Legendary Silicon Valley investor Bill Gurley (GrubHub, Nextdoor, Open Table, Stitch Fix, Zillow, Nordstrom.com, The Knot and Uber, and played by Kyle Chandler in Showtime’s Super Pumped) gave a talk recently about regulatory capture – that government regulation almost always benefits incumbent businesses. It’s a great talk in its own right, but also perfectly encapsulates what’s happening to upstarts like JSX.
American Airlines advertises meals as one of the benefits of first class travel. Specifically, “Meal service on flights over 900 miles during meal times.” They say they are “elevating your dining experience” and that meals in premium cabins “are healthy, delicious” – so it’s not just food, it’s good food that’s good for you, too. Of course airlines advertise one thing to convince you to buy a ticket, and to spend more. And they deliver something else. One of the most common occurrences is advertising their most comfortable seats to get you to spend more to upgrade from coach to first class, and then delivering something entirely different. For instance this was a pitch to upgrade to first class on a standard domestic Airbus A321. They show you that you’re getting their lie flat seat…
California’s Governor signed SB 478 on Saturday. It bans hidden fees, though airlines and car rentals are excluded from the ban. That leaves hotels as the major offender in the travel space which will feel the brunt of the impact – and online travel agencies which sell hotel rooms, too.
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.
Hamas gone to war, sending thousands of rockets into Israel. They’ve kidnapped Israelis and brought them into Gaza for use as human shields – including some as young as 10 and other reports of younger still. The photos they’ve promoted show the children having been beaten.
It’s pretty common for passengers to view it as a ‘hack’ to wear a jacket with lots of pockets (think Scott-e-Vest) and stuff their bodies full of their carry on items instead of using luggage.
One woman flying Frontier Airlines tried a tact I hadn’t seen before. She… stuffed everything in the seat of her pants (“extra junk in her trunk”).
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.
Next week a British Airways lease for new lounge space at the Miami airport is expected to receive signoff. The lounge will be 12,973 square feet on the Concourse E-Satellite fourth floor.
Access to an airport lounge is supposed to be a refuge from the crowds, a place to get help with your travel itinerary when flights delay and cancel, and a place to work and get something to eat in peace when you have time to kill. But is it a status symbol?
I’ve shown up at the airport where both TSA and CLEAR lines were long, and the only way to make my flight was to cut the line. In the confusion of all of the passengers that was doable, if a bit aggressive. As long as you don’t get into a fight in the line you’re probably going to be fine. But breaking rules inside of the screening area will never go well.
One man decided just to press through the screening checkpoint… without stopping for screening.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
