This week’s broadcast of Eye on Travel covers the world — as it seems to be shutting down again. Peter talks with journalists all over the globe to get firsthand reports — Lilit Marcus from CNN in Hong Kong, Sheryl Gay Stolberg from The New York Times weighs in from Washington, Dawn Gilbertson from USA Today checks in from Arizona, and David Shepardson from Reuters. Pilot Greg Morris lands long enough to talk about some of the new travel and testing rules and what it means…up in the air. And Gene Sloan, from The Points Guy, on when cruise ships might actually sail again — with all the latest reports. Peter also answers your travel questions. There’s all of this and more on this week’s broadcast of Eye on Travel.
Tune in to PeterGreenberg.com from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. ET for the latest Eye on Travel on Saturday, January 30, 2021.
Have a travel question? Then ask Peter. E-mail him at peter@petergreenberg.com, or tweet your questions to @petersgreenberg (include #AskPeter).
Dawn Gilbertson, Consumer Travel Reporter at USA TODAY, joins Peter to chat about all the headliners this week: the banning of emotional support animals, COVID-19 test requirements when traveling and the hit that the airlines are and will be taking with these requirements. They discuss quarter losses for the airlines, the race to lose less money and readjusting figures all over again with the new restrictions put in place. She argues it’ll continue over the next few months. Then, there’s a surprise! Some airlines have actually added new routes mid-pandemic and Dawn explains the reasoning behind that. And is there mandatory quarantining anywhere in the United States?
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Washington Correspondent at The New York Times, joins the program to speak about the last 10 days in Washington. It has been very busy, and there’s a lot going on in the nation’s capital. She speaks about the new bans set in place for specific countries by the new administration and the rationale behind them as well as the latest travel restrictions to and from Canada and Mexico. Then, she has more on the cruise industry and why starting up the cruise season again is not a good idea from a health perspective.
Gary Leff, Founder of ViewfromtheWing.com, speaks about the state of the virus in the United States and why imposing restrictions would have been better back in March of last year. He dives into hotel testing in Latin America and the continuing struggles that the airlines could be facing should domestic flights require a negative COVID-19 test as well. Then, Gary talks about the flight attendant who fell 33,000 feet from the sky and lived to tell the tale! He also discusses the hidden ticket fee and the varying perspectives held by the passengers and the airlines. Who is right?
Greg Morris, Commercial Airline Pilot, speaks about the future of the big commercial airlines in the United States including how they’re holding up, route cancellations and furloughs. And what about the transmission rates on board an airplane? The good news is that it’s very low. Captain Morris then speaks about the quarantine process when you travel to some of the more restrictive locations around the world and the consequences that come from breaking these rules. He talks about airline employees getting vaccines, the uptick in travel at specific airlines and the $2 trillion worth of good news on the horizon for the travel industry.
David Shepardson, Correspondent at Reuters, discusses the latest transportation news on the hill and the push to help the sector – which is seeing its fair share of obstacles. David speaks to the new administration and its new priorities as well as what happened to the promise of bettering infrastructure. All across the country we are seeing crumbling infrastructure, and David argues that the question becomes how we rethink our current transit system in preparation for the next 100 million people.
Gene Sloan, Senior Reporter, Cruise & Travel at The Points Guy, talks about the latest in the cruise industry. From who’s going where and when to shipping orders and scrapping ships plus much more. There’s a real demand out there for cruising so proof of vaccination will be important and likely implemented. But what happens to the people who don’t want to be vaccinated? Gene expands on this and what will and won’t work when traveling. Gene expects ports across the world to require vaccinations, too.
Lilit Marcus, Travel Editor at CNN Travel, speaks about the current situation in Hong Kong and the precipice it was already in before the pandemic because of the protests. She expands on what she found surprising about the protests and the way the region has dealt with the pandemic. She argues that the region really values human life and acts accordingly to protect people. Then, she describes some of the rules in place in Hong Kong that make travel not worth it, travel bubbles and some of the better places to quarantine in Asia.
