American Airlines Senior Vice President of Flight Service Jill Surdek about the return of inflight service for premium customers after the American Airlines earnings call on Thursday. She said on board service would come back ‘slowly’.
Following the American Airlines third quarter earnings call on Thursday, senior executives held a ‘State of the Airline’ question and answer session with employees. One of the questions was about which businesses are traveling now?
American’s Chief Customer Officer Alison Taylor, who prior to this summer led sales for the airline, shared who their “largest customers at the moment” are.
American Airlines flight AA4194, an Eagle flight operated by American’s wholly-owned Envoy subsidiary, veered off the runway after landing on runway 6 in Freeport, Bahamas. The Embraer ERJ-145, registration N674RJ, originated in Miami. No one was hurt. There are reports of a collapsed gear.
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.
This past Tuesday American Airlines flight AA2248 from Dallas Fort-Worth to San Francisco was delayed when the pilot decided to turn the aircraft back to the gate and offload a woman who refused to wear a mask.
But this wasn’t just any woman and this wasn’t just a mask story.
China has made clear they may detain Americans in retaliation for the U.S. prosecuting Chinese scholars.
We have to be making progress when Costco.com is now selling a saliva PCR test online that promises results returned in 24-72 hours.
This isn’t available in Pennsylvania, Nevada, or Maryland, and they can’t ship to Puerto Rico. But it’s something you can buy from Costco as a one-off and you don’t even need to buy a pallet of tests. The price may work for a trip, but for return to normal life we really do need sub-$5 tests, which are certainly possible.
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 »
