Our ship, the upgraded MS Santa Cruz II, was perfectly-sized, with 50 cabins, a library and science corner, and a bar. And we were thrilled to learn that among the guests on our expedition were Will Jardell and James Wallington, the honeymooning winners of Season 32 of The Amazing Racereality TV show in which teams of two race around the world in hopes of winning the $1 million first prize.
We joined them for dinner one evening to chat about airports, of course, and to ask them to share some of their travel tips. You’ll find the full list in the story we put together for the Points Guy site. But here are some of their travel gear must-haves and some useful tips for gathering information about your destinations.
Fanny Packs
Trendy for now, Jardell and Wallington say they use Eagle Creek fanny packs to hold travel essentials such as passports, wallets, money, travel guides and documents, hand sanitizer, snacks, Chapstick, hand lotion, and extra masks.
Playing cards and games
Books and magazines are always good to have, but Jardell and Wallington always pack a deck of cards or a game they can play together or with people they meet along the way.
Smart ways to gather information
During the Amazing Race contest, Will and James couldn’t take along laptops or phones for researching a destination or plotting out routes before arriving in a city.
They said they could sometimes work around this by visiting electronics shops in airports selling phones and other gear that was on display with WiFi connections.
This is a great tip for those times we might find ourselves in an airport without a charged phone or good network access.
Flight attendants often have lots of helpful information about destinations, they told us, as do some of the short videos most of us skip over in the inflight entertainment line-up.
Eco-Friendly Tips
Meet the winning couple and pick up some eco-friendly and sustainable travel tips in this short video.
We’re a few days late on the Icelandverse bandwagon. But we want to do our part to make sure everyone takes a look at how Iceland is promoting tourism with a hysterical swipe at Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the ‘metaverse’ concept.
In the video below, which comes to us courtesy of cheeky Visit Iceland, a “Chief Visionary Officer” Zack Mossbergsson -a character that looks and motions like Mark Zuckerberg, extols the many real things you can see, touch, and experience in Iceland in contrast to the virtual world of Zuckerberg’s metaverse.
“Today I want to talk about a revolutionary approach on how to connect our world without being super weird,” says Mossbergsson. “Some said it’s not possible. Some said it’s out of reach. To them we say, It’s already here. Seriously. Look it’s right here,” he says pointing out the window.
If you’ve been to Iceland before or are just packing to go to the “Icelandverse,” this video reinforces the fact that the country offers “enhanced actual reality without silly-looking headsets,” “water that’s wet” and “skies you can see with your eyeballs.” And whether you’re a fan of the company formerly known as Facebook, or not, you’ll get a kick out of this video.
Visit Iceland has a long history of quirky videos. Many are part of the Iceland Academy Series, including the one below about what to pack when visiting Iceland.
“On me” offers 10,000 free airline vouchers to four key Tennessee airports – Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Knoxville. All travelers have to do is purchase a 2-night stay at TennesseeOnMe.com.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s budget puts aside $2.5 million to promote tourism through $250 digital gift cards from Delta Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines for travel to Tennessee. The promotion aims to give away 10,000 digital gift cards to visitors who book a 2-night hotel stay in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, or Chattanooga. More than 60 hotels are participating in the promotion.
Visitors must book a 2-night minimum stay at participating hotels, including at least one night of the stay between Sunday-Wednesday.
Visitors can choose their destination city (Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga or Knoxville), their hotel of choice in the city, and which airline voucher they prefer (Delta, American or Southwest Airlines).
Book between now and July 5 – September 15, 2021. Travel between July 11 – December 30, 2021.
All promotion reservations can be booked through www.TennesseeOnMe.com, which details FAQs, restrictions and additional information.
All hotel package reservations are pre-paid at time of booking and are non-refundable.
One airline voucher is available per hotel package (not per person). Other terms and conditions apply.
Have fun. Let’s hope more states roll out campaigns like this. And let’s hope more people in Tennessee get vaccinated.
Arc de Triomphe, Paris c. 1870, courtesy Ace Architects
[This is a slightly different version of a story we wrote for NBC News]
International travel is back on the agenda this summer for millions of Americans who have completed their COVID-19 vaccination regime.
But with some countries fully open to U.S. travelers – and many still not – the challenge now is figuring out when and where it is possible to go. And what restrictions may be in place when you arrive and when you head back home.
“For the summer, the countries that have already posted their border openings are the most likely bets.” says Misty Belles, Managing Director at luxury travel network Virtuoso. “Many vacationers are already able to visit Mexico and many parts of the Caribbean,” as well as Greece, Iceland, Croatia, Turkey, and some other countries.
On May 16, Italy began welcoming passengers arriving on government-approved “COVID-tested” flights from several countries, including the United States. Travel requirements for these flights include a negative COVID-19 test before departure, at boarding, and on arrival in Italy.
Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines are already offering some COVID-tested flights to Rome and Milan from several U.S. cities. More flights and cities will be added to the schedule later this summer.
Other countries have announced various ‘opening dates’ for when travelers from the United States will be welcome as well.
Spain was going to open its borders to all vaccinated tourists – including Americans – on June 7. But that date has been pushed back to at least June 30th.
ENTRY RESTRICTIONS SPAIN-EU♦ ️ Order of the Ministry of the Interior of Spain extended until 24:00 on June 30, which, following the EU, restricts non-essential travel from third countries to the European Union due to the health crisis of covid-19 👇https://t.co/AgtlOXgMxE
— Embajada España Omán 🇪🇦🇴🇲 (@EmbEspOman) May 30, 2021
More countries will be joining that list. “But it’s going to be a hodgepodge this summer,” says Scott Keyes of Scott’s Cheap Flights, “For most countries, you’ll need to either bring proof of vaccination or a recent negative test.”
Lending encouragement is the fact that this week seven of the 27 countries in the European Union –Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Croatia, and Poland – began using the EU Digital COVID certificate, known as the Digital Green Certificate, a month ahead of schedule. Other countries will adopt the program that securely verifies the COVID-19 status of EU citizens in the next few weeks and “these countries will be able to decide if they will allow U.S. travelers to participate,” says Keyes.
What about travel to Canada, Japan, the UK, and other countries?
Non-essential travel, which includes tourism, is still restricted between the United States and Canada. Ahead of the summer Olympics, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory warning against travel to Japan.
In mid-May, the United Kingdom rolled out a “traffic light system” for international travel. This puts countries on red, amber, and green lists. The lists are set to be reviewed next at the end of June, but for now, the United States is categorized as “amber.” That means anyone arriving from the United States must fill out a passenger locator form, provide notification of a negative test result prior to travel, quarantine for 10 days on arrival, and take a COVID test on day 2 and day 8 after arrival.
Keeping track, making plans
While countries may be constantly changing their entry requirements in response to COVID-19 cases and conditions, “generally speaking, the one-way ratchet is towards more reopening,” says Keyes. He recommends checking the US State Department website for updates, as well as individual government and embassy websites before making any bookings.
Flexibility and generous cancellation polities are still the mantras when booking hotel stays, airline tickets and cruises, or buying passes to theme parks, museums, and attractions.
But don’t worry if you are not ready to hit the ‘buy’ button right now.
“Demand is strong, causing availability to be limited in some places while also driving up rates,” says Virtuoso’s Belles. “While Europe is slowly opening this summer, fall is when people will likely feel more confident about setting their travel plans,” and when rates may settle down.
(This is a slightly different version of a story we wrote for NBC News online)
Summer travel may cause some headaches
Memorial Day weekend and a unusual travel season are just around the corner.
Experts expect a summer travel tsunami fueled by a dip in Covid-19 infection rates, rising vaccination rates, and the reopening of attractions, resorts, and other tourist destinations.
AA predicts that 34 million Americans will take road trips 50 miles or more from home during the Memorial Day holiday, May 27-31. That is a 52 percent increase compared to last summer — although still about 9 percent below the pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
More than three-quarters of Americans (77 percent) plan to take trips this summer, according to the latest results of a Harris Poll survey.
But with everyone rushing to go somewhere – anywhere – travelers may find their dream destinations hard to book or sold out already.
“Travelers should be aware that there is still limited supply, as airlines haven’t brought back fleets in full, there are hotels that haven’t opened or are at limited capacity, and car rental fleets are still reduced,” said Kelly Soderlund of travel management company TripActions. She advises travelers determined to hit the road this summer to book as arly as possible to avoid being disappointed by a lack of inventory or by high prices.
Here are some of the summer travel “hiccups” travelers may encounter — and some tips for how to handle them.
Gas prices were expected to flirt with $3 per gallon leading up to Memorial Day weekend. But last week’s shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline caused prices to spike weeks ahead of the holiday.
“Americans will still take their road trips,” says AAA spokesperson Jeanette McGee, “They just may not travel as far as originally planned and may spend a little less.”
To save money on gas, make sure your car is tuned up and your tires are properly inflated, join gas station rewards programs, and download one or more gas price apps to your smartphone so you can compare prices on the road.
Crowded planes, high ticket prices
Right now, flights are 77 percent full on average, compared to 85 percent to 90 percent pre-pandemic, said Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights. “But hidden under that topline average is the fact that popular leisure flights to places like Hawaii and Florida are regularly seeing completely full planes. With Memorial Day such a popular time to travel, expect airports to be crowded and planes filled to capacity.”
While the dirt-cheap fares airlines floated during the pandemic are long gone, there is some good news for air travelers.
“Two new budget airlines, Avelo and Breeze, will introduce more low-fare seats and increase competition,” said travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt of Atmosphere Research. In addition, “United Airlines just announced it is adding more domestic flights, and Southwest is adding new flights between the mainland U.S. and Hawaii.”
Long lines at security checkpoints
Passenger volumes continue to rise at airports across the country. In many airports, that means the return of long lines at security checkpoints.
JUST IN: @TSA screened 1,408,017 people at airport checkpoints yesterday, May 18. During the past 10 days, checkpoint throughput has ranged between1.3M and 1.8M, quite a swing. Tuesdays and Wednesdays see lightest volume. Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays tend to be busiest.
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) May 19, 2021
“We are encouraging people to arrive at their airports early, like they were asked to do prior to the pandemic,” TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.
Expect longer lines at airports where the TSA is short-staffed and unable to open all checkpoints during the busiest times. Elsewhere, lines may stretch out because passengers who have not flown in the past year have rusty packing skills. In addition to finding a lot of oversize liquid containers in travelers’ carry-on bags, TSA officers are finding that many passengers are still forgetting to leave their firearms at home.
For a refresh on what can be put in carry-on bags, travelers can consult TSA’s “Can I Bring?” feature online and on the MyTSA app or tweet to @AskTSA.
High Hotel Rates
Have your heart set on a beach vacation? So does everyone else. So this summer is an especially good time to seek out hotels in secondary or alternative cities.
For example, Adit Damodaran, an economist at Hopper, a price comparison site, found that while hotels in Southeastern beach destinations, such as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Galveston, Texas; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are booking up quickly, hotels in Florida towns with similar vibes — like Jacksonville, Tampa, Fort Myers and Daytona Beach — are showing increased availability.
Elusive rental cars
During the pandemic, many car rental companies sold off big chunks of their fleets. Now, many Americans who hope to rent cars for summer road trips are finding cars unavailable or renting at a premium.
To increase your chances of finding a rental car for this summer’s vacation, Priceline and others suggest booking your car at the same time as, or even before, you book your flights, booking a travel bundle that includes a car rental, checking for cars at off-airport locations and exploring services such as Zipcar and peer-to-peer car-sharing programs.
Shifting protocols
This summer, “travelers researching a destination will need to pay attention to how that location is handling Covid protocols and what might be expected of you as a visitor to the community,” said Tori Middelstadt of Oregon’s Willamette Valley Visitors Association.
That includes noting and adhering to the rules about masking. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated people can forgo wearing masks indoors and travel in the U.S. without getting tested before or after they travel.
But a federal rule not set to expire until Sept. 14 requires that masks be worn when traveling by air, rail, or bus. Cities, states, and individual businesses are still able to set their own rules.
The current unknowns of travel and the pressures around booking that first vacation in over a year understandably make many travelers anxious.
“There are just too many variables in play right now, from the basics, like availability, to the more complicated, like Covid-19 protocols. If you’re thinking about a summer trip, you need to move past the thinking part and swiftly get yourself to the booking process,” said Erika Richter of the American Society of Travel Advisors.
