|
|
✈️ DOT forces airlines to refund $600 million to passengers
|
|
|
The government? Holding airlines accountable? Forcing the refunds they promised us two years ago??
While this might sound like an entertaining piece of fiction, it is not. It is real.
In another round of butt-kicking productivity from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), a number of airlines have been fined and forced to pay out refunds for flights that were canceled as a result of the pandemic.
In total, six different airlines will be forced to refund $600 million to passengers for canceled flights. Because they've taken so long already to do so, they are also being fined a total of $7.25 million, collectively.
Here are which airlines are affected by this mic drop:
- Frontier: $222 million in refunds and a $2.2 million fine
- TAP Air Portugal: $126.5 million in refunds and a $1.1 million fine
- Aeromexico: $13.1 million in refunds and a $900,000 fine
- El Al: $61.9 million in refunds and a $900,000 fine
- Avianca: $76.8 million in refunds and a $750,000 fine
- Air India: $121.5 million in refunds and a $1.4 million fine
That is a LOT of money being demanded of these airlines... If you had flights canceled by these airlines early on in the pandemic and haven't received any sort of compensation, you might well be receiving some money soon.
If, however, you canceled your flight for your own personal reasons, OR if you have already accepted a refund or voucher from the airline, this will not apply to you. Presumably, this only applies to flights to, from, or within the United States.
Here's why I think this is such great news:
Airlines have been getting away with murder recently. They've been overbooking, price gouging, and performing terribly with regard to delays and cancellations, all while drastically increasing their profits amid the recent travel boom.
The fact that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the DOT are focusing on consumer rights and actually taking large-scale action is awesome. While it's definitely cool that travelers will finally get the money they're owed, I think the big takeaway is this: airlines are going to think twice and will have to behave more carefully in the future, which is certainly good news for us.
|
|
|
|
|
🏨 Choice Hotels offers 5,000 bonus points
|
|
|
Okay, Choice Hotels, I see you.
In an effort to join in the craziness that has been Fall/Winter hotel promos, Choice Hotels is offering 5,000 bonus points for certain bookings.
Here are the details:
- Book a 3-night stay and earn 5,000 bonus points
- Must be booked by November 19th
- Stay must take place by December 31st
- You must first register for the offer on this page
|
|
|
|
|
This offer is definitely worth thinking about, especially if you either stay at Choice Hotels pretty often or want to boost your points balance a bit.
In terms of the points value relative to what a hotel stay costs, you have lots of options to get solid value.
For example, you could book this 3-night stay in Mexico City for about $51 USD per night, or about $153 total.
|
|
|
|
|
Because you earn 10 points per dollar just for being a member of Choice Privileges, you'll earn a total of 6,530 points: 1,530 base points and 5,000 bonus points.
Choice Privileges points are worth about 1.1 cents each. So, you're getting roughly $72 in value from this $153 stay, or a 47% return. That's one of the best return-on-spend ratios I've ever seen in the hotel promo world.
Given Choice's footprint of cheap hotels all around the world, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a hotel to take advantage of this promo with along your travels.
|
|
|
|
|
🗺️ Today's newsletter is brought to you by Atlas.co
|
|
|
Have you ever been in someone's home that's super well-decorated? The kind of stylish place where you see a fancy city map with a sleek font and a detailed view of the streets and waterways and think "I wish I could decorate my own home like that."
Well, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: It's super easy and cheap to get maps like that yourself.
Atlas.co is a cool company run by cool people that allows you to design custom maps online and have beautiful printed and framed versions of them shipped right to your door.
You may recognize their maps if you've ever clicked the coordinates at the bottom of these Daily Drop emails... I use Atlas.co for this because I just love the way it looks, honestly. If you didn't know these coordinates existed, now you can creepily track my whereabouts when you read the newsletter 😉
|
|
|
|
|
Whether you want to remember a once-in-a-lifetime trip, or you just want a beautiful printout of a city you know and love, Atlas.co has you covered.
Personally, I have three side-by-side framed city-view printouts of Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal hanging on my living room wall behind my couch at home (go Canada 🍁).
I've also been thinking of ordering a map of this crazy around-the-world trip that I'm on. In just 5 minutes I was able to design a map that will help me remember this trip for the rest of my life:
|
|
|
|
|
Still not convinced? What if I told you that until December 7th, you can get a 20% discount on your order when you use the code DAILYDROP at checkout?
Yea, I thought so. Now go design away, my friends 👇
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
🇨🇳 China slightly eases quarantine travel restrictions
|
|
|
In other news, China has *slightly* eased its quarantine requirements for entering the country, both for foreigners and Chinese citizens.
Up until this week, China had a 10-day quarantine requirement; 7 days in a hotel or quarantine center and 3 days at home.
A few days ago, this was reduced by two days, and now only requires 5 days in a hotel or quarantine center followed by 3 days at home.
This might not seem like a huge deal, and while it's definitely not a very meaningful step, it IS a sign that things might be slowly moving in the right direction. China has been the most strict country in the world when it comes to both travel restrictions and internal COVID lockdown measures. The fact that any change has been made means they are at least considering the possibility of easing their policies further.
Let's also be clear: Travel to China is a LOT more involved than just quarantine. Within the country, people are facing extremely strict lockdowns. Additionally, it is far more difficult to get a tourist visa than it was before the pandemic. So I realize that it will likely be a long time before it's possible to causally take a trip to China...
I've always dreamt of traveling to the dramatic limestone mountains outside Xi An and ascending Mount Huashan, which you've probably seen in pictures before 👇
|
|
|
|
|
China has a lot to offer, obviously. Despite the COVID situation and at times fragile political relationship between China and other countries, I hope to see things continue to move in a positive direction.
We've seen countries be really slow to open back up after the pandemic lockdowns only to turn things around pretty quickly and fully open to the world (*ahem* Japan). I think it's worth noting that there may be hope on the horizon both for travelers who have always wanted to travel to China (like myself) and people currently living there.
|
|
|
|
|
That's gonna do it for today, folks.
Are you expecting a refund from one of the six airlines I mentioned? Do you want to travel to China one day? If not, what destination is at the top of your bucket list? Let me know by replying to this email or reaching out on social media.
Have a nice day 💕
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
