Platinum Pro members can have choose a confirmed international upgrade, miles and other choices – and get new higher-tier oneworld alliance benefits. Executive Platinums can choose several options like miles and a club membership instead of confirmed upgrades if they’d like – and get the Platinum Pro choice, too.
Airline mask rules are likely to be watered down by a new executive order, but may last longer than they would have if left up to airlines.
SpaceX launched its Starship SN8 prototype today and flew it to 40,000 feet. It appeared to be a successful test. Elon Musk had given a 1 in 3 chance of the rocket landing in one piece, and the odds worked against him. This was an uncrewed mission so nobody was harmed.
Sandra Jeenie Kwon is a former Emirates flight attendant with over 180 million likes on TikTok and with four million followers across social media platforms (here’s her instagram. At times she’ll post several videos a day, acting out the funny behaviors of passengers, and of cabin crew.
Here she acts out when a cabin crewmember finds a passenger attractive…
Is it time to stop traveling given the Covid-19 wave we’re experiencing in the United States? There are certainly many people who shouldn’t travel right now, and many places where there’s not much to do. But those who have already had the virus, and those who will soon have been vaccinated, are probably ok to travel. And many travelers are more responsible than non-travelers. The focus should be on how to be responsible rather than moralizing against all travel, telling people to stay home so then they gather with their neighbors locally.
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.
Officers found shell casings and a bullet hole in the door. The man was in critical condition. 25 year old Chicagoan Ann Marie was charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Her 2019 album was “Pretty Psycho.”
Thailand has managed the Covid-19 pandemic well. Despite identifying early cases outside of China at the start of the pandemic, the country hasn’t seen significant virus activity and 90% of cases have been asymptomatic.
The country has been among the most closed to tourism, like much of Asia, but they’re now offering special tourist visas to people from all over the world – there’s a process to jump through and quarantine on arrival, but it’s now possible for Americans to visit.
Hyatt has reduced the qualification requirement for top tier Globalist status from 60 nights to 30 nights for 2021.
You can get double the annual elite nights from a new Hyatt card, stays in January and February count double, and award nights – which start at just 5000 points – count too. Plus Hyatt is rebating points spent on redemptions. You can earn top tier elite status and come out ahead on points.
What this also allows United to do over time is have fewer agents, or at least fewer agents per passenger. Instead of having agents deployed at airports across the terminal in case customers need them, and having down time throughout the day, they can locate agents centrally and optimize staffing based on predicted needs.
That makes this the perfect ‘United under Scott Kirby’s leadership’ initiative: it fosters on-time performance while reducing cost.
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 »
