Travel News and Advice – May 15, 2026

The Hantavirus outbreak. By now, you’ve probably heard about this. On the Dutch expedition cruise ship, MV Hondius, that left Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1st, three people died from Hantavirus, and a few others became ill. A Royal KLM Dutch Airlines flight attendant was hospitalized on May 7th, but has tested negative for Hantavirus. WHO continues to monitor the people who have disembarked from the cruise ship. The disease is generally passed from rodents to humans, and the World Health Organization (WHO) isn’t concerned that it will become a pandemic like Covid.

Airline vulnerabilities. Now that Spirit Airlines is over and done, are other airlines also vulnerable to bankruptcy? Christopher Elliott believes the answer is yes. JetBlue is at the greatest risk, having reported big losses. Other carriers he considers endangered include Avelo, Frontier, Allegiant, and Sun Country. None of the large airlines in the U.S. are at risk. He advises to use a credit card with trip protections and buy travel insurance that specifically includes coverage for financial default. You must buy that insurance within 14 days of the first deposit made on your trip, and it must be in place 14 days before the carrier files bankruptcy. A credit card chargeback might also be an option, but keep all of your paperwork!

Yellowstone bear attacks. Two hikers in Yellowstone National Park were attacked by a female grizzly bear with cubs on May 4th and in critical condition according to the latest reports. They were on a trail near Old Faithful, which had been previously closed due to bear activity. But park officials reopened it when there had been no recent traces of bears in the area.

Advisory at some national parks! Speaking of Yellowstone, it’s one of the national parks that has been found to have a deadly brain-eating amoeba in its waters. Other parks that tested positive for this amoeba are Grand Teton and Lake Mead. The amoeba can’t infect you if you swallow water while swimming or doing other water sports, but if the water goes up your nose and infects you, it’s nearly always fatal. The CDC has advised people to wear a nose clip, but I’d just stay out of the water at these parks if I were you.

American Airlines new battery policy. We’re now limited to two portable chargers on planes, and they can’t be placed in overhead bins anymore. They have to be visible and next to us, and we can’t use them to charge anything on the flight. So it’s important to fully charge your devices before boarding. This is because the batteries have caused so many in-cabin fires, and I expect this will soon be the norm with all airlines.

New Beatles exhibit in London. The building in Mayfair where The Beatles recorded their final album and gave their last concert on the roof will now be the site of a museum called “The Beatles at 3 Savile Row.” It will house seven floors of archival material, much of which has never been seen. The basement studio where they recorded the album, “Let It Be,” from 1970 will be recreated on the site.

TSA confiscates Oscar. Pavel Talankin’s Oscar statue, which he won for the documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, was confiscated by TSA at JFK Airport and purportedly placed in the luggage compartment of his Lufthansa plane, claiming it could be used as a weapon. It wasn’t with the plane when he arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, however. Luckily, the statue was eventually found and returned to him.

United Airlines and Lyft. Lyft car service has a new partnership with United Airlines if you link your accounts. Once you do, you can earn United miles for Lyft rides or use United miles to pay for Lyft rides.

Transponders at New York airports. Following the recent Air Canada jet collision with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport, transponders will soon be placed on fire trucks and other rescue vehicles at LGA, JFK, and Newark Airports to help air traffic controllers pinpoint their location.

Database of bad passengers. Jet2, a low-cost British airline, is calling for a national database that would name unruly passengers. I can’t say I’m against this.

“Living Bodies” exhibit at the Louvre. In Paris, the Louvre has a new exhibit through July 20th that includes more than 200 works by Michelangelo and Auguste Rodin. It explores the links between the two artists in terms of their approaches to depicting the human body. Rodin is known to have been heavily influenced by Michelangelo’s work.

Delta Airlines change. On short-haul trips, Delta has ceased providing drinks and snacks. Grrr…

Class action lawsuit against Delta. Speaking of Delta, a new lawsuit has been filed against the airline, claiming it has used deception to try to prevent passengers from getting refunds on fully refundable tickets. The lawsuit says Delta has tried to get customers to accept electronic credits instead, which it says is a violation of Department of Transportation rules.

Mexico City club overcharging Americans. The Mexico City nightclub, Japan, has been accused of charging Americans almost $300 as a cover charge, while locals and citizens from any other country pay just $14-$20. The club owner says it’s because of the deteriorating relationship between Mexico and Trump.

Want to live in Paraguay? Travelers who invest in real estate or tourism projects via the new “Paraguay Investor Pass” can permanently reside in the South American nation.

Hotels report few bookings for the World Cup. The hotels in the World Cup’s host cities are saying it’s reading as a “non-event” based on the number of bookings. They would expect an upsurge, but that isn’t happening at all.

Iran War effects. A friend reports that two months ago, people in Mumbai, India had to stand in lines for 6-8 hours to get liquefied natural gas in order to cook, while an airline had to cut down on daily trips due to fuel, necessitating a rescheduled return flight. Have you experienced any effects from the war and its fuel shortage during your travels? If so, please comment below.