Happy Sunday to all of our travel friends, both near and far. Here are some articles we’ve read from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, as well, so we’re passing them along.
- After seeing all of our travel plans for this summer, I couldn’t imagine planning another trip for a while. It’s been several months and I’d love to be spending time looking for flights and hotels, but our biggest trip has been an afternoon at the beach. While we’re not planning travel, many other people are. Just four days ago, I read this post about planning a summertime trip to Florida. To show how quickly things change, on that day Florida announced 5,511 positive coronavirus tests, which was 1,400+ more than any other day of the pandemic. On June 27th, Florida once again spiked to a new single-day record of 9,585 new cases. This caused a sudden closure of bars statewide, some beaches shutting back down and mandatory mask regulations. Maybe Florida might not be the best place to bring your family on vacation right now.
- Countries of the EU are looking to increase travel, just not from the USA, and they want to keep enforcing social distancing as much as possible. Italy is going one step further by banning baggage in overhead bins on flights to/from the country. In their minds, the time spent loading these bags increases how long you’re in close proximity to people around you. Airlines are encouraged to check bags into the hold for no-charge. The move surely isn’t going to go over well at Ryanair who flies extensively around Europe and has already claimed any effort to bring social distancing on airplanes will keep them from making money.
- While many premium credit cards added new bonus categories or credits to make up for the inability to use many of the card benefits during a global travel shutdown, the only change to the Citi Prestige was allowing you to spend your $250 travel credit at restaurants and supermarkets. Citi has finally added a bonus category, paying out 5x ThankYou points for online purchases until August 31st.
- We’ve come a long way since when airlines first required passengers to wear facemasks while on board. American Airlines made the news when they banned an activist passenger who refused to wear a facemask. It turns out American doesn’t automatically ban you from future flights for not masking up, you have to be a repeat offender.
- I remember that on our first flight on Alaska Airlines, our in-flight meal came with a prayer card. While we thought it was a stretch to assume everyone on the plane wanted to read a Psalm before eating their meal, things were different back then. Alaska stopped the practice in 2012, deciding that it was outdated. So how would you feel if in 2020, your airline gate agent said a prayer over the PA before your flight? I found Matthew from Live and Let’s Fly’s take on this issue to be spot on, looking at the action of the agent from several different perspectives.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
