Travel Week in Review – April 8th, 2022

Delta SkyMiles members can now permanently earn credit toward Medallion status when flying on award tickets. This had been a Covid-era policy that was set to expire at the end of the year. Delta flyers qualify for the various Medallion status tiers through a combination of how much they spend in a calendar year and how many miles they fly or how many flight segments they fly. Delta has also removed the earnings cap of 75,000 points per ticket, making it the first U.S. legacy airline to do so. Read More…

The CDC cruise ship assessment is relaxing once again. On Wednesday, the health organization announced that it would no longer issue COVID-19 health travel notices for cruises. The notices, which have been in place for more than two years, acted as bulletins for travelers on the general risk level of cruising. The ranking system ranged from Level 4, meaning a “very high” risk of the virus on board ships to Level 2, meaning “moderate.” Read More…

It’s been a rough weekend for airline passengers. Airlines canceled and delayed more than 10,000 Saturday and Sunday flights because of storms in Florida and a technology issue at Southwest Airlines, stranding travelers across the country and creating long wait times to reach airline customer service. More than 3,400 flights have been canceled and 8,800 flights delayed this weekend. Read More…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must feel like it’s been on vacation the last couple of weeks. The government’s watchdog health agency has not had to add a single country or territory to its Level 4, highest-risk, do not travel warning in the last two weeks. The CDC considers a country a Level 4 risk if it reaches 500 or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents over a span of 28 days. Read More…

The U.S. Department of State was once again very busy during the month of March, issuing dozens of updated travel advisories for countries all over the world ranging from Level 1 to Level 4. While COVID-19 continues to be a threat to international travelers in the eyes of U.S. officials, crime, terrorism concerns and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine are other leading risks that the department is listing for why travelers should avoid, reconsider or exercise an increased level of caution during their next trip overseas. Read More…