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Hello and happy Sunday, travel friends, both near and far. Here are some articles we’ve read from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, so we’re passing them along.
- When it comes to the most desired loyalty status, there’s no comparison to becoming a Hyatt Globalist. With guaranteed suite upgrades and unrivaled customer service, it’s easy to understand why they’ll do anything to keep it once someone achieves this status. It’s also understandable why those who aren’t Globalists decide to bail on Hyatt. Reaching Globalist usually requires staying for 60 nights at a Hyatt property, but they lowered the requirement to 30 nights this year. Since you earn 2 qualifying nights for every $5,000 spent on the World of Hyatt credit card, if you have some significant expenses, like $75,000 in medical bills, it’s possible to earn top-level status without ever leaving home.
- We want to like cruising but haven’t found the right ship for us. We were hoping that Virgin Cruises would be one we’d like, but Virgin canceled our sailings in 2020 and 2021. We’re looking forward to our trip planned for 2022 now that the Scarlet Lady has finally set sail from Miami. I’m happy to read reports from the inaugural cruise that the offerings seem to be right in our wheelhouse.
- Another week has passed, which means reports of the AMEX RAT team in full force shutting down accounts. While I asked if AMEX would remain aggressive with shutdowns with the travel downturn, the RAT has survived and seems stronger than ever. These shutdowns have seemingly captured some who weren’t necessarily nefarious characters, just those who were looking to find the highest offer available. It only shows that with AMEX, it pays to be the tortoise and not the hare.
- While many countries have prohibited visitors since the beginning of the pandemic, some are trying to use the reopening of borders to keep certain types of visitors away when they reopen. The government of Bali came under scrutiny when explicitly saying that backpackers were not welcome, only to walk back those comments. Apparently, Thailand has learned how to make restrictions less insulting while still accomplishing the same thing.
- If you’re traveling with a carry-on bag, there are fewer things worse than getting to your row only to find the overhead bins already filled with luggage. This begs one to ask the question, does the space above the seat belong to you. The short answer is, “No, it doesn’t.” While this may seem to be an annoyance to travelers, you can make things better for yourself by making sure your bags will fit in the overhead.
- Slowly but surely, worldwide travel is coming back. Borders are opening, primarily to fully vaccinated travelers. That being said, Singapore Airlines is resuming flights from New York JFK to Singapore with a stop in Frankfurt. While this may seem a great way to get to Singapore now that the country is open to vaccinated US visitors, it is even a better option for people from the US to fly to Germany. We flew this route in December 2020 and it was the best flight to Europe we’ve ever had.
- Stories about people causing problems about wearing masks on flights seem to be decreasing, that doesn’t mean the problem is done. While the great majority of travelers are willing to wear a mask if it means being able to travel, a small percentage of people still are protesting “FREEDOM!” Unfortunately, a fellow blogger ended up flying behind such a passenger on a short flight who didn’t feel the rules pertained to them. Since the passenger freely admitted being kicked off a Southwest flight for similar actions, maybe Delta has the right idea of sharing no-fly lists between airlines.
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Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary