News and notes from around the interweb:
- The opportunity ends next year when Southwest Airlines starts flying with assigned seats but in the meantime, Kato Kaelin knows – no one sits in the middle seat next to him when he’s holding a barf bag during boarding. Or maybe that’s not the reaoon everyone avoids him?
Traveling with my great funny friend @TomMabe –
airsick bag b4 take off = nobody takes middle seat @delta @SouthwestAir pic.twitter.com/0vy0aevEsL— Kato Kaelin (@Kato_Kaelin) April 22, 2025
- Stop it. Please, make it stop.
@united why do your gate agents force Group 3 to gate check luggage when plenty of bin space is still available. This happens way more than it should. #frustrating pic.twitter.com/BNZgjjugLO
— JG (@JohnGeorge383) April 21, 2025
- Bilt Rewards begins offering rewards on student housing payments, and now allows points redemption at 1 cent apiece to pay down student loans.
- Alaska and Hawaiian fully moving to New York JFK terminal 8
- 40,000 miles to attend United Airlines reveal “of exciting changes we’re making to our international flying experience” New business suites unveil? (HT: JonNYC):
One tends to assume this related
exclusives.mileageplus.com/us/en/Listin…
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) April 22, 2025 at 1:33 PM
- With the Austin airport Chase Sapphire Terrace now closed the space has now reverted back to an outdoor deck accessible to everyone and using the furnishings Chase left behind.
The space is reopening daily from 8 a.m to 8 p.m. with lounge chairs, benches and tables left behind by Chase. Travelers can watch planes take off from one of the airport’s two runways. Speakers pipe in airport announcements. The patio has its own public restrooms. Smoking and vaping is banned.
Once an as$hole, always an as$hole….
I hate to break it to you but, the barf bag or coughing or whatever stupid trick you can come up with doesn’t work when every seat will be occupied.
A few weeks ago I boarded at C6 and found an aisle seat a couple of rows past the exit row. The window seat was already occupied. Only one seat on the flight wasn’t taken – the middle seat next to me. The same thing happened on my connecting flight. Sometimes random karma blesses me.
“90s Legend” is a bit of a reach, Gary. I recall Norm McDonald’s on Weekend Update: ‘Kato spent four days on the witness stand this week… making it the longest job he has ever held.’ In all seriousness, I feel for him, and hope he’s doing alright these days; what he experienced then and since is rough. So, come on, fellas, let’s give this ‘legend’ an open middle seat, barf bag or not!
On Alaska moving to T8 at JFK, that’s a good move, since nearly all OneWorld is there; the question is what reciprocal lounge access might there be moving forward, since Alaska’s lounge was at T7?
If the barf bag doesn’t fit…
Soon airlines will start advertising a new benefit to holding their co-brand cards: board earlier so you do not need to gate-check.
So glad AS is moving to T8. T7 often doesn’t have a TSA pre lane and abysmal food options. Hopefully AS moves their own lounge to T8 as well.
@Alex — While T8 has PreCheck, it unfortunately doesn’t have CLEAR, which would be nice, but, perhaps, there simply isn’t enough space there as it is; the security area is kinda tight as it is; still, much better than T7. With the construction underway, at some point the old T7 will be no more anyway, so good riddance. Can’t wait for the new mega-terminals at 1 and 5-6, supposedly starting 2026, and finishing by 2030. If it’s anything like what the Port Authority pulled off at LGA and EWR Terminal A, it’s gonna be amazing. Not even joking. Bah!