News and notes from around the interweb:
- Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari compares inflation to Uber surge pricing. (HT: @crucker)
Kashkari compares what happened in 2021 to what happens to pricing of an Uber or Lyft during a rainstorm, when demand surges faster than supply can keep up.
But what seems to have happened in the economy as a whole is that as demand for goods and services surged, companies were able to raise prices for their products by more than they raised pay for their workers.
Remember when people complained about Uber surge pricing? That was when Uber was transparent and warned you that prices were a specific multiple compared to normal price. Now they just quote you the price itself, and don’t tell you it’s a surge, and no one complains. Maybe this is why airlines that eliminate award charts are able to jack up redemption pricing so much more easilhy?
- We’re totally happy to have huge crowds stranded indoors inside airports and don’t even hand out masks, but passengers arriving from China…
In any sane world, an organization called the “Transportation Security Administration” would look at the crowds of stranded people in a respiratory pandemic and immediately hand out masks like candy & mandate masks their use.
Instead, they’re probably obsessing over shoes.
— Dr Ellie Murray, ScD (@EpiEllie) December 30, 2022
- 80,000 mile bonus offer for Lufthansa card from Barclays is back. (HT: Doctor of Credit)
Lufthansa miles are valuable for first class awards, better availability, and actually decent pricing (I used to consider it very high, but other programs have gotten more expensive) albeit fuel surcharges. And the miles are hard to get without this credit card.
- Man eats at 18 Michelin-starred restaurants in 24 hours sets world record.
- The Plaza Premium lounge in Orlando’s new terminal 3 has a new interactive game, Tasty Turtle Treats, in the kids area.
[T]he player takes control of a turtle using an advanced interactive camera that uses the person as the controller. Turtle food falls from the top of the screen, and the player moves left to right to gobble up as much food as they can in the time limit.
- Virgin Australia passenger learns getting physical with the pilot isn’t going to work if you want to fly
@_benmckay One too many mate😅 #virginaustralia ♬ original sound – Ben McKay
Dr. Ellie is a hypocrite on healthcare for infants so I wouldn’t listen to her hype. She pushes for abortions to be common and legal yet warns mothers to wear masks and get vaccinated to protect their unborn babies. She likes to show CO2 graphs of public places like IKEA to try and “prove” how dangerous they are yet it doesn’t seem to stop her from going there.
Anyone have the details on the free annual companion ticket with the Lufthansa card?
There is a link that says you get it every year starting on the date of the first charge to the card – when you go here: https://www.barclaycardus.com/applycontent/TnCs.jsp?tc44961#:~:text=Additional%20Benefits-,Companion%20Ticket,-The%20primary%20cardmember it says that you get an annual companion ticket, with the first one with the first use of the card. It also says “all taxes and fees must be paid for the revenue ticket as well as the companion ticket”,
Unclear if the “free” ticket requires payment of the fuel surcharge, which would greatly reduce the value of the “free” ticket.
There is a link for further information on the companion ticket which goes to a GoDaddy parking page: http://lufthansa-usa.com/companion.
Anyone ever use one of these companion certificates and have the details?
Following up on my earlier post – I found the actual companion ticket rules. Only good on an H fare or above, which is pretty high up the fare ladder. Still don’t know whether fuel surcharges are passed through, Here’s the link: https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/companion