It was a cacophony of voices. We sat down for dinner this evening and we were talking about a return to our friends’ ranch in Colorado. It was a fun, light-hearted discussion. We haven’t been talking too much about travel because we’ve chosen to stay home, other than our RV adventures. Then, I asked the question that lit the fire. I looked at my kids and asked them, “Travel restrictions are lifted immediately, what’s the first place you’d want to go?” Not a single person hesitated. Even my wife jumped […]
Travelers To The US Will Be Required To Quarantine Upon Arrival
It was just last week that we learned a negative COVID-19 test result would be required for all passengers entering the US. This is applicable to US citizens and visitors alike, with airline crews one of the only groups largely exempted from the rule. Now, it appears that the United States will institute a requirement to quarantine upon arrival as well. There aren’t a ton of details on what the quarantine requirement will look like just yet. For better or worse, I expect it won’t be nearly as restrictive as […]
CONFIRMED: US Will Require Negative COVID-19 Test For Entry From International Flights
There’s a report on most of the major news sites right now indicating that The NY Times is reporting the US will require a negative COVID-19 test for all passengers entering the United States via plane from abroad. This would be a remarkable step. But it also may be a logical evolution of COVID-19 policy as it relates to travel. While we don’t have exact details, reports seem to indicate that this could go into place January 26, 2021. Honestly, if this is needed to stop the spread of the more […]
I Was In An Airport For The First Time In 9 Months This Week. It Was Odd.
It won’t be too much longer before I’ll be able to say it’s been an odd year of not boarding airplanes. As it stands today, that seems to be the earliest I could see myself getting on an airplane. However, I was in an airport yesterday, and it was definitely an odd experience. I wasn’t expecting to be, but I had to pick up a family member from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport yesterday. It wasn’t my wife or kids, so I wore a mask in the car and we […]
No Numbers: My 2020 Year In Review
This is about the time each year where I’d summarize how many miles I flew and how many nights I had at various hotel chains. Obviously, those numbers were way down this year. As I looked at friends summarize what their year in travel looked, I was a little surprised that I really had no motivation to look at the numbers. Initially, I thought that meant I wouldn’t bother with a year in review. But 2020 taught me that we can’t take things for granted. So, without numbers, I thought […]
Breaking Down The New Wyndham Rewards Earner Credit Cards
There’s a lot of discussion about credit cards in the travel blog space. Credit cards are how many (if not most) people earn miles and points to be able to take that dream trip. And, there are plenty of folks who sign-up for lots of credit cards for the welcome bonus without much regard to whether they’re going to keep the credit card long-term. I get it, but I don’t generally sign-up for a new credit card unless I see some sort of a long-term place in my wallet. That’s […]
DEAL: Save On Alaska Airlines Gift Cards From Costco
Discounted gift cards represent one of the best ways to take advantage of travel deals during the pandemic. With flexible change policies on virtually every airline, a gift card gives you even more ability to get the best deal. Thanks to Denny for sending along this deal which should be appealing to folks who live out west and can enjoy the strength of Alaska Airlines’ network. Costco is selling $500 Alaska Airlines gift cards for $449.99. I guess that’s a $50.01 discount, but hopefully you’ll forgive me for the slight […]
I’m Actually Pretty Excited About My Frontier Status Match
After almost 9 months of no air travel and no plans to get on a plane anytime soon, the moments where I’m truly excited about travel have been few and far between. In fact, most this year have involved renting RVs and ultimately buying an RV and a pickup truck (more on that in future stories). You might find it odd for me to be talking about a Frontier Airlines status match, especially since I’m normally on one of the big 3 domestic carriers. Frontier Airlines is actually an airline […]
DEAL: Costco Travel Is Having A Pretty Solid Travel Sale-Including A Big Discount For Hawaii
I’m a pretty big Costco fan, but I’ve only used their travel division to book a few cruises over the years. Still, I’ve heard good things about the deals. An e-mail popped up this morning about some travel deals Costco had. I’ve got a million things going on but I was in the mood for a bit of research, so I took a few minutes out of my morning to dig into one of these deals. Since I’ve still never been to Hawaii and I love a good Ritz-Carlton, I […]
Hyatt Cuts Their Elite Status Requirements For 2021 In Half
Boy, did the internet have some drama when Hyatt made this announcement last week. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. We’re getting to the end of 2020 and we’re also creeping closer to a vaccine. That means travel brands are starting to think about how to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Hilton jumped out in the lead amongst hotel brands when they chopped elite qualification requirements in half. That was over a month ago, and I had expected we would already have seen other big brands jump in. With […]
