Here’s your weekly roundup of travel news. Slowly, more countries are beginning to welcome fully vaccinated visitors (FVV’s) without testing or quarantine. Right now, it’s just a trickle. . .but we think it will gain momentum soon as the world becomes comfortable with the protection of the vaccines. Joining Belize and Guatamala this week are Georgia, Iceland and Thailand. Greece announced plans to allow FVV’s to visit starting in mid-May. Another half dozen countries (Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovenia) are beginning to accept FVV’s, but US citizens are still not permitted.
While this is an encouraging development for travelers, the news is not all good from Europe. Several countries have recently implemented new lockdowns in an effort to combat a new wave of infections caused by the rapidly spreading variants of Covid-19. France, Italy, Greece and the UK are all locked down to some degree, as is much of the rest of the Continent.
Several studies are being conducted now to determine whether vaccinated people can continue to spread the disease. Those results will be the key to whether FVV’s will be free to travel to more of the world in the near future.
And now, the rest of the stories. . .
Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy, France, Photo by Okamatsu Fujikawa on Unsplash
When travel does open up again, expect a big crush of travelers in every popular destination around the globe. That will be a terrific time to visit some less popular but incredibly interesting locations where you won’t be swarmed. CNBC highlights seven such places worthy of consideration. Several of these are located in areas that TET subscribers listed in their Top Five travel destinations.
Armchair trip of the weekend: You are probably never going to climb Mount Everest. Especially now that you can experience it virtually, thanks to “Capturing Everest”, a joint production between Sports Illustrated and Endemol Shine Beyond USA. You’ll be climbing with Jeff Glasbrenner, who lost his leg in a tractor accident at the age of eight, and Lisa Thompson, a breast cancer survivor. Their expedition is best viewed through a virtual reality headset that will make you feel like you are there. Even without that, the footage is amazing, and you’ll come away with a new appreciation for overcoming challenges. Learn more about the backstory in this article from SI by Austin Murphy.
Nevado Tres Cruces, in Argentina’s Laguna Rosa (“the Pink Lagoon”). Photo by Adrian Rohnfelder.
While you’re still in armchair mode, you might want to check out a new photography book, “Volcanic 7 Summits · Dreams of the Unknown”, by Adrian Rohnfelder. The photos are breathtaking, and the stories behind them provide wonderful color. Here’s a review from Conde Nast Traveler, along with a few more pictures to tease your interest.
On the topic of volcanoes, here’s a trivia question for you: What is the highest volcano in the world? You’ll find the answer at the bottom of this post.
Our friends at Frequent Miler detailed a terrific airline miles redemption opportunity just this morning. . .round trip from New York JFK to Bogota, Colombia on Delta business class in lie-flat seats for just 26,000 miles, plus $79 in taxes. This is an example of the incredible value you can get from playing The Points & Miles Game. And remember, if you don’t have enough Delta miles to take advantage of this offer, you can transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards to Delta. Or if you have Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can book the flight through Chase, using points to pay the $439 cash price. Here are the details; if you’re interested, you should move quickly because these offers typically have a pretty short shelf life.
American Express announced some pretty juicy sign-up bonuses for its Marriott co-branded cards this week. Chief among them is for their premium Bonvoy Brilliant Amex card: 125,000 points after spending $5,000 within the first three months of opening your account, plus a $200 statement credit for spending at US restaurants within the first six momths of account opening. This is a great way to load up on Bonvoy points; you’d have at least 130,000 points added to your account, good for about two to five nights at one of the Marriott-branded hotels, depending on category. The card carries an annual fee of $450, but when you add that $200 US restaurant statement credit to its $300 annual statement credit for Marriott purchases, you’ve more than offset that fee. Check out the details in this article from The Points Guy.
Jale, Albania. Photo by Jo Arounding on Unsplash
You’ve heard us say it. . .“We’ll always have Albania.” One of the only countries that has remained open to US visitors throughout the pandemic, Albania is an ancient country located in the Balkans, directly across the Adriatic from the heel of Italy’s boot, and bordering Greece to the south. Although relatively small, Albania boasts wonderful beaches (the Albanian Riviera is a thing) as well as intimidating mountains. It’s very affordable, the people are by all accounts friendly and welcoming, and the food is delicious. After centuries of struggle under various foreign conquerors and rulers, Albania today has a thriving democracy and is considered quite safe. Learn more about what you can discover there in these travel guides, articles and blog posts:
- https://theculturetrip.com/europe/albania/articles/11-things-to-know-before-travelling-to-albania/
- https://www.afar.com/travel-tips/highlights-of-albania
- https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g294445-Activities-Albania.html
Here’s the answer to our earlier trivia question: The world’s tallest volcano, measured by height above sea level, is Nevado Ojos del Salado, the tallest peak in the picture above, in the Andes on the Argentina–Chile border at 22,615 feet. If you answered Mauna Kea in Hawaii, you would have a good argument: Mauna Kea’s summit is 13,796 feet above sea level, but it extends about 19,700 feet below the water’s surface to its base on the ocean floor. Taken together, that would make its total height approximately 33,496 feet, making it not only the tallest volcano, but the tallest mountain in the world, surpassing Mount Everest by almost a mile!
That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend, everyone, and here’s to getting those vaccines asap.
Photo by Jérémie Crémer on Unsplash