Tag Archives for coronavirus.
Cambodia will make you put down a $3000 deposit on arrival not just for required COVID-19 testing, and for costs associated with required quarantine, but also to cover your required cremation should you die in one of their hospitals.
We know now, or at least the latest science leads us to believe, that masks really can make a difference controlling spread of SARS-CoV-2.
The FAA and TSA can’t legally mandate mask wearing. Airlines are mandating them, but not enforcing the mandate. Many airlines are handing out masks for free already. However FEMA went out and purchased 100 million masks for passengers at airports and transit stations.
Fridays and Sundays are still big travel days. Wednesdays are still slow. And Thursdays – traditionally strong, especially late in the day – aren’t coming back yet because that’s the end of the consultant business week and business travel isn’t returning any time soon.
Seeing the bounce off the bottom has led to a great deal of optimism – too much optimism – about how quickly travel will return.
Hawaii has extended its required 14 day quarantine for arriving visitors through the end of July. That means it’s effectively off-limits to tourism until at least August.
They can’t ban travelers from coming to the islands, but they can require quarantines once they land. So for Hawaii ‘re-opening’ means lifting of quarantine requirements. Here’s what the state plans to do before that happens.
I wouldn’t hesitate to spend time in the Maldives. And at present there’s very little confirmed spread of the virus in the country. My approach would be this: be prepared (and be prepared to fund) a longer stay if something went wrong. And if you’re in an especially vulnerable group, for instance over 60 with pre-existing conditions, consider staying home.
It makes no sense to ban travel from places where virus spread has slowed to a much lower pace than it’s already circulating here, especially when we’re not banning travel from some of the places in the world where the virus is spreading fastest.
The China travel ban failed because the CDC blew its implementation and the Europe travel ban came too late. Those were policies that might have helped if implemented at the right time and in the right way back in January and February. But they no longer make sense in June.
As properties re-open in Las Vegas it looks like there’s a new opportunity for a surprise ‘gotcha,’ a COVID-19 surcharge. When destinations around the world that have re-opened, or that are looking to, are practically paying you to come, we’re starting to see extra charges not listed on the menu show up on bills in Las Vegas.
And yes – it’s identified as a “COVID-19 crisis” surcharge.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is against social distancing on planes and won’t block middle seats. The airline offers hand sanitizer and masks, but doesn’t want to make passengers wear them.
I wish I knew who created this video, but it’s a brilliant send up of the Qantas approach
IATA, the world airline trade association, has an interactive chart you can click through to see the current COVID-19 travel restrictions that each country has in place. I’ve definitely bookmarked it.
United is instituting a new requirement for passengers to fly starting Tuesday, June 9. Everyone traveling on United will be required to complete a health screening as part of the check-in process, and confirm that they’re willing to wear a mask.
Under United’s new coronavirus rules I’m unlikely to ever be eligible to fly.
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 »
