Travel Week in Review – March 19, 2021

Remember the good old pre-pandemic days, when you could plan a trip somewhere, then show up at the airport car-rental counter upon arrival and find a cheap last-minute vehicle for your trip? Or even during the pandemic, when there was a virtual fire sale on rental cars? Those days are gone. Welcome to 2021, when a last-minute car rental might cost you $700 a day for a lowly SUV. And yes, that actually happened. Read More…

It’s been a long year for Disneyland fans, but “The Happiest Place On Earth” is finally set to reopen its doors. The flagship Disney (DIS) resort, which houses Disneyland and its sister theme park California Adventure, plans to reopen with limited capacity on April 30, the company announced on Wednesday. Disneyland’s doors in Anaheim, California, have been closed for more than a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read More…

Though no official announcement has been made, Japanese outlet Kyodo News reported yesterday that government officials have confirmed to them that the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will take place in summer 2021 without foreign spectators. Kyodo says that the government and Olympic committees may be meeting next week to make a formal decision. Read More…

As COVID-19 vaccines roll out across the U.S., more travelers are taking to the skies. Friday marked the busiest day for the nation’s airports since the middle of March 2020, when COVID-19 caused air travel to plummet. About 1.36 million passengers passed through security checkpoints Friday, according to figures from the Transportation Security Administration. That is the highest volume since March 15, 2020. Read More…

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced yesterday that it will be extending stricter legal action against unruly airline passengers, including those who violate the federal mask mandate, in light of having received over 500 reports of ill-behaved passengers since December. “The number of cases we’re seeing is still far too high, and it tells us urgent action continues to be required,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said. Read More…