Multiple news outlets report that the Canadian government is banning the entry of foreign travellers into Canada if they’ve been visited South Africa. Citing concerns over the new omicron variant of COVID-19, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos today announced Friday that Ottawa will impose five measures in an effort to limit the spread of the new variant. According to Global News, “foreign nationals who have travelled through several south African countries in the past 14 days won’t be allowed into the country, he said. Those nations include South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini. “All those who’ve arrived in Read more

There’s still more evidence of a travel rebound today. U.S. Transportation Security Administration stats for Wednesday, the day before American Thanksgiving, show that 2,311,979 travellers went through security at U.S. airports. That’s more than double the roughly 1.1 million figure from last year, and nearly 90% of the roughly 2.62 million in 2019. It’s also the largest TSA passenger figure since the start of the pandemic. On Tuesday, two days prior to Thanksgiving Day, TSA processed 2,207,949 passengers. That’s close to the 2,435,170 people who went through security in 2019. Tuesday and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week are usually the busiest Read more

Aeroplan is giving customers a nice break just before Christmas. Aeroplan, the loyalty program run by air Canada, placed its expiration policy on hold during the pandemic. They also made our inactivity policy more flexible, as members have 18 months before their Aeroplan points expire if there has been no activity in their account; meaning they haven’t earned, redeemed, donated, transferred, or converted any points. In order to further support members as travel resumes, Aeroplan has further extended their pause on expiry of points until September 30, 2022. That means that between now and September 29, 2022, any Aeroplan points Read more

Nearly six in ten Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. But which states have the highest rates? As it turns out, some of the states Canadians love to visit the most are doing the best in terms of vaccinations and other COVID-related stats. WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across five key metrics; including rates of COVID-19 transmission, positive testing, hospitalizations and death, as well as the share of the eligible population getting vaccinated. Topping the charts was the District of Columbia, with a five-metric score of 91.30, followed by Connecticut at 86.64 and Rhode Island Read more

As pandemic restrictions ease Canadians are packing their bags, with interest in travel insurance quotes surging 293% YOY, according to a report from RATESDOTCA. While far from pre-Covid numbers, it’s clear Canadians are once again ready to pack up and go, though the destinations they are planning to visit have changed. Interest in domestic travel climbed 330% from Q3 2019 to Q3 2021 while interest in international travel fell 14%. The report pulls data from thousands of quotes for travel insurance from Q3 2019 to Q3 2021. While the U.S. remains the top destination, interest in visiting has fallen 66% Read more

A major new poll finds that two-thirds of Canadians want the Trudeau government to ditch PCR testing at the border. A new study from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds Canadians divided about how to handle border testing, but largely ready to move past molecular tests such as the PCR. A full 66% of Canadians say that either no tests should be required for fully vaccinated travellers (27%) or that Canada should switch from PCR tests to rapid antigen tests (39%). Twenty five per cent of Canadians said they would keep the requirement now in place for PCR or molecular Read more