Coronavirus Cancellations: Here’s What Canada’s Travel Loyalty Programs Are Doing About Your Points
But many travelers are now wondering what happens to their loyalty points for flights they have to cancel or re-book because of the coronavirus? Luckily, many Canadian travel loyalty programs have been very transparent and issued clear guidelines about what happens to cancelled rewards and possible change fees. Here’s everything you need to know about what the three main Canadian travel rewards programs are doing about coronavirus flight cancellations. Air Canada, Aeroplan Xinhua News Agency/Getty ImagesAeroplan MilesAeroplan, which is now owned by Air Canada, is Canada's most popular travel rewards program. American Express Getty ImagesAmerican ExpressThanks to its Fixed and Flexible Points Travel program AMEX Membership Rewards are very commonly used for travel.
Source:Forbes
April 02, 2020 12:45 UTC
A Widening Toll on Jobs: ‘This Thing Is Going to Come for Us All’
“I’m going to wake up and I’m going to have to catch a flight.”April was meant to be one of her busiest months, as schools rush to get students ready for standardized testing season. Ms. Battle’s husband, a substance abuse counselor, still has a job, but they aren’t sure how long that will last. “When you have to think about paying for groceries or for therapy, which one are you going to do?” Ms. Battle said. If laid-off workers can’t pay their bills, there could be a cascade of further layoffs and business failures. And the law temporarily expanded the unemployment insurance system to cover more workers and offer them more generous benefits.
Source:New York Times
April 02, 2020 12:39 UTC
Holland America cruise ships with over 200 sick passengers and crew reach deal to disembark in Florida
Two Holland America Line cruise ships carrying hundreds of sick passengers and crew members are currently anchored off the Florida coast, awaiting final clearance to disembark after reaching a conditional arrangement with local authorities. He also expressed concern that Florida’s health care system would not be able to handle the sick passengers and crew. Speaking with Neil Cavuto later on Wednesday, DeSantis confirmed that officials were indeed “working on a plan” to allow Florida residents to disembark and expatriate foreign nationals. As of now, ships remain outside US Waters. The cruise line confirmed that some passengers had tested positive for COVID-19; Holland American did not say what the four “older” passengers had died of.
Source:Fox News
April 02, 2020 12:37 UTC
U.S. stocks surge in choppy session on word that Saudi Arabia, Russia may slash oil output
Stocks bounced around for much of the rest of the session before landing at a healthy advance at the close. Oil prices rocketed 25 percent, notching their best day ever. “This glimmer of hope in oil prices is being fully embraced by the oil and stock markets,” said John Kilduff of Again Capital. The president finds himself in the awkward position of asking the Saudis to limit production in order cut into the glut that has slashed oil prices. In the past, Trump has pressed the Saudis to pump more oil to safeguard lower prices at the fuel pump.
Source:Washington Post
April 02, 2020 12:33 UTC
A 3,000% jump in jobless claims has devastated the US job market
New York (CNN Business) The last three weeks have marked one of the most devastating periods in history for the American job market, as first-time claims for unemployment benefits have surged more than 3,000% since early March. Unemployment claims at this level suggest a severe job market decline hardly any American alive has ever seen in their lifetimes. Including the prior week's 3.3 million initial claims , Americans have filed nearly 10 million jobless claims in the last two weeks alone. This "tectonic shift" in the US labor market "implied a real-time unemployment rate of 10.1% at a minimum," said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. The Refinitiv consensus estimate is for a loss of 100,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate inching up to 3.8%, from its historic low of 3.5%.
Source:CNN
April 02, 2020 12:33 UTC
Boeing offering buyouts as it projects recovery will take years
New York (CNN Business) Boeing is offering employees buyouts as its CEO said it will take years for the airlines and aerospace industry to recover from the coronavirus crisis. In a memo to employees, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said the company is offering voluntary layoff packages that will provide exiting employees with pay and benefits. Calhoun said the company is doing so "to reduce the need for other workforce actions." Boeing had 161,000 employees at the start of this year, with about a third of them represented by unions. "One thing is already clear: It will take time for the aerospace industry to recover from the crisis," Calhoun said in the memo.
Source:CNN
April 02, 2020 12:33 UTC
Thailand imposes 6-hour nightly curfew to combat virus
Pence gives possible COVID-19 timeline, urges everyone to do their partPence gives possible COVID-19 timeline, urges everyone to do their partBANGKOK -- Thailand's prime minister announced a nationwide 10 p.m.-to-4 a.m curfew starting Friday to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The measure announced Thursday evening by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is the latest in a slow tightening of restrictions since the country's cases began rising sharply in mid-March. Thailand announced 104 new confirmed cases of the disease on Thursday, bringing its total to 1,875. Last week, the government enacted a one-month state of emergency allowing it to impose harsh restrictions not normally allowed under law. International arrivals have been tightly restricted, requiring medical clearances prior to departure and 14-day self-isolation after arrival.
Source:ABC News
April 02, 2020 12:30 UTC
Kim Kardashian West on coronavirus, criminal justice reform and working with Trump
“With the coronavirus in prisons right now, people can’t go anywhere and they can’t do anything,” Kardashian West told The Washington Post. Since successfully persuading President Trump to commute Alice Marie Johnson’s life sentence for nonviolent offenses in 2018, Kardashian West has become an unlikely champion for criminal justice reform. Her road toward criminal justice reform is highlighted in “Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project,” a two-hour documentary premiering Sunday on Oxygen that looks at the toll of mass incarceration in America and the people affected by it. When she first started on this path of criminal justice reform, Kardashian West said she could not see herself supporting inmates behind bars for violent crimes, like Stewart. “I’m a testament to that.”While some have remained skeptical of her pivot toward criminal justice reform, Kardashian West said it’s been a meaningful change.
Source:Washington Post
April 02, 2020 12:24 UTC
A Feature on Zoom Secretly Displayed Data From People’s LinkedIn Profiles
The data-mining feature was available to Zoom users who subscribed to a LinkedIn service for sales prospecting, called LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Once a Zoom user enabled the feature, they could quickly and covertly access LinkedIn profile data — like locations, employer names and job titles — for people in their Zoom meetings by clicking on a LinkedIn icon next to their names. The system did not simply automate the manual process of one user looking up the name of another participant on LinkedIn during a Zoom meeting. Reporters also found that Zoom automatically sent participants’ personal information to its data-mining tool even when no one in a meeting had activated it. The discoveries about Zoom’s data-mining feature echo what users have learned about the surveillance practices of other popular tech platforms over the last few years.
Source:New York Times
April 02, 2020 12:22 UTC
Eagle-eyed 'Little Women' fans spot modern drinks bottles on set
But that doesn't mean those in charge always spot every little detail, as one self-confessed "very big fan" of "Little Women" discovered while rewatching the 2019 adaptation directed by Greta Gerwig. Because there are no timestamps on TikTok it is not clear when the video was posted, although it started to go viral this week. The scene shows the March family -- including lead character Jo March, played by Saoirse Ronan, meeting their neighbor Laurie in his home. A plastic water bottle and a hydro flask can be seen on a table in the background. After Rancourt posted the video other fans took to social media to say they had also spotted it.
Source:CNN
April 02, 2020 12:22 UTC
One million Australian families to get free childcare as part of coronavirus response
(CNN) About one million families in Australia will have access to free childcare in response to the coronavirus outbreak, the country's Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Thursday. The plan will also support the early childhood education and care sector during the crisis, according to a government press release. "These services are vital for so many parents so they can provide for their family, and children need as much familiarity and continuity as we can help provide at this unsettling time," said Morrison. "Priority will be given to working parents, vulnerable and disadvantaged children that need early education more than ever and parents with pre-existing enrolments," he added. Under the plan the sector will receive $1.6 billion AUD ($974 million USD) over the next three months, with payments starting at the end of next week, according to the press release.
Source:CNN
April 02, 2020 12:22 UTC
This Satellite Company Appointed New Science Officer, Keeps Shipping Going During The COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic
Spire GlobalSpire Global has a supercomputer-equipped satellite sitting on a Vega rocket in French Guiana, almost ready to go to space. Spire has been so active in this domain that it promoted Alexander MacDonald to chief science officer this week after MacDonald led global weather model development at Spire. A worldwide representation of the Spire Global satellite signals, in radio wavelengths. Rex previously developed a global weather model at Panasonic, alongside current NOAA director Neil Jacobs. It is hoped that the satellite will help Spire further with its data products, in the months and years to come.
Source:Forbes
April 02, 2020 12:22 UTC
Why rich students get more financial aid than poor ones
Why rich students get more financial aid than poor ones Colleges are giving out more aid based on students' accomplishments, not their financial needColleges are increasingly spending more to woo affluent students with scholarships based solely on academic or other achievements, experts say. Here’s why colleges are giving more aid to wealthier students and how students with financial need can maximize available options. COLLEGES WANT WEALTHIER STUDENTSAffluent students get more school aid compared with students with financial need because colleges are actively pursuing them, experts say. “It is derailing public higher education and why we have a public higher education system to begin with,” he adds. FINANCIAL AID BUDGETS ARE LIMITEDFamilies depend on financial aid to help meet college costs — aid like scholarships and grants covers about one-third of college costs, according to Sallie Mae’s most recent “How America Pays for College” report.
Source:ABC News
April 02, 2020 12:16 UTC
The real heroes in the fight against coronavirus
In a series of essays called The Distance, Thomas Lake is telling the stories of Americans living through the pandemic. "I'm very scared," a nurse named Letha Love told me on the phone from a hotel in Manhattan, shortly before leaving for another overnight shift treating coronavirus patients at a Coney Island hospital. But I'm scared. I'm very scared. "This is the highlight of my nursing career," Southerland told her 16-year-old daughter, who also wants to be a nurse.
Source:CNN
April 02, 2020 12:11 UTC
After the Coronavirus, Shareholders Will Have to Share Their Crown
Among Covid-19’s many victims is likely to be the already frail concept of shareholder supremacy. Investors are right to be nervous about the insurance sector in particular. As companies of all sizes shut their doors and make claims against their business interruption policies, insurers are coming under the spotlight. Unsurprisingly, few documents explicitly detail how they will deal with this unprecedented pandemic, creating gray areas that insurers and the policyholder will view differently. Claims will be in the “many billions...
Source:Wall Street Journal
April 02, 2020 12:11 UTC