Trump travel tips

This past fall, I visited Ireland for the first time to attend my cousin's wedding.

In 2022, you could use words like “total chaos,” and “an incomparable nightmare” to describe the state of American air travel, and it would barely be hyperbolic. Mass cancellations and delays were the norm — and then when travelers ended up stranded and there was no incentive for airlines to provide any sort of compensation. By that time, Secretary Pete Buttigieg had been heading up the Department of Transportation (DOT) for nearly two years, and was just starting to put some bigger plans in motion for passenger rights.  Then, in December 2022, everything changed. Southwest Airlines had historic levels of  cancellations over the winter holiday travel period; it was so catastrophic it was universally dubbed “the meltdown.” By that point, most American passengers had reached a point of hopeless exhaustion.

Welcome back to our Saturday edition! Looking for something to do that the whole family would enjoy? BI's movie reviewer said that "Wicked," starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, is worth the two hours and 41 minutes.

Every four years, I celebrate my own personal holiday around this time. It comes after Halloween and before Thanksgiving. It comes after national Election Day. It’s a celebration, of sorts. No more campaign ads, no more falsehoods, no more lies, no more stretching the truth. It’s almost liberating. I certainly have to spend less time cleaning out my email inbox, that’s for sure.Don’t get me wrong, I still think we have the best system in the world although the merits of the Electoral College are up for debate. So this isn’t some political rant, or screed, or diatribe. Rather, it’s a nitpick about a flaw in the system.There’s just no consistency in appointed positions like the heads of the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration. It’s not that these are inept people, or unqualified or not intelligent enough for the job. They aren’t; they are good men and women. But let’s be frank here – they are like the King or Queen of England. They are figureheads.That’s why nothing gets done.The scales of justice might move slow, but politics moves at a tortoise’s pace. Just when they are ready to implement policy and initiate change comes a change in administration and they are out of a job.Now the process has to start all over again.The safety and regulation of the travel industry should transcend politics. But these people are at the whims of those who appointed them. That’s why you will probably see more mergers in the airline business under president-elect Trump than you would in the Biden administration. The former is known to be very business-friendly; the latter had a reputation for being unfriendly to businesses.I’m not advocating that these appointments should be for a lifetime but they certainly should be longer than four years, or the change in administrations, to get things done. Here’s a perfect example – it’s been too long since we heard anything about the lack of air traffic controllers. The bottom line is, let’s not play politics with the oversight of our travel industry.

Leaders from across the aviation sector gathered in Dallas this week at the Skift Aviation Forum to share their thoughts on industry trends and developments. Here are some key themes that emerged from the discussions:

"If Trump wins this election, I'm moving out of the country."

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to make workers’ tips tax-exempt could significantly impact the take-home pay of tipped workers. Hotel housekeepers and restaurant workers are potentially the largest affected group in travel.

Joe Biden is bolstering his reputation as the US’s biggest Amtrak fan.

Indonesian property firm PT MNC Land launched on Friday a 1,040 hectare (2,570 acre) tourism complex on Java island, where former U.S. President Donald Trump’s company will operate a hotel and a golf course.

In the week that’s followed the 2016 presidential election reports of racist threats and hate crimes are up, and many Americans have taken to city streets in protest. In response, countries like Turkey and the Bahamas have issued U.S. travel warnings, and the future of foreign travel to the States seems uncertain under a President Trump.

The TSA is trying to figure out how 11 people were able to walk through security without being screened earlier this week at New York’s JFK airport.

In the latest blow to Cuba tourism, the U.S. Department of the Treasury today issued new restrictions on travel to the island nation.

“Chaos at the airport!” You’ve seen those headlines and TV shots the last few days, and you know they’re accurate. You also know that, at least for now, the new immigration rules are under legal challenge, with an uncertain outcome.

Since diplomatic relations with Cuba were reinstated and a newly liberalized U.S.-Cuba aviation agreement was enacted last year, travel between the two countries has been a decidedly up-and-down affair.

You probably saw (or experienced) the airport protests and delays this weekend following President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban nationals traveling to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority nations. But what do the American people think of the new travel measure?

To overseas observers, the U.S. must look like a pretty scary place right now. What with the breakdown in law and order represented by the recent string of shootings, protests, and more shootings, and the generally vicious tone of the nation’s politics (Google “Kill Hillary” or “Trump Nazi”), anyone viewing this country through the lens of media headlines could be forgiven for thinking America had devolved into an unstable banana republic.

It has been a publicly stated goal of the Department of Homeland Security to sign up 25 million members of the PreCheck and Global Entry prescreening programs. A big number, with a big payoff.

There was considerable hand-wringing in the run-up to the Thanksgiving holiday that travelers would be facing something just this side of hell on earth. Packed planes. Overflowing overhead bins. Overcrowded gate areas. Endless check-in lines. And even longer lines to clear security checkpoints.

New York Senator Chuck Schumer has looked into United’s Basic Economy fares, set to launch early next year, and he doesn’t like what he sees. He’s particularly outraged that the new ultra-low-priced fares will restrict customers to a single small carry-on, leaving the overhead bins for the exclusive use of those paying higher fares.

On Wednesday, the United States and Canada joined almost every other country and dozens of airlines in grounding Boeing’s 737 MAX 8 planes closely following the second deadly crash of the brand-new aircraft model in recent months. A tragic Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed everyone onboard Sunday followed the deadly October Lion Air crash the went down near Jakarta. Both planes went down without warning, just after takeoff, and in both crashes, all passengers and crew were killed.

With its natural wonders, revolutionary history and captivating culture – informed by the vodou (voodoo) religion – Haiti is like nowhere else in the Caribbean. Look beyond the trash talk and the misconceptions and you’ll be richly rewarded.