After more than a year of canceled and postponed travel plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
people are itching to get back out there and explore the world. So to make things a bit easier — at
least for one lucky person — IHG Hotels & Resorts is hosting a giveaway, and the grand prize is
a year’s worth of stays at its various locations.
The contest is all a part of the hotel brand’s new “Department of Epic” program, designed to
“help guests bring their travel dreams to life.”

“At IHG Hotels & Resorts, our teams connect people through travel, and we’ve missed making
that happen,” Claire Bennett, chief customer officer at IHG Hotels & Resorts, said in a
statement. “With the launch of our Department of Epic, we’re helping kick start the memorable
and epic experiences people have been waiting for — strengthening family bonds, celebrating
milestone moments, uniting far-flung friends, forging business partnerships — across our hotels
around the world.”
And since IHG properties can be found in every continent, the lucky winner of this contest will
have plenty of locations to choose from for their year of adventure.
In addition to the hotel stays, the winner will also be treated to several other perks to make their
travels even more special. Upon arrival at each new hotel, they’ll receive a complimentary

a basket full of their favorite snacks. Once a month, they’ll be able to enjoy a meal at one of IHG’s
award-winning restaurants, and at select hotels, they’ll have a private car to get around their
destination. Spire Elite rewards membership will also be awarded.
After a year of comfy hotel stays, the winner will surely find at least one mattress they can’t live
without, so IHG is also gifting the winner of this contest with a deluxe mattress from any hotel of
their choosing. To really bring the hotel experience home, they’ll also receive a collection of
Kimpton robes.
To enter the contest, travelers can head to Instagram or Twitter and create an entry by “telling
us you are ready to travel without telling us you are ready to travel” and using the hashtag

IHGTellMeContest. Entrants should also follow and tag the @IHGhotels account.

Participants can submit up to five entries on each platform for a total of ten. Entries will be
judged on their originality, quality, and creativity. The contest is open now through July 20,
2021.
For the full rules and regulations, click here.

As temperatures rise, signaling the approach of summer, tensions between the state of Florida and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are also heating up. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has threatened to sue the CDC if it doesn’t lift its “conditional sailing order” on cruise ships in time for them to resume sailing out of U.S. ports this summer.

On Friday, March 26, DeSantis made this declaration at Port Canaveral as he gathered with executives from several major cruise lines, including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Disney Cruise Line.

With three major cruise ports in Florida, millions of travelers pass through the Sunshine State specifically to board a cruise ship. Most sailings to the Bahamas, Caribbean, or Mexico start their journeys in either Miami, Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades, or Port Canaveral.

According to The Points Guy, Ashley Moody, Florida’s attorney general, also attended this meeting and is rumored to be exploring the state’s legal options ahead of this potential lawsuit against the CDC.

Gov. DeSantis wants to resume sailing before cruising season to prevent more revenue losses as several major companies such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Crystal Cruises have already announced plans to sail out of Bahamian and Caribbean ports this summer.

Currently, the CDC has a conditional sail order in place, which outlines several benchmarks that cruise lines must meet before they are allowed to resume U.S.-based operations. The document is 40 pages long with major guidelines including:

• providing a plan that will keep ships ’crews safe and healthy

• conducting a “simulated voyage” to test the ability of the cruise line to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 on its ships

• certification that ships meet all the requirements in the conditional sail order

With vaccine rollout going according to plan in most of the U.S., Gov. DeSantis, among others, believe the rules may be outdated and need to reflect the progress in both understandings and fighting the COVID-19 virus.

The CDC has not yet released any comments in response to Gov. DeSantis’ threat.

United Airlines may soon have the fastest fleet in the sky with its newest investment in supersonic planes that can fly at speeds up to 1,300 mph — that’s twice the rate of today’s fastest passenger airliners

Last week, United Airlines signed a commercial agreement with aerospace company Boom Supersonic to purchase 15 ‘Overture’ planes. As part of the agreement, United will also have the option to buy an additional 35 jets.

According to Travel+Leisure, these futuristic planes will cut the flying time on some routes by half. Flying from Newark to Frankfurt, for example, could take four hours as opposed to the usual seven-hour trip, while a San Francisco to Tokyo flight could be reduced from over 10 hours to just six.

“United continues on its trajectory to build a more innovative, sustainable airline, and today’s advancements in technology are making it more viable for that to include supersonic planes. Boom’s vision for the future of commercial aviation, combined with the industry’s most robust route network in the world, will give business and leisure travelers access to a stellar flight experience,” United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement. “Our mission has always been about connecting people, and now working with Boom, we’ll be able to do that on an even greater scale.”

Beyond being super fast, the Overture aircraft are also more eco-friendly than the average plane currently operating in the skies. These supersonic planes are expected to be net-zero carbon and fly on 100% sustainable aviation fuel, Travel+Leisure reports.

“United and Boom share a common purpose — to unite the world safely and sustainably,” Blake Scholl, Boom Supersonic founder, and CEO said in a statement. “At speeds twice as fast, United passengers will experience all the advantages of a life lived in person, from deeper, more productive business relationships to longer, more relaxing vacations to far-off destinations.”

Boom Supersonic is currently working to bring the Overture planes up to safety and operating standards. The company is expected to deliver the aircraft to United Airlines in 2026 to carry passengers by 2029.

As other countries have slowly made moves to welcome U.S. travelers, the European Union —except a handful of countries— has largely stayed out of the discussion. Until now.

Speaking with The New York Times in a Sunday interview, the European Commission president said the continent is looking at opening its doors to fully vaccinated Americans as early as this summer.

“The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. “This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union…Because one thing is clear: All 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that E.M.A approves.”

As of right now, those E.M.A.-approved vaccines include the three that are currently available throughout the U.S.: Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson.

Though von der Leyen seemed hopeful in her interview, an exact timeline for when the E.U. will begin welcoming U.S. tourists remains unclear. It all depends “on the epidemiological situation,” she explained, adding that she sees the U.S. as making “huge progress” toward achieving herd immunity.

In the weeks leading up to von der Leyen’s interview, Iceland had already announced that it would allow vaccinated travelers from non-E.U. At the same time, Greece plans to welcome international tourists, including Americans, to visit, starting on May 15. Croatia, which for many months was the only E.U. country to accept U.S. visitors, recently eliminated its pre-arrival testing requirement for fully vaccinated travelers.

According to reporting from Travel+Leisure, the European Union has been exploring the possibility of creating a vaccine passport system with the U.S. In the meantime, it’s possible that a low-tech solution will be put in place until a digital version becomes available.