Halleluiah! Domestic travel gets the green light from CDC

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) on Friday said it is now a low risk for those who are vaccinated and wear a mask to travel domestically. The shift comes as 100 million Americans are now vaccinated and life is starting to become “normal again”. Even before this announcement, we have seen a dramatic increase in airline reservations in the last month. International travel also got a big boost when the CDC went on to say that there is no need to quarantine after returning home from travel if you are vaccinated. CLICK HERE to read more. 

Houston we have a problem, as planes are filling up faster than airlines can get them out of mothballs – The dramatic decline in air travel a year ago caused by COVID caused all airlines to cut the number of airplanes flying by 50% or more. Many of these planes they sent to the giant parking lot in the Arizona desert and have to be recommissioned and tested before they can become airworthy. Add to that many pilots who have been furloughed have to be trained and tested which takes months. The bottom line is the recent wave of reservations since people have become vaccinated will soon overtake the number of planes in the air. This means airfares will very soon go sky high as demand outstrips supply. CLICK HERE for some amazing pictures of airplanes stacked up in the desert. 

If you thought there was pushback with wearing masks, wait until you see the legal tsunami of requiring vaccinations tied to health passports –  It seems there is a big storm brewing with the travel industry moving rapidly toward requiring vaccinations and proof of vaccination using electronic health passports causing friction with personal privacy rules contained in HIPAA laws in the U.S.  The travel industry loves the confidence of requiring vaccinations and health passports however it would appear that HIPAA protects people from having to provide personal health information.  I am not an attorney but I can see some big lawsuits by people who want to travel but don’t want to take the vaccine or give people their personal health information as protected by HIPAA. CLICK HERE to read more about HIPAA. 

Airlines are extending unused tickets into next year – Delta Air Lines recently joined United, American, Southwest, and others in extending the use of unused tickets purchased in 2020 beyond the normal one-year deadline. Normally, you have 12 months to use an unused ticket but the airlines are acknowledging that COVID restrictions have limited people’s ability to travel and rebook their unused tickets.  We are now seeing many airlines adding as much as an additional year to those unused tickets purchased last year. CLICK HERE to read more. 

Everyone is betting Greece will be the first European country to benefit from the first wave of travelers ready to travel internationally – The airlines are all rapidly adding flights from the U.S. to Athens as the experts say that Greece has done an excellent job of clamping down on the COVID virus. Greece has the benefit of having almost everything for everybody.  They have amazing beaches and islands for the fun and sun crowd. They also brag of being the center of culture and history as well as architecture, and the arts. Foodies love Greece for the fresh seafood and the long list of Greek foods that includes my favorites, Moussaka, Gyros, Souvlaki, and for dessert please give me a plate full of Loukoumades (doughnuts in cinnamon sugar) or of course Baklava. Dang, I am getting hungry just writing this. The people of Greece have been decimated by COVID. Let’s hope these fine people can finally see a bright future ahead of them.  CLICK HERE to see a list of the top 10 foods of Greece. P.S. One of the best Greek foods I have ever tasted was broiled baby octopus at the Parthenon Greek Grill in Lincoln, Nebraska. This amazing dish of tender baby octopus is served over caramelized red onions, with fresh sage and drizzled with lemon vinaigrette. I never thought an old farm boy raised on the world’s best Nebraska beef would ever admit to enjoying a plate full of octopus.