Happy Canada Day and 4th of July Weekend (the photo above is from 4th of July last year)! It’s the first year that I can remember where I won’t be celebrating with friends on the 4th and the first time I won’t be on the beach while home in California. I wouldn’t have gone to the beach this year even if L.A. County didn’t close them again for the weekend as it’s just too crowded.
It’s never a dull week (or day) in the U.S. and this week is no different. The major travel headline is that the EU officially banned U.S. travelers, which was no surprise (here’s my story) There’s a chance the decision may be reversed in 15 days but even if the Europeans or other countries allow us in, would you really want to take the chance of being stuck overseas? Some countries will be testing passengers for COVID-19 upon arrival and most, if not all, will be taking every arrival's temperature. What happens if you or someone on your flight tests positive? They’re not going to let you into their country without quarantining and no airline (or even a private charter, for that matter) will let you back on a plane to go back home. Where will you quarantine and who pays for it? Most travel insurance policies won’t cover it.
The 4 Airlines That Are Really Blocking the Middle Seats
I haven’t been on a plane since late February, which is by far the longest stretch I’ve gone in my adult life. Prior to this pandemic, it was three or four weeks so it’s abnormal for me to tell people to stay home. I would only get on a plane if I had to and if I did, it would most likely be on one of these four airlines. Yesterday, June 30, the TSA screened 500,054 individuals at security checkpoints. Last year, it was 2.3 million. However, on Sunday, June 28, there were 633,810 individuals screened, which is the largest number since March 19. But in 2019 on that same Sunday, there were 2.6 million.
It’s not that I don’t think planes are safe, I do, especially after doing a conference call with Boeing and interviewing an airplane cleaner on my new travel podcast. But I have no place to go (there are no work meetings or conferences to attend) and I can’t visit my family in NYC and Connecticut as there’s now a 14-day quarantine in place if you’re coming from one of the high-risk states like California. And I most certainly can’t go visit my dad in Florida, which I used to do every three weeks, since I can’t risk exposing him or his fellow residents in the senior home.
Flying would be much safer if everyone wore a mask but they’re not and some are even trying to pull out these fake Coronavirus exemptions cards, which is really disappointing. Hopefully, we will see some of our government officials change their tune after Goldman Sachs said a national mask mandate could save the U.S. economy $1 trillion dollars.
Since the virus is out of control in many states (one of my family members just contracted it), I’m staying close to home and it seems like I’m not the only one. Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s CEO, said this week he predicts less flying and more road trips for years to come. He went on to say, "People are not getting on airplanes, they’re not crossing borders, they’re not meaningfully traveling to cities, they’re not traveling for business."
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Travel news roundups (scroll down) Once again, there's a ton of travel news so I created separate posts for each category (air, cruise, domestic, international…) to help organize it. Below are links to most of the major travel industry stories, including AA joining United in its plans to fill flights to capacity and more.
Airline and airport news:
Cruise news:
International travel news:
Hotel and lodging travel news:
Miscellaneous travel news:
