Tag Archives for coronavirus.
Research shows us that the ban on travel from China by non-U.S. residents didn’t work. I had thought it came too late because the virus was already here, but looking at details of the virus itself it appears that wasn’t true. The virus cases that actually spread came after the ban. So the ban didn’t work.
A new investigation shows why the travel ban failed, and it isn’t the partisan reasons many people think.
Disney has been using Star Wars storm troopers to enforce social distancing requirements and compliment guest on their face masks at the Disney Springs shopping and dining complex near Disney World, which re-opened May 20. The characters “tell people to ‘stay in your sector’ and ‘move along.’”
This “could indicate how the theme park plans to utilize its colorful cast of characters to enforce safety measures” as theme parks prepare to re-open.
The country is especially cautious letting people in, because that risks re-igniting the virus. However there are Chinese nationals looking to return home. This is the story of what it’s like to fly today from Los Angeles to Beijing. Except you can’t actually fly to Beijing. Air China’s CA988 has actually been landing in neighboring provinces – either Shijiazhuang or Tianjin – for quarantine.
This trip cost $4900 one-way in coach on Air China, plus $1400 for hotel and food during a 14 day stay prior to release.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis Hawaii has mixed a legitimate desire to keep cases out of the islands and prevent spread with a fear and even hatred of outsiders.
Now there’s a move to keep tourists segregated in resort areas and keep them out of Hawaiian neighborhoods that want to keep those neighborhoods only for locals. This is also protectionism for hotel owners.
You might actually catch the virus while you’re traveling. And if you do you’re faced with an unexpected situation. You’re going to need to quarantine. That may mean a couple of extra weeks on the ground with lodging and meals, and changes to your onward or return flights. You may need additional medical care.
If you travel to Cyprus and catch COVID-19, Cyprus will cover all of your expenses. That should make it easier to visit with confidence. But isn’t this just an invitation for anyone with the virus to travel to Cyprus and have all their expenses covered..?
For people not quite ready to go back to the way things were, there’s a restaurant that’s opened for only one guest a a time. In the middle of a field.
When a guest arrives they’re “greeted with a sign and a rope.” The rope leads to a table in the middle of a meadow. The restaurant asks you for a list of your closest friends, and they solicit a note from someone you know. The note is at the table, so the meal begins with ‘social interaction’.
Greece will begin opening to tourists June 15 and then open up to the world starting July 1. And once you can enter Greece, you can probably visit most of Europe.
And with no more than the possibility of random coronavirus testing, there won’t be many hurdles to visiting – although that doesn’t offer the assurance that everyone else you encounter has been tested.
There are two ways travel can spread the virus. Both are manageable at this point. Europe’s CDC has brand new recommendations for re-opening travel.
Ultimately “ask[ing] the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security to come up with new protocols for security, boarding and other routines to minimize risk” will be health security theater, more designed to make people feel like the government is doing something to protect them than actually doing something to protect them, an airline marketing expense as it were.
We’ve seen social shaming of airlines for failing to block middle seats. Oddly people are shocked there would be others sitting near them on a plane. They’re surprised the airline was selling them a ticket and selling tickets to other people, too.
A new front in the traveler shock and frustration over crowding in the coronavirus era is the airport security checkpoint, which became a big deal today at the end of a three day weekend despite travel still being down over 80%.
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 »
