News and notes from around the interweb:
- You can now earn Delta miles for Jet Airways flights, with redemption coming March 1
- The 90% off all award tickets deal of the year was ended early (no shock there, it was 90% off all awards in economy, business, and first) but Garuda Indonesia will honor awards already on hold.
- Two weeks ago I posted a quick 250 free Aeroplan points, a quick and easy way to keep your points alive. The offer is still available. Some commenters were skeptical it was real, and the offer said points wouldn’t post for 6-8 weeks, but mine have already posted:
- You’ve never seen passengers this excited for an upgrade. Especially since British Airways intra-Europe business class has legroom that’s pretty close to Spirit Airlines.
- British Airways will still offer complimentary cold (potable) water on short haul flights out of London, but will charge £2.30 for hot water. That way you can’t bring your own tea bags and get away with not paying for inflight tea.
- Smaller bathrooms on planes pose challenges for passengers
- Former TSA Administrator Kip Hawley thinks PreCheck passengers should all be subjected to nude-o-scopes which at least until earlier this year ruled to have been deployed by the TSA illegally.
Talking about Precheck, but I wonder if IG reports would show it true of the entire TSA in the airport context:
“It’s a security hologram — it looks plausible, it’s pleasing to the eye, but its protective value is illusory.”
The clickbait… Its overwhelming.
Kip Hawley is an Idiot.
And I’m sure he’s invested in Nude-o-Scopes somehow & will make money if further instituted.
@”Gary” – What clickbait? The title is descriptive of articles included, and the snippet displayed on the front page of the blog, accompanying emails, and with the RSS feed shows that it’s a compilation of links. If you were tricked then you must not be very smart?
On the nude-o-scopes… when air crew go through them, I will believe the radiation risk is minimal. Since I fly more than most aircrew, it is a matter of concern
B737-900s are, IMHO, the *worst* plane in the domestic US airspace. Minimal lavs, open to all on Delta (so much for a reserved lav, look forward to queues of 4+ spilling out into First despite there being 3 lavs in back). On Delta, cramped space in First too. The *single* reason I have gone back to American. Despite their inadequacies, at least once you are on board, you are comfortable.
DL: Diamond 3x this year
AA: Exec Plat 1.5X this year
So-called nude-o-scopes (isn’t it wonderful when anyone with a blog becomes a scientist?) are totally passive devices that measure any thermal energy reflected from your body in the millimeter-wave band. The person being scanned is not subjected to any kind of “radiation” from the scanner.
TSA no longer uses the backscatter machines at airports, those may have had exposure risk from radiation but were never properly tested one way or another. The current millimeter wave machines shouldn’t have this risk.
“Smaller Bathrooms on Planes Pose Challenges for Passengers”: recently completed three JAL mileage runs KIX-LAX to get platinum on AA. JAL flight attendants are so kind and helpful and always want to immediately steer you into the nearest empty bathroom, which usually is the tiniest on the B-787. Literally there isn’t even room to turn around in the two tiny starboard-side bathrooms. I got used to apologetically saying: “Sorry I am a big tall foreign guy, I need to use the big bathroom over on the other side.” Their port side loo actually has a sitting bench next to the toilet. 😀
I have most of the episodes of Son of the Beach on CDs from video card captures. Poor quality but the humor comes through.
I’m TSA pre check and I don’t mind the nudeoscopes. As long as the line moves fast, who cares. Just don’t make me take stuff out, shoes off, etc.