News and notes from around the interweb:
- Alaska Airlines is looking for someone to lead their inflight credit card pitches
The job listing says that this is “[g]uided by our purpose, core values, and leadership principles.” Okey dokey.
This role is responsible for developing and executing strategies that empower flight attendants and other employees to confidently represent the Atmos Rewards Visa Card program.
…Success in this role will be measured by growth in Flight Attendant participation, seamless operational integration, and the clarity and impact of program reporting to leadership.
They don’t need to hire anyone. How about this. Since passengers are literally strapped in, Clockwork Orange-style, while having corporate banalities announced at you over the PA, at least can we not get these before 8 a.m. or on redeye flights?
- The most-booked Untied Airlines international destination from every state. Cancun from places that are cold does not surprise me. Taipei from Arizona is not surprising either (TSMC plant). The prevalence of Tokyo from so much of the Northeast is a bit surprising… and Alabama, Georgia? (HT: Matt)
- Pre-scheduled Uber airport rides have been unreliable that hasn’t been my experience in Austin – what’s yours been?
Last week I reserved an Uber XXL to take my family of 6 to the airport today at 4:15am (Uber won’t confirm a driver until 25 minutes before arrival, which is absurd). At 3:50am we get confirmation a driver is en route in a minivan. 5 minutes before pickup, he cancels. No other… pic.twitter.com/Q9h2Afxk4i
— DJ (@congressdj) December 24, 2025
- Pakistan International Airlines is finally being privatized. The government only got $36 million for it, with the buyer of 75% being required to invest $446 million in the carrier (i.e. buy new planes). After a year they can start firing staff – the carrier is bloated, inefficient and often run as fiefdoms for employees and political interests both.
- $15 Lyft credit for linking your Lyft and Alaska Airlines accounts by January 14. Must use the credit by January 31, 2026.
- Another KLM bed bugs story.
So I saw the news yesterday that an American family is suing KLM for $200k because they had bed bugs in their flight.
Time to share my own story about bed bugs and KLM!
I flew to Korea last October, and a few hours into the flight we discovered a bed bug walking on my wife's… pic.twitter.com/HcBoMq06pv
— Rosco Kalis (@RoscoKalis) December 23, 2025
Well… the purpose is to make money, the values are money, and the leadership principle is leveraging your staff to make money. Seems consistent!
I have never used the pre-book feature from Uber. Tbh, if I needed a car in the middle of the night for lots of people, I would be tempted to use a local, trusted taxi company. The other option, Uber to the airport on the previous day. Rent a car of the relevant size, drive home. Drive to the airport in the middle of the night and return the car. Although with my recent experience with surly rental agents, I’m not sure that would work too well either.
Have had similar unreliable results experiences. Live 25 miles from airport and drivers face rush hr traffic. Have had days when 2-3 drivers cancel before getting a pickup. .
“Guided by our purpose, core values, and leadership principles”?
“…participation, seamless operational integration, and the clarity and impact of program reporting to leadership.”?
WTF?
What Alaska really needs to hire is someone to sound the Jargon Alert Alarm when corporate leadership spews that sort of verbal drivel.
Prearranged airport Ubers this year in Mexico City, Bogota, Rio, and Buenos Aires were flawless.
Looks like karma for his wife being like this
> Fought masks, won. Will always fight for the kids! Pinned speech shows where I started. Follow to see where *we’re* going! PWC GOP Vice Chair (what?!) Go VA!
IME, scheduling rides adds zero value. I’ve never had it work out well for me. Same experiences as those shared in the article.
You would expect it to be helpful for rides at odd times in areas with not a lot of drivers, but it never works.
It’s probably equally useless in heavily populated areas where there are always drivers.
Planes are getting filthier with each passing hour. They minimally, if at all, “surface (obvious) cleaned.” When I board a plane, I wipe down all touchable surfaces (including the seat belt clasp!). I have been doing this anal retentive behavior for over 40 years. Years ago, fellow passengers would stare at me as if I were a madman. Not anymore.
Interesting map of international destinations. New Mexico and Vancouver? Would not have guessed.
If I recall, at least when the feature was first introduced, all Uber pre-scheduling does is automatically request a ride a few minutes before the scheduled time.
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and Happy Holidays to all!
Once again, people to fail to realize they are not customers, they’re the product. Customers are simply commodities for wealth extraction, nothing more.
0 for two on Uber to the airport, scheduled at either 5am or 6am. , when they cancel and it takes 2 hours to get to the airport at 6, and 40 minutes to get another uber, it’s miserable
If you live on a city center, probably not an issue.
Never again for me.
@Peter gets it.
@L737 — Same to you. It’s been a fun year here.
I only used scheduled early AM ride to airport once. No problem. I live in a major metro area and did not need an XXL.
AS had paused the credit card pitches for quite some time, at least on the two routes I fly most-frequently. But in mid-December, going back to Seattle, trying to finish a movie – sure enough they were back.
Worst part is when they pause, you think/hope they are done, and then they resume with more fluffy superlatives.
It is enough to make me choose DL again, if they have directs.from SEA. AS fares have been creeping up closer to DL, so it is an easier decision again.
For the holiday season, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has tripled its payments to undocumented immigrants who deport themselves for the holidays to $3,000 per person. Previously, due to stricter immigration enforcement, the department has been offering $1,000 and free travel to persuade people without legal authority who remain in the United States to leave. In conjunction with the DHS bonus payments, United Airlines issued a December 22, 2025, news release and a map of the top United Airlines international destinations by state in 2025. This United Airlines publication is a useful resource for planning your next family vacation. Happy Holidays to Gary Leff and to the VFTW readers.
Instead of incentivizing the FAs with bonuses, training, etc., I’d suggest offering an extra 5-10k bonus if you apply during the flight. Easy to detect. This way you incentivize closing the deal, don’t let them go think about it then forget or change their mind later. Maybe a free food or drink item too if they apply and instantly approved too. Hire me for the job. Dr. Mantis Toboggan.
It strikes me as super weird that Uber has been screwing over passengers and drivers alike ever since the new weasel CEO came in but for some reason the company won’t make a basic change like requiring drivers to not leave passengers hanging in critical situations.