Welcome aboard for a quick spin around the travel news globe. Here are this week’s highlights, starting with several Covid-19 related stories.
Spain, France and Denmark began welcoming tourists this week, joining a handful of European countries that are now open for international travel. Keep in mind that most of these countries do require a negative Covid-19 test within 2-4 days of arrival. And you’ll still need to have the same negative test within 72 hours of your return to the US.
The CDC reclassified 110 countries to a lesser risk status this week. Of note were Singapore, Israel, South Korea, Iceland, and Belize; all downgraded to the low Covid risk category Level 1. Barbados and Bermuda dropped to Level 2 moderate risk, and France, the Philippines, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Hungary, and Italy were all downgraded from the very high risk Level 4 to high risk Level 3. You can get a complete report here.
The first international cruise originating from North America set sail this week from St. Maarten, stopping in Aruba, Barbados and Curacao. Despite the fact that only fully vaccinated travelers were allowed to board, two guests tested positive (though asymptomatic) while on board. Read this post from a fellow guest detailing how the captain and crew of the Celebrity Millenium handled the situation. It’s not surprising that there were positives since the vaccines are 95% effective.
The TSA reported that they processed over two million passengers yesterday for the first time since March, 2020. . .a real milestone on the road back. But they’re also warning that staff shortages will translate into longer wait times and lines at US airports, so be sure to arrive a little earlier for your next flight. We just returned from a quick trip to Las Vegas (more about that next week in our travel report) and the lines we encountered seemed pretty similar to pre-Covid times.
If air travel is in your plans this year or next, we suggest you consider signing up for CLEAR at https://www.clearme.com/ CLEAR is a fast, touchless way to bypass all security lines at the airport. We used it for the first time last week, and it saved us ten to fifteen minutes of standing in the TSA Pre-Check line for each flight. You go to a CLEAR station, scan your eyeballs, and a CLEAR attendant verifies your identity and walks you to the front of the TSA Pre-Check line. We signed up online and had to finish our enrollment at the airport, which took about ten minutes. It’s not inexpensive. . .$179 per year plus $50 for each additional family member. You can get three free months to try it by using our code 21MDW8A1844 at clearme.com when you sign up. Please let us know if this code is still active.
When you do board your post-Covid flight, make sure to take along your own reading material. Most in-flight magazines have become Covid victims, with American Airlines’ “The American Way” magazine announcing this week that they have ceased publication.
The US-Canadian border remains closed to non-essential travel, but it appears that it will begin to open in early July, when Canada is projected to achieve their “75-20 goal”. That means 75% of vaccine-eligible Canadians with at least one shot and 20% fully vaccinated. But the easing of border restrictions will proceed slowly and cautiously, perhaps starting with allowing fully vaccinated Canadians to return home without quarantine. We’ll keep TET readers posted.
Following up on our special hotel report from last month, the FrequentMiler updated their listing of the best Hyatt hotels you can book with their certificates, based on reader feedback. We’d like to hear from each of you about the best hotel you’ve stayed in over the last few years. Please respond in the comments section below, and we’ll see suggest how you can get a free night for your next visit.
Your next hotel room in Versailles, France. Photo courtesy of Renee Kemps.
Here are a couple of spectacular hotels you might want to visit. The Airelles Château de Versailles, Le Grand Contrôle opened June 1 on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, just outside Paris. No word on whether guests are greeted with a slice of free cake. For $2,100 per night, it seems that’s the least they could do. Down island in St. Thomas, the Ritz Carlton has reopened after completing a $100 million renovation, turning it into a place fit for a modern-day king. You can take this video tour to see what they’ve done.
In the world of travel credit cards, Citi has largely remained on the sidelines over the last year as its rivals have boosted points earning multiples, benefits and sign-up bonuses. That changed this week with the introduction of the no annual fee Citi Custom Cash card, which gives its cardholders 5X points in the category with the highest spend each month, up to $500. This is a great way to rack up Citi’s valuable ThankYou points when you pair it with the Citi Premier or Prestige cards. Check the details out here.
No volcanic eruptions to report this week, but an eruption of another sort occurred this week when a lobster diver was “ejected” from the mouth of a humpback whale off the Cape Cod coast. Michael Packard, 56, from Wellfleet, Mass, estimated he had been in the pitch black of the whale’s mouth for about 30 seconds when his improvised internal Heimlich maneuver caused the whale to spit him back out. Our modern day Jonah survived the encounter with only minor injuries.
Michael Packard, offering a sacrificial lobster. Photo courtesy of Twitter.
Please remember to tell us about your best hotel encounter in the comments section below. Wishing you a great June weekend safely out of Moby Dick’s reach!
Really interesting post!