Rapid Travel Chai

On my mind: Air France FlyingBlue website phantom availability, invalid routings, mispricings on Garuda, and 10,000 Amex points I should not have transferred till I had 100% certainty from a phone agent. Transfers do not extend 20-month mileage expiration. I may have a paid Garuda ticket that won’t earn on Delta, might on Air France, so that may extend mine.

Events:

• Nomination of first US ambassador to Cuba in over 50 years. Why is it taken for granted that if Clinton wins the presidency and Republicans hold the Senate, that the Senate will do its Constitutional duty and proceed with confirmations for appointments such as ambassadors and justices? I expect them to sit for another 4 years all the while saying a new electoral mandate is needed. There is a still a backlog of confirmations from the start of the Obama administration.

• Google Translate has gone neural network.

• It’s the billionaires vs. the millionaires in this Hawaiian resort war.

Ideas:

• Is ASEAN about to fracture? No, it will muddle along, though Cambodia as Chinese puppet is not helping Southeast Asian unity.

• Is Pope Francis a failure if people don’t return to the church?

• False equivalence and how to cover a charlatan.

Travels:

• How Much Is Airbnb Costing Caribbean Hotels? So many resorts are non-brand I can see why even customers using hotels elsewhere may go for Airbnb in the Caribbean.

• Tourists to Somalia. The quoted company, Untamed Borders, is who I used for my own trip.

• New York Laguardia’s Q70 bus is rebranded and  improved.

Hacks:

• Bloggers don’t just kill deals, they are also killing fashion, say the entrenched interests.

• Booking a hotel award night for tonight, after midnight.

• Google’s new messaging app Allo is a little bit snoopier than expected. Another Google chat product?