12/13/20 News Roundup: Vaccine Wars, Rules For Thee, Another 2 Year Old Kicked Off Flight, Delta’s Loophole, Work From Hawaii, Basic Economy Rooms, And More

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Some stories and deals don’t get their own post, but should get some coverage. Here are some quick takes on stories that caught my eye. Let’s hear your thoughts about them in the comments below!

View previous roundups and commentary here.

Featured Trip Reports:

DDF Trip Report:

PBaruch takes us along on his Panamanian adventure from earlier this year.

DD Trip Report:

I spent Chanuka 2018 in Buenos Aires, before having a run-in with the Argentine police and then making the southernmost Chanuka party in Ushuaia (“end of the world”) on our way to Antarctica.

It was truly the trip of a lifetime!

The FDA Has Approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine, Are You Ready For The Vaccine Wars?

The FDA issued an EUA approving Pfizer’s vaccine for COVID-19 for those 16 and older.

It will be several months before enough doses are available for the general public.

But if you thought the mask wars were contentious, just wait for the vaccine wars. I don’t think the government is going to mandate vaccination (though some may try), but private businesses certainly will as they have for masks.

Qantas has already said that they will require vaccination to fly. I’m sure that more airlines will do the same until we reach an end to this pandemic. A vaccine passport is on the way.

I’d imagine that long-term care facilities and many countries will require proof of vaccination to enter.

Of course the counter argument is that this is different than masks. After all, masks primarily protect other people, while those who want to be protected can get vaccinated and get their own protection.

But nevertheless, the vaccine isn’t 100% effective and it won’t be available to everyone for a long time. If businesses feel that it will be good for business and protect them from liability, I won’t be surprised to see it mandated.

What about people that had COVID and have antibodies? Data hints that those antibodies may last for years or even decades, though that’s still inconclusive. My guess is that places that require a vaccine won’t exempt them, but we’ll have to wait and see.

No trials have been done on kids yet, so they won’t be getting vaccinated anytime soon and schools won’t be able to require that. But will schools require it for next school year if the vaccine is approved for kids?

Stay tuned…

The Making Of The COVID-19 Vaccine Should Be Made Into A Movie

This play by play of the creation of the COVID-19 vaccine is riveting and well worth reading.

It is pretty incredible that we have a 95% effective vaccine the same year that the disease was sequenced! If all goes well, life may return to normal by May.

Did Trump’s Railing Against Mail In Voting Cost Him The Election?

Watching the election night results was riveting, and for a short while, it sure seemed like Trump would pull off another improbable victory.

And then came the mail in ballots.

Trump spent months railing against mail in voting, telling supporters that they had to go to the polls if they wanted their vote to count.

Which left me wondering, could Trump have won had he encouraged mail in voting instead?

With narrow losses in Arizona (~10K votes), Georgia (~10K votes), Wisconsin (~20K votes), and Nevada (~30K votes), Trump could have won re-election by flipping about 70,000 votes.

I’m sure there were voters that couldn’t make it to the polls and didn’t request or send in their ballot due to Trump’s rhetoric against mail in voting.

Was that enough to have flipped the election? We’ll never know, but I sure think it’s a possibility. It’s pretty incredible that once again, the margin of difference was so slim!

Rules For Thee, But Not For Me

As the COVID death toll in the US soars past 300,000, politicians continue to scold people about masks and social distancing.

But the chutzpah of seemingly countless politicians doing the scolding while on vacation or while also doing banned activities has no bounds.

I don’t base my behavior on political leaders, but is there any wonder why people don’t listen?

“We need to stay home if you can. This is not the time to relax… We may have to close things down if we are not careful," @MayorAdler told residents in a Facebook video last month.

At the time Adler was vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 1/ https://t.co/XNDtcLbNQD

— Austin Statesman (@statesman) December 2, 2020

The Exodus To Low Tax States Continues

• HP Enterprise, which practically founded Silicon Valley, is moving to Texas.
• Oracle will move their headquarters to Texas as well.
• Even Elon Musk is making the move.
• Goldman Sachs will shift jobs from New York to Florida.

In an age where “work from home” may just become permanent, the need to live in a high tax state has never been less. The only question is when will high tax states learn the lesson that they are just chasing businesses and the rich away?

Ironically though, those moving states still keep their voting tendencies. Californians moving to Arizona have shifted that state to become Blue, and along with it, a 77% tax hike on income above $250K…

California Bilked Out Of $2 Billion In COVID Fraud

California says that COVID unemployment fraud could total a whopping $2 billion.

Incredibly, the state didn’t verify eligibility for COVID unemployment claims and money went out to people in prison, dead people, fake names, and out of state people. I’ve even seen ads to collect COVID unemployment if you have never had a job.

No wonder taxes are so high!

Another Day, Another 2 Year Old Kicked Off A Flight

Since nearly all US airlines except Delta started requiring 2 year olds to wear a mask, I’ve said there would be cringe-worthy incidents.

Sure enough, Southwest kicked off a toddler with autism and then JetBlue kicked off a 2 year old and then retroactively changed their policy. American also kicked a 2 year old off a plane.

And now United kicked a 2 year old off a flight for “non-compliance”. A United agent informed the family they are no longer welcome on United, though the airline says that they are still welcome back.

I’m all for mask requirements on a plane, but anyone that’s a parent knows that toddlers don’t exactly listen to requirements. Requiring a 2 year old to keep a mask on for the duration of a flight might sound good to a policy maker, but that doesn’t mean it’s practical. One of the many reasons we fly with carseats for our toddlers is so they will be secure in their seats for the entire flight. It’s just too easy for a toddler to take off their airplane seatbelt!

Commenter aaron said it best, “I have a hard enough time getting my 2 year old to keep his pants on!”

Once again proving that Delta is winning in being passenger friendly during the COVID-19 era. If you have toddlers, you’ll want to fly Delta unless you want to risk being tossed off your flight.

JetBlue Refreshed MINT Business Class

JetBlue will head to London next year and is taking the opportunity to refresh its MINT business class offering.

New comfy bedding, headphones, and food offerings will help it compete with transatlantic carriers, but it also puts JetBlue head and shoulders above the offerings on transcontinental flights.

Test Positive For COVID? Don’t Fly!

It’s mind boggling that this keeps happening, but a Hawaiian couple was arrested for flying home to Kauai right after testing positive for COVID. In Maryland, police caught a mother and child trying to board a flight after testing positive.

What happened to common sense and caring for your fellow humans?

Spirit Being Spirit

Where does Spirit find these flight attendants?

Permanent no-fly lists on all airlines? Spirit employees being government officials and Spirit planes being government property?

I don’t agree with the sentiment of the Tweeter, but this video is just unreal:

Spirit Airlines flight attendant threatens to arrest and no-fly-list any passengers who refuse to keep a mask on *for the entire flight!*

This tyranny will become the norm under Biden if we don’t stand behind President Trump! pic.twitter.com/qn4AzK2QRf

— Simon (@simonsasquatch) November 6, 2020

The 737MAX Is Back In The Air

The 737MAX has been grounded for 18 months since it crashed twice due to a poorly designed system intended to avoid pilots needing aircraft training.

But it’s been cleared for takeoff and is back in the air on GOL, flying from Sao Paulo to Porto Alegre.

American will fly the plane between LaGuardia and Miami in the coming weeks.

Odds are that with this much scrutiny, the 737MAX is now one of the safest planes in the sky. But will that be enough for you to fly in one?

Delta Finds A Loophole To Avoid Tariffs 

While American and United have a mostly Boeing fleet, Delta has a mostly Airbus fleet.

When President Trump added hefty tariffs to Airbus aircraft, Delta got creative. By avoiding importing the planes they avoid paying tariffs. Delta can fly the planes to the US, as long as they don’t fly them within the US.

Delta has saved hundreds of millions in tariffs using this loophole.

And yet, the airlines get mad when passengers use hidden city ticketing to save a few bucks. 🙄

Is This The End Of Cashing Out Gift Cards In Walmart?

Walmart is circulating a memo instructing its staff to decline the purchase of money orders with gift cards:

Of course some Walmart stores already have this policy, but this may make it more difficult at other Walmart stores. Then again, plenty of employees don’t actually read the memos and will continue as before.

Domino’s Going Kosher Mehadrin In Israel

Domino’s Pizza has opened Mehadrin kosher branches in Israel and 10 more will open over the next 2 years.

It’s always great to see more Mehadrin options in Israel, though kashrus in Israel will never make sense to me.

Now, how do we get some chains to open kosher locations in the US? If Argentina can have a kosher mehadrin McDonalds, surely the US can support some as well?

Netanyahu Worries About Israelis Misbehaving In the UAE

Israelis can be, erm, a bit forward.

Apparently that has Prime Minister Netanyahu concerned as thousands of Israelis fill up planes and flock to the UAE.

It’s quite a difference from 3 years ago when the only Jew we saw was the Chabad Rabbi there.

Now there are 500 person Menorah lighting events!

With large weddings banned in Israel, people are heading to the Park Hyatt Dubai to get married. Hopefully they got a bunch of Hyatt points!

Have you traveled from Israel to Dubai yet?

Goodbye To Emotional Support Animals On A Plane

Airlines have decried the emotional support animals that passengers have tried bringing into the cabin with them, such as this emotional support peacock, which someone tried to bring on a United flight in Newark:

The DOT says those days have come to an end.

Emotional support animals will no longer be considered a service animal and a service animal is now defined as a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability.

The new rules will go into effect on 1/1/21.

Skip A Meal On JAL, Get An Upgraded Amenity Kit

Japan Airlines is testing out allowing passengers to skip their meal on the red-eye from Bangkok to Tokyo.

If you skip the meal in economy class, you’ll get a regional business class amenity kit. If you skip the meal in business class, you’ll get a long-haul business class amenity kit instead of a regional kit.

My personal favorite is always the BYOK. That’s when I double wrap a meal from a restaurant and ask the flight attendant to warm that up for me after they see how atrocious the KSML is or if they are missing the KSML. That works most of the time, though some airlines, like Cathay Pacific, frown upon it.

Would you skip a meal for a better amenity kit?

El Al Now Flying To The Seychelles

With Israel considering most of the world “red countries” that require a quarantine upon return, El Al has been on the hunt for new routes.

They have added 3 weekly 787 flights between Tel Aviv and Mahé, Seychelles. No quarantine will be required upon return as it’s a green country. Sounds like a winning strategy to me…at least until Israel turns it red.

Cathay Pacific Permanently Ends 3 US Routes

Cathay Pacific is going to emerge from this pandemic as a smaller airline.

They have decided to permanently end flights to Newark, Seattle, and Washington DC. They will also stop flying to the Maldives.

China To Flight Attendants: Wear Diapers

China managed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, but they were able to do so by locking people in their homes and giving everyone in the country a barcode that would allow or stop them from traveling or doing other activities. It would be impossible to pull that off in a democracy.

But how far does China expect its citizens to go to avoid COVID-19?

The Civil Aviation Administration of China advises that flight attendants avoid using the bathroom on the plane as it could be a COVID-19 hot zone. Instead they advise flight attendants wear diapers and avoid the bathrooms.

Ew.

While Other Airlines Play Defense, Southwest Is On Offense

American, Delta, and United are cutting routes and trying to save capital, Southwest smells blood in the water.

Adding flights from Chicago O’Hare, Colorado Springs, Houston, Miami, Palm Springs, Steamboat Spring, Telluride, and more, Southwest plans to take full advantage of other airlines pulling back during the pandemic.

Thanks to a lower debt load than other airlines, Southwest may prove to be the big winner this year.

Smartecartes Have Jumped The Shark

Cost of a smartecarte at ORD.

Nope. There’s just no way I’m paying this.

Work From Hawaii, Get A Free Flight

Hawaii is offering free flights to select applicants who commit to working from Hawaii for a month. You’ll also have to commit to volunteering a few hours a week at a local nonprofit.

Will you apply to spend a month zooming from paradise?

FlyDubai Compensates Detained Israelis

I mentioned last week that some 155 Israelis were detained for 4 hours in Dubai after FlyDubai failed to obtain visas for the passengers.

Apparently each of those passengers will be getting a 1,000 AED voucher for future FlyDubai flights due to the delay:

לפי @hul_meudar הנוסעים שטסו עם חברת פליי דובאי בעיכוב המפורסם של הארבע שעות בכניסה לדובאי, יקבלו 1000 דירהם (כ-1000 שקל) לשימוש עתידי בפליי דובאי. לא רע @globesnews

— michal raz chaimovitz (@gotomichal) December 10, 2020

Not bad indeed!

Andaz Singapore Now Has “Basic Economy” Rooms

The Andaz Singapore is now selling rooms through 3rd party booking sites that have no frills.

No breakfast, no gym access, no pool access, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Do you think other hotels will copy this model?

Forrest Fenn’s Treasure Finder Is Unmasked

I wrote about Forrest Fenn’s treasure being found in a previous roundup and the story the founder wrote.

People still doubted that he actually found the treasure.

He wanted to remain anonymous, but a lawsuit compelled him to come forward.

Jack Stuef, a 32 year old medical student, has come forward as the finder in this fun interview with Outside.

He is also speaking out against the frivolous lawsuit against him.

This is perfect:

Anyway, hey @MikeMcDonald89 maybe we should chat some more?https://t.co/irDcahQhIn

— Jack Stuef (@stuef) December 7, 2020

Congrats Jack!

Google Will Delete Data If You’re Inactive

Google has never deleted any data due to inactivity. That’s changing.

Starting on 6/1/21 you’ll have to login to your account once every 24 months or else Google may just delete everything in it.

It’s also something to bear in mind in case a loved one passes away. All of their info will be wiped if you don’t log on every 2 years.

Uber Sells Off Self-Driving Unit

Travis Kalanick once bet his company on figuring out self-driving. It helped get him pushed out of the company he founded.

When a pedestrian was killed by a self-driving Uber, the company did some serious soul searching about the path forward.

And now those days are over as Uber is now selling and outsourcing self-driving to Aurora. Uber hopes to collaborate with Aurora, but clearly self-driving is no longer considered to be a core competency in the company.

Are Airbnb And DoorDash IPOs Just The Latest Signs Of A Bubble?

Airbnb and DoorDash had massive IPOs this week, with Airbnb jumping to $101 billion and DoorDash to $66 billion.

Neither company has come close to a profit, but they have thrived in the pandemic era, which undoubtedly helped their IPOs.

Still, DoorDash faces heavy competition from the likes of Uber and Grubhub. All of the companies use heavy promotions to boost sales at the expense of profits. It’s hard to see them being able to justify that valuation.

My hometown of Beachwood, OH has the right idea for a good path forward, with the city footing the bill for delivery people.

Airbnb’s competition is the traditional hotel, but could have a clearer path to profitability. Still, should it be worth more than Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt combined? Or is this just the latest sign of a bubble?

Shocker: Students Are Failing In Record Numbers

While schools have been kept open in most countries, the US has faced many school closures in major cities.

Schools claim to be alarmed at the record failing grades among students.

You mean kids do better in person instead of learning over Zoom? Who would have thunk?!

Super Nintendo World?!?

Didn’t see this one coming. Osaka, Japan will get a Super Nintendo World amusement park in February.

Olympics and Super Nintendo World in August, anyone?

Tesla Shorts Have Lost More Than The Airlines In 2020

Elon Musk has a lot of non-believers. He’s impulsive and is liable to tweet something that could mean the end of his ability to remain Tesla CEO. Tesla’s stock price assumes perfection, which has meant that many have bet against the company by shorting the stock.

That has been a massive mistake so far. Tesla short sellers have lost $35 billion just in 2020 alone. Elon even mocked the short sellers by selling Tesla branded “short shorts” earlier this year.

It’s tough to bet against Elon.

Resellers Making A Killing On PS5s

PS5s are selling like hot cakes and resellers have made tens of millions in profit flipping them on eBay.

And besides, just think of all those miles. 😀

An El Al 747 Bites The Dust

It’s always sad to see a 747 being torn apart. Below is El Al’s 4X-ELA.

Ex El-Al Boeing 747-400 4X-ELA. R.I.P

צילום: @WachtelIdo pic.twitter.com/kvqNDKzMlx

— איתי בלומנטל Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) December 6, 2020

It was later spotted by DDF member gold.

More video here.

ואיך עתה לוחכת את העפר…Alas, how the tongue of the magnificent 747 now licks the dust.

RIP, Queen of the Skies

Cats On A Plane

An El Al 787 was stuck in Hong Kong after cat tracks were found on the plane. Traps were set, but they never did find the cat.

Hopefully the cat had Israeli citizenship or else they’d have to fly it back to Hong Kong after they find it…

Bears On A Runway 

In a first, an Alaska Airlines flight hit and killed a brown bear when landing.

No human injuries were reported, but the plane’s left engine cowl was damaged.

I guess Jim was right after all, black bears are best.

Planes On A Highway

Here’s something you don’t see every day! Was Sully flying the plane?

ICYMI: A plane landed on 35W last night. (Yes, really!)

While this isn't *quite* what we mean by a "multimodal transportation system," we're glad no one was injured and are impressed by the pilot's effort to #zippermerge from above! pic.twitter.com/imPdiQ1wMX

— Minnesota Department of Transportation (@MnDOT) December 3, 2020

Share your thoughts on these stories or post a comment about what other stories that I missed!

Previous roundups

Catch up on what you missed!

• 11/2/20 News Roundup: Saved By A Whale, COVID Lockdowns, NYC Quarantine Fines, Peace In The Middle East, The Return Of The 737MAX, And More
• 10/9/20 News Roundup: COVID-19 Second Wave, Flights To Nowhere, Skymiles Mortgage, Airlines Banning Food, Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Home Makeover, Faked Death, And More!
• 9/2/20 News Roundup: UAE Peace Deal, El Al Sale, COVID Reinfection, Flight Simulator, 737MAX Rebranding, Ransomware, Tesla Hack, #Bonvoyed, And More!
  
• 8/5/20 News Roundup: COVID-19 Updates, United 232 Survivor’s Guilt, Hyatt Woes, All You Can Fly Deals, El Al Meals At Home, Corona Cruises, Hyatt In Hana, Clorox Wipes, Lost Baggage, And More!
• 7/22/20 News Roundup: Israel Flights, COVID-19 Thoughts, Cuomo, AA Adding Flights, JetBlue Ditching Long Beach, Hertz “Improvements”, DOT Complaint, Elon’s Negative Fine, And More!
• Sunday News Roundup 6/28/20: New LGA, El Al Bailout, Hong Kong, Credit Card Approvals, Goodbye Qantas 747s, Buried Treasure, And More
• COVID-19 News Roundup 5/25/20: Super-Spreaders, Second Wave, Immunity Passports, El Al In Turkey, Worldwide Restrictions Roundup, Amare Stoudemire, And More
• COVID-19 News Roundup 5/12/20: Distancing On A Plane, De Blasio, OU Kosher PSA, True Number Of Deaths, Murder Hornets, Free Eilat Flights, Goodbye $10,000 Bumps, And More
• COVID-19 News Roundup 4/5/20: Shifting Origin Story, Billionaires Doing Good, Plague Of Wild Animals, Trapped Away From Home, Chicken Soup For The Soul+More
• COVID-19 News Roundup 3/14/20: New Travel Bans, Airline Suspensions, Israel Shutdowns, An Alternate COVID Approach, JetBlue Ban, TSA Changes, Poll, And More
• Sunday News Roundup 3/8/20: Flight Tampering, eBay Bans, Centurion LAX, United Refunds, Airline Bunk Beds, Amazon Grocery Markets, Record Flight Times, And More
• Sunday News Roundup 2/23/20: Flight Denied Entry To Israel, E-PASS Transponder, Venice #Bonvoyed, MLB, Points Scam, Drone Dome, $10K Bump, Cuba Trip, And More!
• Sunday News Roundup 2/16/20: New US Airlines, Cruise Quarantines, #Reclinegate, Yiddish Harry Potter, Aeroplan Infant Awards, And More!
• Sunday News Roundup 2/2/20: Coronavirus, RIP Kobe, Something Smells At American, Super Bowl Saturday, Stuck In Iran, 15K Lie-Flat Transcon, And More!
• Sunday News Roundup 1/19/20: Pilotless Flights, El Al Diversion, Mobile Boarding Passes, MLB Cheating, Handy Credit Card, United Backdoor Link, And More!
  
• Sunday News Roundup 1/5/20: Kosher Thailand Hotel, Mexican Jail Mileage Run, Jeopardy GOAT, Fugitive Ex-Nissan CEO Escape, EgyptAir Coverup, And More!
• Sunday News Roundup 12/22/19: #KosherAntarctica Cruise, The Residence, AA Shutdowns, TWA, Amazon Israel, NY Small Claims Change, United Cape Town, Backdoor Marriott Links+More!
• Sunday News Roundup 12/15/19: Jersey City Terror, TLV Hotel, Bonvoyed, Protect Your Ring, Check Your Passwords, And More!
• Sunday News Roundup 12/8/19: 8 Quick Takes On Travel; DansDeals Interview, Falklands Tanya, Aegean Devaluation, Travel “Nightmare,” Airline Meals, Near NFL Forfeit, And More!
• Sunday News Roundup 11/24/19: 10 Quick Takes On Travel; Phone Charging Scam, AMEX Loves Sapphire, Making Amtrak Great Again, Hyatt Private Island, And More
• Sunday News Roundup 11/17/19: 12 Quick Takes On Aviation And Travel; Dubious Marriott Claims, TWA Ice Rink, A380 Failure, Mileage Ban, And More
• Sunday News Roundup 11/3/19: 9 Quick Takes On What’s Going On In Aviation And Travel; Airbnb Scam, Cathay’s Tel Aviv Plans, United Plays Dirty, 747 Farewell, LAX Uber Disaster, And More
• Sunday News Roundup 10/27/19: 11 Quick Takes On What’s Going On In Aviation, Credit, And Deals That You Should Know About