...constantly searching to find the best travel deals and places to visit. A never-ending quest for adventure!

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Switzerland Drops Covid Restrictions

I'm catching up a bit on recent travel news and pleased to share/remind that Switzerland has dropped nearly all Covid restrictions that have been in place over the last year+.  You can find the official announcement here:

https://www.edi.admin.ch/edi/en/home/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.html.msg-id-87216.html

From Thursday, 17 February, masks and COVID certificates will no longer be required to enter shops, restaurants, cultural venues and other public settings and events. The requirement to wear masks in the workplace and the recommendation to work from home will also end. At its meeting on 16 February, the Federal Council took the decision to lift the majority of measures in place to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Only the requirements to isolate in the event of a positive test and to wear masks on public transport and in healthcare institutions will remain in place until the end of March to protect those at high risk, after which the situation status will return to normal.

It will no longer be necessary to provide proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative test or complete an entry form.

This should drastically improve the arrival experience to Zurich from United and other US airlines.

As of this writing, a Covid test taken 1 day before departure is still required to get back into the US.

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Updated points earning for Marriott Bonvoy Boundless

It's been another few months of change in the new year, and as expected hotel and travel partners are still trying to be creative with customers and how to encourage activity in the economy.  Rising inflation has been an impact for everyone.  Despite this challenge, I'm glad to see Chase and Marriott looking to add earning opportunities for cards.  The most recent from this week is for the Chase Marriott Boundless card:


To summarize:

- You can now earn 3x per $1 on Grocery, Gas, and Dining, up to $6k total per year. 

- Card holders will earn 1 Elite Night Credit for every $5k spent on the card

Will anyone be taking advantage of these new benefits?  The current Chase Freedom quarterly bonus is for Grocery at 5x up to $1500, so I'll likely continue using that to maximize points.  There's a chance I might consider the Boundless card after that.