Delta drops international change fees; Kauai requires quarantines

Delta Air Lines says it will eliminate most change fees for international flights, an expansion of an earlier move to discontinue most domestic change fees amid the coronavirus pandemic. Delta said its permanent elimination of its $200 change fee for international travel originating in North America is effective immediately, including for flights operated by partners like Air France, KLM, Aeromexico, WestJet, Virgin Atlantic and Korean Air. Travelers who rebook flights may still need to pay for the difference in fare. The change fee discontinuation does not apply to basic economy tickets. Delta said it will also extend its waiver of change fees for all tickets purchased through March 30, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline has also eliminated its $150 redeposit fee and 72-hour requirement to cancel an award ticket, and extended travel credits until December 2022 for travel booked before April 17, 2020.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Voyageurs National Park has been certified an International Dark Sky Park for its exceptional dark night skies and its commitment to preserving them, the International Dark Sky Association announced. The park, east of International Falls along the Canadian border, joins just 135 other locations worldwide that have been recognized by the nonprofit in the past two decades. The certification came after a yearslong effort by the park and the nonprofit that supports it, Voyageurs Conservancy. While the designation carries no legal authority, it helps ensure that the park will protect an often undervalued asset. "It's one of those things that we just take for granted," said Park Superintendent Bob DeGross. "It's just slowly whittled away without a lot of attention or fanfare or angst toward it ... until suddenly you can't see 90 percent of the stars in the sky."

Brooks Johnson

Hawaii has stiffened restrictions on travelers to Kauai, requiring nonessential visitors to quarantine for 14 days. That move sets Kauai apart from its Hawaiian sister islands, where visitors can avoid quarantine by testing negative for COVID-19 before flying to the islands. The change comes as several Kauai hotels claim status as "resort bubbles." Visitors will be allowed to spend their quarantines — or a shorter period — at those resorts, without access to other sites or businesses beyond resort walls. Guests must test negative before crossing the Pacific, then take another test after three or four days on the island — and agree to wear an electronic tracking bracelet to make sure they don't leave their resort. Among the lodgings approved so far as "resort bubbles" are Cliffs at Princeville, Hilton Garden Inn Kauai Wailua Bay, Koa Kea Hotel, Kukuiula and Timbers Kauai.

Los Angeles Times