WestJet flight attendants have been on strike since Sunday, grounding nearly all of the airline's flights except a few regional routes. We explain what affected travelers should do next: WestJet is legally required to rebook passengers on the next available flight, even on another airline, and your travel credit card's trip delay protection may help if your trip is disrupted.

Then there's the newest American Express Membership Rewards® hotel transfer partner, Leaders Club from Leading Hotels of the World. At first glance, the 4:1 transfer ratio looks far less attractive than the 1:1 transfers many travelers are used to. But the value of Leaders Club points tells a very different story. This may be one of the strongest hotel redemption opportunities available through Membership Rewards, especially for travelers who love independent luxury hotels like the Ritz Paris. Some cardholders can also unlock complimentary elite status, which may include perks like free breakfast and early check-in.

We also visit Il Borro, the Tuscan estate where Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco celebrated her birthday, where Fine Hotels + Resorts® benefits can make a stay more rewarding. JetBlue debuts new Mint menus from Michelin-starred Crown Shy and Brooklyn's Birdee bakery, and United, Delta, and Southwest have all banned humanoid and animal-like robots from flying as passengers.

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An airline just canceled almost its entire flight schedule this weekend. And that’s just the start of today’s travel news.

This is Departure Digest, your five-minute morning travel briefing. The voice memo your savviest friend would send.

This is episode one, so welcome, and thank you for giving us five minutes of your Monday morning. We’re really glad you’re here.

First up, here’s what’s happening right now.

WestJet flight attendants went on strike Sunday morning, grounding almost all of the airline’s flights except a few regional routes. That’s likely to continue for the next few days.

WestJet is a Canadian airline, so if you’re not flying them, this probably doesn’t affect you.

But if you did have a flight booked, WestJet must legally rebook you on the next available flight, even on another airline, though it could take a while since this was already one of the busiest travel weeks thanks to a Canadian holiday today.

My advice? Don’t assume your flight is happening as booked. Check WestJet’s app before heading to the airport. If you booked through a third party, you need to contact them instead. And depending on your credit card, you might have trip delay protection worth checking, we’ll link our favorite cards for that below.

Next up, a story that looks like bad news, but isn’t.

American Express just added a new hotel transfer partner. Quick refresher, a transfer partner is just a place you move your card points to for better value than booking through the credit card’s own travel portal. We’ll link our full transferable points guide below if you want to go deeper.

This one’s called Leaders Club, the loyalty program for Leading Hotels of the World, a collection of independent luxury hotels like Ritz Paris and Royal Mansour Marrakech. These are the kind of hotels that don’t belong to big chains like Hilton or Marriott.

If you glance at the numbers, you’ll think it’s a bad deal. It’s 4:1, so 1,000 Amex points only gets you 250 Leaders Club points. Most Amex transfers are 1:1, so this feels like losing three-quarters of your points before you’ve even booked anything.

Except those points are worth about 8 cents each toward a hotel bill. Run the math, and that 4:1 ratio works out to roughly 2 cents of value per Amex point, one of the best hotel transfers Amex has ever offered.

Don’t judge a transfer partner by the ratio alone. Sometimes the ugliest math hides the best deal.

Amex Platinum cardholders can also enroll in complimentary Leaders Club status, which can include daily breakfast for two and early check-in and late checkout, when available.

If any of these hotels are on your bucket list, and you’ve got Amex points sitting around, this is worth exploring.

Next, some quick travel inspiration, and you can thank a famous couple for this one.

Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco just spent her birthday at a Tuscan estate called Il Borro, making fresh pasta by hand, riding horses through the vineyards, and drinking wine in the countryside. Which, honestly, tracks, it’s one of the prettiest properties I’ve come across in a while.

Il Borro is owned by the Ferragamo family, yes, that Ferragamo, and it sits on a vineyard with its own restored medieval village. It isn’t part of a major hotel loyalty program, but it does work with programs like Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts, which you get access to with the Amex Platinum card.

Booking through that can get you an early check-in and a room upgrade, daily breakfast, and a $100 credit toward basically whatever you spend on-property.

The card also comes with a bi-annual credit of up to $300 for prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings, which can cover a solid chunk of a night’s stay here.

Rooms start around $600 a night even in the summer, dropping closer to $400 by November. Still not cheap, but for a Tuscan estate that’s become a celebrity favorite, it’s less than I would’ve assumed.

Okay, two more quick hits before I let you go.

JetBlue just added new Mint menus from two New York spots, Crown Shy, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and Birdee, a Brooklyn bakery everyone loves. Think strawberries and cream croissants and a pork katsu situation for dinner. If you’re flying Mint soon, you’re eating well. Plus, Red Hook Tavern joins the rotation early next year.

And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if you were planning to fly with your humanoid robot, I’ve got some bad news. United, Delta, and Southwest have all banned humanoid and animal-like robots from flying as passengers. We already went through the whole emotional support peacock and pig era, and now apparently we’re doing it again, just with robots this time.

That’s your Monday!

Check back for new episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Ciao for now!