SAVVY TRAVELLER

17/02/2025

First images appear of a Delta Air Lines
jet crash at Toronto Pearson Intl. Airport. The aircraft, which is a CRJ 900LR, has flipped and is upside down. Toronto has been pounded with heavy snowfall over the weekend. CBC News 8 passengers needed medical attention (photos via Kellie Meyer

08/02/2025

The City of Miami Beach is continuing its public messaging campaign that aims to crack down on spring break partying and the arrests that follow. It started last year, when the city launched an expensive ad campaign telling spring breakers that the party was over and announcing new curfews and fines, as well as heavier law enforcement. This time around, there's a reality TV show spoof that warns of potential drama, including $100 parking, DUI sobriety checkpoints and increased towing rates. It's a move that Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez told NPR in 2024 was needed for a community that had become unsafe. "Over the past 10 years, [there were] 33 shootings alone during the spring break period," he said. "Last year, 16 stampedes on a small stretch of Ocean Drive, on that beautiful, iconic Art Deco postcard that should bring joy and happiness to tourists of our city." - NPR

03/02/2025

Italy’s ITA Airways to leave SkyTeam and join Star Alliance after the Lufthansa group bought into the airline. In a press conference, ITA said: “In the coming weeks, ITA Airways will begin the process of joining Star Alliance, with completion expected by early 2026.”

09/01/2025

Highlights from a wonderful lunch at Hanoi’s . Not only were our taste buds stimulated but also our hearts from the incredible mission of its founders to give street children a new lease on life
🇻🇳

08/01/2025

Chinese carriers are undercutting European regional rivals with fares as much as 35% cheaper. The FT reports what’s helping them is the ability to fly via Russian airspace, saving time and costs

28/12/2024

Venice has introduced a ban on alcohol consumption on New Year’s Eve as a safety measure.
It joins other cities around the world that have trialled crackdowns on carrying or consuming drinks in public places.

More: https://www.euronews.com/travel/2024/12/27/venice-tokyo-strasbourg-watch-out-for-alcohol-bans-on-new-years-eve-in-these-cities

22/12/2024

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas alright in London, but a painful holiday season by the looks of it for major High Street retailers such as Harvey Nichols. Sales (aka reductions here in the UK) of up to 60% just three days before Christmas? Factors include a weakening domestic economy, declining spending power of Russian residents and visitors and changing shopping patterns…

14/12/2024

Sold-out Toronto concert cancelled after Air Canada
refuses seat for musician’s cello. It’s another unfortunate misstep in the beleaguered Canadian flag carrier’s record of astonishingly poor handling of physically disabled passengers, members of First Nations communities and musicians.

Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason’s show was cancelled after the airline would not provide a seat for the three-century-old cello, even though the pair had booked a seat for the instrument

04/12/2024

The days of arriving late at an Airbnb in Italy and opening up the key box to let yourself will soon be over after the country issued a ban on self-check-ins under a new law it says is needed to combat potential terrorism.

The days of arriving late at an Airbnb in Italy and opening up the keybox to let yourself will soon be over after the country issued a ban on self-check-ins under a new law it says is needed to combat potential terrorism.

16/11/2024

An American visiting Japan with his family has been arrested on suspicion of vandalism after allegedly desecrating Tokyo’s Meiji Jingu Shrine. According to Reuters, the 65-year-old (identified as Steve Lee Hayes) clawed five letters representing family names into a pillar of the Torii gates with his fingernails. He allegedly etched the characters “just for fun,” according to Tokyo Weekender, and was taken into custody at his hotel. The incident is one in a string of similar defacements, visitors having graffitied pillars at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo twice already this year. Reuters reports that “overtourism” may be to blame: 27 million people visited Japan between January and September, injecting the equivalent of $37.5 billion into the economy but also saddling the country with drunken, rowdy visitors who leave their trash in the streets and strain transportation systems and generally make life more difficult for locals - Daily Beast

29/10/2024

Ben-Gurion Airport's Terminal 1 Closes Its Doors to International Flights for Five Months: The terminal, which briefly opened seven months after the war's start anticipating an influx in tourism, is closing due to a decrease in passenger traffic, and low-cost carriers cancelling service over security concerns. Domestic flights will continue to fly out of Terminal 1 - Haaretz.com

12/10/2024

Airline ticket giveaways, elaborate drone and pyrotechnic shows, and invitations to thousands of influencers to visit and “tell a good story.” These are among the wide-ranging ways Hong Kong has tried to revive its international tourism industry, a crucial economic driver battered by years of pandemic restrictions and political upheaval.

It hasn’t been working that well….

In 2018, Hong Kong received a record 65 million tourists. In 2023, it welcomed a little more than half that.

11/10/2024

BREAKING: British Airways is cancelling hundreds of long-haul flights from its winter schedules as it suffers from aircraft shortages caused by delays receiving spare parts. The airline is delaying the launch of a new Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur route, and suspending one flight a day between London Gatwick and New York and between London Heathrow and Doha. BA blamed the new wave of cancellations on “delays to the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce — particularly in relation to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our 787 aircraft.” The problems come as flight delays and cancellations to and from the airline’s London’s hub at Heathrow have doubled since the Covid pandemic.

https://www.ft.com/content/b71ea88c-23a7-4bdb-b2e2-846c4495529b

10/10/2024

Travel Hack: a great and affordable way to fly from Hong Kong to Bangkok, whilst sampling African hospitality along the way!
Ethiopian Airlines

We discovered -8638 as a great way to fly the short sector from Hong Kong to Bangkok

07/10/2024

We’re lunching today at Africa Coffee & Tea in Hong Kong. Enjoying coffee from Malawi, a non-alcoholic gin cocktail (who knew!) and the centerpiece - this sumptuous Ugandan wrap which is served all day. While here, take in the eye-popping display of African art across the hallway and stunning views of the harbour. There’s also a grand selection of wines, including some of our favourites from Africa! Thanks Charlene for the hospitality! Hakuna matata!

05/10/2024

British Airways customers have suffered doubling of flight delays & cancellations to/from Heathrow since Covid. It saw 9% of its Heathrow flights cancelled/delayed by 61+ minutes in 12 months to July this year, compared with 4.5% over same period in 2019

Airline must do more to improve operations, even at expense of financial returns, say industry executives and analysts

13/09/2024

Alert: pilots strike at Air Canada becoming increasingly likely. Operations impacted as soon as Sunday and also reverberate through Star Alliance partners. We urge savvy travelers to take necessary precautions, including switching to other carriers well ahead of time

01/09/2024

ALERT: Due to a national strike all takeoffs and landings at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport will cease as of 8am Monday (local time). It’s not clear how long the strike will last.