Air Canada has launched a limited digital identification trial, becoming the first airline in Canada to offer customers facial recognition technology to confirm identification. In a pilot project currently underway, Air Canada’s digital identification is now available for customers departing from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) when boarding select flights to Winnipeg, and for eligible customers entering the Air Canada Café at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Air Canada plans to expand digital identification options to select Canadian airports and Maple Leaf Lounges as part of its pilot project phase. “Many of our customers already utilize digital credentials to simplify their daily Read more
United Airlines
An historic “weather bomb” is making a mockery of airline schedules and ruining holiday plans for travelers across North America. With snow starting to build in some cities and fierce winds bringing record-low temperatures to many parts of the U.S., FlightAware reports 4,700 U.S. flight cancellations as of 1 p.m. Eastern Time. The website showed 35% of all outbound flights have been cancelled at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, while Detroit had a 43% cancellation rate and Seattle 46%. Chicago O’Hare was showing 23% of flights cancelled. Cleveland and Buffalo were much worse. Cleveland was showing a 70% cancellation rate, while Read more
The Points Guy (TPG) has released its sixth annual Best Airlines Report naming Delta Air Lines the number one airline in America for the fourth year in a row. TPG ranked airlines in the United States from best to worst according to criteria including customer satisfaction, cabin comfort, on-time records, lost luggage data, lounge quality and more. The rankings also reflect a strategic method that evaluates all aspects of a customer’s journey — from ticketing through baggage delivery and even redeeming rewards for future trips “As travel restrictions were lifted around the world and more people returned to traveling, airlines Read more
Air Transat has unveiled its sun destinations for the coming (sorry to mention it) winter. Meanwhile, United is beefing up its Florida flights, and a business group is pushing for Canada to open its borders. Also, a top tourism expert looks at when San Francisco might recover. My Future of Travel blog for Aug. 13. Transat’s Sun Lineup for Winter To accompany its Here Comes the Sun Promo, currently in full swing, Transat is delighted to unveil its 2020-2021 South brochure. Vibrant and easy to consult, it features a total of 320 properties grouped under its four collections—Luxury, Distinction, Family and Solo—in over 30 destinations Read more
We’re only six weeks from summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, and that has a lot of people feeling better about things. If you’re in the travel and tourism business, there are some pretty good reasons for optimism as well. I’ll look at a new poll in my FUTURE OF TRAVEL blog today, as well as optimistic TSA numbers and comments from airline officials. There’s also some news from Jasper National Park in Alberta and some not-so-hopeful comments out of France. THERE’S A GOOD MOON ON THE RISE First up, the good news for a Sunday. A report on novacancynews.com Read more
