Here’s your weekly roundup of the stories. . .big and small. . .that caught our eye this past week. For your weekend review:
This week’s developments are related to President Biden’s executive orders concerning travel. The order he signed will impact travel in several ways, but these four points rise to the top:
- Federal mask mandate: Masks will now be mandatory on all modes of interstate travel. . .plane, train, boat and bus. This is not a big change, since each of those carriers have had a mask requirement in place, but the federal mandate will also cover visitors to national parks, monuments and buildings. Presumably, that would include museums like the Smithsonian, the National Art Gallery and any other federally owned venues.
- International travelers to the US will be required to have a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of departure in order to get a boarding pass. This requirement includes US residents returning home. This mandate goes into effect on Tuesday, January 26. If you will be affected by this new requirement, it will be important to determine the availability of PCR testing near your point of departure.
- Additionally, international travelers to the US will be required to quarantine for seven days upon arrival. How this will work is unclear; various government agencies have until February 4 to finalize how this requirement will be carried out. This particular provision appears to be pretty fluid for now, including the length of the quarantine period.
- The order establishes a framework for some sort of “vaccine passport” that would allow travelers to show proof that they have received one of the vaccines. This is a developing story and will probably not be finalized for at least a month, if not longer.
If you’re traveling internationally in the next few weeks, it will be essential to stay on top of these evolving requirements. We’ll try to keep you up to date on changes. . .we’ve used several sources to learn about these changes, including The Points Guy https://thepointsguy.com/news/breaking-president-biden-to-require-quarantine-for-international-travel-masks-on-planes/?utm_source=TPG%20Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1924396&utm_usr=557c74c44e56e69989e09769c9f644d073e59796761952dcb04c1703f5b39a77&utm_msg=9df8105938484cb38caae9f8a1f8cd21&utm_date=2021-01-22), CNN Travel (https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/travel-us-mask-mandate-biden/index.html and Travel & Leisure https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/international-travel-to-us-covid-19-test-cdc.
Now, onto some of the other stories you might have missed:
Armchair trip of the weekend: Visit the Sistine Chapel, including areas you can’t actually visit in person http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/tour-virtuali-elenco.html
Here are some of the destinations travelers are looking at when they’re ready to go https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/advice/2021/01/22/post-pandemic-travel-readers-plan-trips-hawaii-thailand-france/4235928001/
Back to the Future: From Airship to Zeppelin, will we be traveling by blimp? https://www.fodors.com/news/airlines/blimp-travel-might-be-making-a-comeback-soon-seriously
Credit Card sign-up bonus of the week: 100,000 Membership Rewards Points for The Platinum Card from American Express https://www.uscreditcardguide.com/amex-platinum-card/
Cave Hotels? I guess it’s better than a tent https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdobson/2021/01/18/cozy-quarters-inside-12-of-the-most-amazing-cave-hotels-in-the-world/?sh=658b62cc167f
Itching to hit the slopes? Not sure there’s a better place than Colorado https://www.afar.com/magazine/where-to-go-skiing-and-snowboarding-in-colorado
Positive Impact Travel: https://www.afar.com/magazine/how-to-be-a-better-traveler
Video snippets from around the world: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/walking-around-in#intcid=_conde-nast-traveler-verso-hp-trending-default_3be05158-ab3e-4f4b-93e5-d9d9b6ce3ef0_cral2-2
Want to learn about Italian wines? Check out Sip Trip, Jeff Porter’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJArLWnbfh8yKKgx1PSAj0g
Blog recommendation of the week: https://roadsandkingdoms.com/ Great stories from all over the globe.