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Where Will We Be Able To Travel That’s Safe This Summer And Fall?

by Gary Leff

Apr 19 2020

Until there’s a vaccine life may not return truly to normal. We may be asked to social distance. We may be asked to wear masks. And many countries may have restrictions in place on who can visit, and what documents are required to do so.

However the world will – hopefully – begin returning to some semblance of normal in the coming months, having bought time to expand testing, expand health care capacity to deal with a potential influx of patients, and perhaps most importantly doctors and researchers will have learned much about how to treat patients with the virus.

Where will be safe to go? Where will we be able to go?

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As Hotels Struggle, One Chain Markets Rooms As An Escape From Your Spouse During Lockdown

by Gary Leff

Apr 18 2020

Facing an unprecedented downturn, hotels are struggling to stay afloat. Some are turning to unconventional means to fill rooms, like providing luxury quarantine services or serving the homeless at risk for infection.

One furnished apartment chain based in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo is taking a different route: they’re marketing themselves as an escape for spouses at wits end with their partners during the lockdown and the perfect antidote to ‘corona-divorce’.

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Europe May Ban Visitors Until September; Australia Through End Of The Year

by Gary Leff

Apr 13 2020

It will take some time before international travel comes back in more than a limited way. Countries won’t open their borders all at once, and may impose quarantines or restrictions on entry with greater health checks initially when they do. More onerous procedures will mean less travel overall and fewer flights.

Europe is talking about limiting entry through September, including an especially from the United States, while Australia may not even let its citizens leave their country this year.

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How Much Does The Value Of a Frequent Flyer Mile Change During The Current Crisis?

by Gary Leff

Apr 11 2020

These are the broad factors need to be taken into account when estimating the change in value of a mileage currency, and they’re likely to apply differently to each program based on, among other things, the tendency to print miles and the financial stability of the program in uncertain times.

We need to be thinking about how much we value miles – and how much they need to change – recognizing that there are forces pushing the value both up and down at the same time.

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China’s Wuhan Airport Has Now Re-Opened

by Gary Leff

Apr 08 2020

Wuhan Tianhe International Airport is 16 miles from the city center of Wuhan, capital of the Hubei province. As the epicenter of the initial COVID-19 breakout, it has been shut down since January 23. The airport was disinfected on Friday.

The airport, which is a focus city for China Eastern, China Southern, and Air China, re-opened today. It has historically had non-stop flights to New York, San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Paris, Dubai, Sydney and other destinations in Europe and Asia.

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Hyatt Extends Flexible Booking Policy Through June 30

by Gary Leff

hotel lobby
Apr 02 2020

Hyatt has extended their coronavirus travel waivers so that prepaid bookings remain refundable through June 30. This matches a move already made by Hilton and Marriott.

There are, however, no new World Of Hyatt updates. So points are still set to expire again starting in June, elite status has only been extended for Asia Pacific members (who are not at this point in the epicenter of virus spread), and free night certificates have not been extended at all and continue to expire (although you should be able to convert expired certificates into points).

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