British Airways Teases Their New Business Class Seat With Photos

by Gary Leff

person sleeping airplane bed
Mar 16 2019

British Airways pioneered lie flat seats in long haul business class. The seats weren’t wide or private, but they were classy with blue fabric and brown leather. I actually liked the old lie flat business class seat that I flew a decade ago (‘New Club World’) more than the current iteration that feels like a sea of impersonal corporate cubes (‘Next Generation Club World’).

The current seat is well overdue for a refresh. The basics of the current seat began rolling out in 2006.

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You Expect Way Too Much From Marriott, Cut Them Some Slack

by Gary Leff

outside marriott hotel
Mar 16 2019

Starwood customers simply aren’t used to Marriott customer service, and they think what they’re experiencing is something wrong with the program. Marriott, for its part, doesn’t see as much wrong as customers do because they are delivering normal service.

When you have a frustrating interaction dealing with Marriott over a simple matter you may think you’re getting Bonvoyed when really you’re just dealing with Marriott.

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World’s Worst Airline Plans to Fly Non-stop to the U.S.

by Gary Leff

pakitstan international airlines
Mar 15 2019

Pakistan International Airlines, the worst airline in the world, stopped flying to the US in October 2017 after 55 years of service.

Their flight used to operate Lahore, Pakistan – Manchester, UK – New York JFK. They weren’t allowed to fly non-stop to the U.S. for security reasons. The US government wasn’t comfortable with a plane load of passengers getting screened in Pakistan and flying to the States.

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American Airlines Pilots Union Telling Members to Refuse Trips to Venezuela

by Gary Leff

maduro
Mar 15 2019

American Airlines is the sole remaining US carrier serving Venezuela and there are few other airlines flying in and out of the country as well. As the nation has fallen apart, with mass shortages, rampant crime, and inflation over 5000%, American Airlines had found their Venezuela routes extremely profitable — because there was so little air service left.

With flight crews getting robbed by bandits airlines fly crews out of the country rather than overnighting, and try to refuel elsewhere as well.

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Smuggler Turned Boeing 777 Lavatory Into a ‘Pot’ of Gold

by Gary Leff

gold bangladesh
Mar 15 2019

12kg of gold was found behind the mirror in the lavatory of a Biman Bangladesh flight from Dubai on arrival in Dhaka on Monday. You might even say that lavatory was a pot of gold.

Smuggling gold into Bangladesh is incredibly common. Spot prices are high and it’s a common destination for illicit funds being taken out of the Gulf region and also parts of Asia as we learned when a North Korean diplomat was discovered trying to bring $1.4 million in gold into Dhaka.

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Too Sexy to Fly: Woman in Crop Top Told to Cover Up or Get Off

by Gary Leff

emily rose
Mar 14 2019

Imagine my shock that Thomas Cook Airlines claims to have an (unpublished) policy against ‘inappropriate’ dress and that it was enforced against Emily O’Connor as she boarded her flight to Tenerife, a holiday destination in the Canary Islands.

Southwest Airlines of course famously kicked 23 year old Kyla Ebbert off a flight over her short skirt, which struck me as ironic considering the original Southwest Airlines uniform.

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