A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Nancy And Paul Pelosi Book Window And Aisle Seat, Hoping For Free Middle Seat To Super Bowl
The pair booked window and aisle seats. When a middle seat passenger showed up on the Saturday flight, Congresswoman Pelosi gave him the window seat. This is being touted in the media as offering that passenger an “upgrade” rather than “strategy.”
3 Reasons Not To Check Bags, And 4 Smart Strategies If You Must
Avoiding checked luggage saves time and reduces the risk of loss, but if unavoidable, using specific credit cards for protection, maximizing baggage allowances, not checking valuable items, and considering luggage trackers can mitigate the hassles.
The Children’s Toy That Was Banned From Planes By The FAA
1999’s big toy innovation was Furby, a robot toy that was kind of like a furry, colorful owl. 14 million were sold that one year alone. As long as it had batteries, Furby was on and talking. It began by speaking its own Furbish language, but as it listened to its owner it would learn English. Tickle the Furby and it might kiss you. If you rewarded that behavior with pets, the frequency of kisses would increase. If you had two Furby (Furbies?) they would talk to each other.
Unfair? Woman Forced Off Plane for ‘Excessive’ Lavatory Use
A woman with Montezuma’s Revenge was kicked off a WestJet flight leaving Mexico as it prepared to take off. Journalist Joanna Chiu kept going to the bathroom during the plane’s boarding process, and crew decided that she made one too many trips to fly.
Boiling Over: The Rising Tide of Hot Beverage Lawsuits from McDonald’s to Korean Air
You have heard about the woman who sued McDonalds and won $2.7 million after spilling a cup of coffee in her own lap. It became an exhibit in how we desperately needed tort reform. And yet the judgment made a lot of sense to anyone who actually went and learned the facts of the case.
Korean Air has a lot to learn from McDonald’s.
Out Of Planes, American Airlines Abandons Israel Until Fall To Fund Europe Flight [Roundup]
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Gratuities Gone Wild: You’re Now Expected To Tip When An Agent Rebooks Your Flight
Tipping is out of control. We now get presented with an option to tip even at self-checkout. At the Austin airport I was asked to tip when buying a water from a machine that was programmed not to accept $0 as an input.
The U.S. tipping culture always seemed strange, with customers supplementing worker wages, but this used to be limited to personal services provided by low wage workers. Now it’s everywhere.
Taylor Swift’s Race Against Time: The Two Unique Strategies That Made Her Tokyo-To-Super Bowl Flight Possible
VistaJet’s flight VJT993, a Bombardier Global Express,, is operating as “The Football Era.” It is currently estimated in over an hour early, at 3:07 p.m. Pacific time.
Reportedly charter provider VistaJet made two unique preparations, besides having the plane ready for Ms. Swift’s swift departure following her Tokyo show.
Skeptic Turned Believer? Unpacking Beond’s Luxury Airline Ambitions
I love premium products, and innovative ideas. So I’m rooting for Beond to succeed. But I’ve been skeptical of filling an all business class plane (most airlines go with a mix of products for a reason), based in a highly seasonal destination, operating only a few flights a week to each destination.
Fortunately on Thursday I had the opportunity to speak with the airline’s Chairman and CEO, Tero Taskila, to see whether he could turn around my skepticism.