Travel TLDR - February 28, 2021 Travel News and Updates
United Flight 328 from Denver to Honolulu Lands Safely
Last week, a United flight from Denver to Honolulu suffered engine failure and had to make an emergency landing back at DEN.
Luckily no one was injured during the incident.
The root cause of the failure appears to be metal fatigue on the engine fan blades.
The Boeing 777-200s have been grounded and will be undergoing further inspection.
Flying still remains one of the safest ways to travel, and the FAA is looking into increasing the inspections for aircraft with these engines to prevent any future issues. Read more about this incident here.
Marriott’s Bet on “Bliesure” Travel
Marriott has begun offering “Bliesure” or Business Leisure, packages, which is where guests can stay for a night and then have the hotel room for the full day, allowing people to remotely “work from home” or “hotel” in this case.
This is a great way for Marriott Bonvoy to take advantage of remote work which may has become the new norm from some industries.
This “Bleisure” program allow for people who have been stuck at home to have a change of scenery while working from home as well as earning Elite Night Credits toward status!
We’ve taken trips where we’ll head down early to a destination, work remotely, that way when our “paid time off” or the weekend starts, we’re already there and ready to relax. We recently did this last Fall at the West Hollywood EDITION.
Read more about Marriott Bonvoy’s “Bleisure” program here.
Marriott Adds Complimentary COVID-19 Testing at Caribbean and Mexico Resorts
Following Hyatt’s move, Marriott has announced plans to implement complimentary COVID-19 testing at resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico
Marriott is offering an additionally offer 50% off rates if you end up testing positive and need to stay.
Honestly, this is why we rescheduled one of our bucket-list trips to the Maldives: while we were getting an insane points redemption value, the risk of getting stuck with rates at $2,200+ per night made it too risky. We researched travel insurance (in addition to the insurance the cards have) and it was still quite expensive with some potential risk on the table.
Moves like this new one from Marriott help make traveling abroad much less risky and we hope to see this trend in the hotel industry continue. Read more about this new change here.
Credit Card Travel Insurance
After the recent weather events in Texas disrupting life for residents and especially hitting travelers hard, it’s good to keep in mind that a lot of credit cards offer travel insurance.
Chase Sapphire Reserve and The Platinum Card from American Express are the most comprehensive.
American Express Gold Card in Rose Gold is Back for a Limited Time
The American Express Gold Card is back for a limited time in the rose gold color!
We haven't seen this color since 2018 when the card was officially relaunched
Normally the Welcome Bonus is around 35,000 to 40,000 Membership Rewards, but right now we’re seeing Welcome Bonuses in the 60,000 to even 70,000 Membership Rewards range!
The American Express Gold Card does have a $250 annual fee, but offers $120 in dining credit and another $120 in Uber benefits, making the net annual fee only $10 while earning 4X points on groceries and 4X points on dining. Check out how this card only costs us $10 annual here.
That wraps up the third Points Passport Travel TLDR, or Too Long Didn't Read! Hope you all enjoyed it and come back next week for Travel TLDR Episode 4, for the week of April 8, 2021! We would love to hear your feedback or any topics you would like us to cover in future episodes. The best way to get in touch with us is on Instagram by DMing us, but you can also contact us on our Facebook and make sure you subscribe to our YouTube.