News and notes from around the interweb:
- Club Carlson eliminated the single best hotel credit card benefit. Then they offered a bonus to help that bitter pill go down easier. Loss of second night free on awards must be hurting, though, since they’re now sending out free nights to cardholders.
- How some people see air travel in the US.
- The US embassy in Havana has re-opened. There was some criticism for barring Cuban dissidents from the ceremony, though it’s hardly surprising that a sensitive diplomatic moment would seek to avoid controversy. Not all administrations were so careful, of course. In 1985 Soviet diplomatic license plates were issued starting with the letters “FC” — the C stood for “commies” and you know what the F was.
- British Airways made an emergency landing because they were short on air in the cockpit
- The most dramatic flight attendant performance of a safety video. Ever. (HT: JohnnyJet)
That video comes from the only other airline that is so much like Southwest, WestJet!
On those indian trains, you can eat all sorts of food by vendors and if you have to shit, you do on on the rail tracks. no cool air breeze, you smell smelly stinky arm pits with all the people sitting on doors
I hope your FC story is true 🙂 !!!!
@Traveler Jack Wheeler told me the story probably 18 years ago. I found his telling of it from 2007:
http://www.tothepointnews.com/2007/08/the-secret-story-of-the-soviet-plates/
The part about the Washington Post disclosing the two letter code for Soviet plates in 1985 is confirmed by AP
http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1985/US-Rebukes-Post-for-Article-on-Diplomatic-Plates/id-b0d5c0dab786b8525d538a8ba1d37972
FC was then assigned to the Soviet Union
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_the_United_States#Diplomatic_license_plates
Someone mentioned the story of ‘FC’ online in 2000
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=27585
See also http://dcplates.net/OFMcodes.htm