The European Union (EU) has officially announced an ESTA equivalent system of an Electronic Travel Authorization, called European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), which will apply from 2021 onwards.
It will require the currently 60 nationalities that are visa waiver eligible to apply ahead of their journey in order to be able to board their flights or enter the Schengen area countries.
Thailand will be extending their Visa on Arrival Fee Waiver for tourists from 21 countries and regions, including China, India who can enjoy the visa-on-arrival fee exemption until late April this year.
The cabinet approved a proposal to waive VOA fees from January 13th to April 30th 2019 in a bid to attract foreign tourists during Chinese New Year and the popular Songkran Festival.
From next Monday onward Japan will be charging a departure tax of 1000 Yen which will be charged to each international departure in order to fund tourism related expenses.
The ‘Sayonara Tax’ for departures will apply to both foreigners and Japanese travelers and incorporated in the ticket charges collected by the airlines similar to the already existing taxes and fees.
It’s Thanksgiving Day again, one of the busiest travel periods in the United States that comes with both stressful situations but also good shopping opportunities in the travel sector.
Many hotels, airlines and their loyalty programs will have deals in the coming days so after having a nice turkey dinner in the circle of your family maybe you should look out what they have in store this year.
A passenger plane loaded with two tonnes of Durian (also known as the worlds most stinkiest fruit) was delayed for over an hour after passengers revolted as the stench went from the cargo hold into the passenger cabin.
Durian is a very popular fruit in Southeast Asia and has many fans who love the flavor yet the smell of it can indeed be hard to endure, let alone two tonnes of it.
In order to save international roaming fees many travelers seek out a local SIM card when traveling abroad and airports / vendors have reacted in offering them from vending machines in the arrivals area if local laws permit.
Prices can vary greatly and it often doesn’t even make sense as it’s so expensive that you can just as well use a roaming option.
The U.S. has just switched back (Nov 4th) to Standard Time from Daylight Savings Time and apparently airlines had experienced troubles with customers missing their flights in the past so many of them reminded this year to check the time carefully.
The departure times will remain the same but there might be a discrepancy with your airlines original schedule that was received when making the booking though in theory there shouldn’t be.
Following a few unfortunate incidents and media reports of problems with Thailand Immigration lanes where Chinese visitors got into arguments with other travelers the immigration bureau has now opened Special Lanes for Chinese Citizens.
The counters which have been declared as ‘VIP Lines’ are obviously anything but – instead of privileged treatment they are designed to keep the order in the immigration area and prevent rowdy behavior.
Yep they did it again! There is a large thirst for Duty Free products from South Korea among mainland Chinese travelers who then smuggle these goods into the country and sell at a big profit and they made headlines for all the wrong reasons again starting a brutal fight inside one of Incheon Airports Duty Free Shops.
Three of these ‘shoppers’ or smugglers as I prefer to call them got totally out of control and video footage shows a man stomping on a woman’s head after she went to the floor following an initial fight with another female competitor.
Flight Attendant unions have unveiled a new called “2Hot2Cold” to track and report uncomfortable temperatures on flights which is now available for download in the app store for both iPhone and Android.
The data will apparently be used to develop a study and lobby the Department of Transportation for a general guideline on cabin temperature.
There was an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal yesterday where they interviewed the CEO’s of American Airlines and Delta Air Lines about Economy Class and their own flying habits.
While the Parker and Bastian agreed to the interview to the Economy Class focused interview, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz declined the interview – go figure!
The Electronic Baggage Tag that Rimowa introduced just a few years ago seems to be ending it’s existence prematurely as the manufacturer already took it out of the new series.
E-Tag luggage doesn’t appear in the most recent catalogue anymore, stores in Germany are having sales offering discounts on e-tag bags and rarely any airline is supporting the system.
An irate man has attacked security screening staff at Duesseldorf Airport with a knife and caused life threatening injuries to the man who is currently undergoing emergency surgery.
From news reports in German media the assailant jammed a knife into the mans head and then fled the scene until he could be taken down a short while later.
Our Fabulous Friday topic this week is about an interesting concept I came across in Las Vegas where they had sleeping pods available at an hourly rate.
I found these ‘Napin Pod’s’ at Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas and was very interested to see more though unfortunately there was no associate around to introduce the system.
